The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Houston Texans on Sunday at Heinz Field and that contest could feature the 2020 debut of starting right guard David DeCastro, who missed the team’s first two games with a knee injury.
During his Tuesday press conference to preview Sunday’s home game against the Texans, head coach Mike Tomlin recapped the health of the team and with that revealed what this week holds for DeCastro as far as practice goes.
“The only preexisting injury prior to this weekend was DeCastro, he’s been in the building yesterday and today,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “The schedule is for him to participate this week and let the quality of that participation and the result of that participation kind of be our guide in terms of determining his availability. We’re at that stage now with him.”
This is obviously great news regarding DeCastro and barring any sort of setback this week, he should be back staring at right guard on Sunday against the Texans. If that happens, rookie guard Kevin Dotson, who made his first career start in Week 2, will go back to being the team’s backup on the sideline.
While the Steelers escaped their Week 2 game without any players suffering significant injuries, a few might be limited in practice at the start of this week due to some minor ailments.
“In-stadium, we had a number of bumps and bruises associated with play,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “Guys could be limited at the early portions of the week, but I doubt it will be significant in terms of their availability, Tyson Alualu has got a knee contusion. Bud Dupree has got some discomfort in his shoulder. Diontae Johnson’s got a toe issue that he’s been dealing with.”
In addition to Tyson Alualu, Bud Dupree and Diontae Johnson all likely to be listed on the Steelers first injury report of Week 3 on Wednesday several veteran players might be as well, according to Tomlin
“We’ll continue to manage some of the veteran players in the ways that we’ve managed them from a participation standpoint in the early portions of the week,” Tomlin said. “Some veteran guys, the cumulative effect of their careers, requires less physical preparation in an effort to be ready to play.
“That aids in the preservation of their bodies, but it also provides quality reps for a younger guy who could need those reps and use those reps for game preparation and growth. So, we feel like we get two things done when we take that approach and we’ll continue with that this week.
It’s likely that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and center Maurkice Pouncey will be listed on the injury report on Wednesday as the two might be given a veteran day off. That might happen weekly moving forward as well.
