The Pittsburgh Steelers will be hard at work getting ready to play the Chicago Bears on Monday night at Heinz Field. However, the Steelers have one key player that is still not expected to resume practicing this week, according to head coach Mike Tomlin on Tuesday.
As expected, Tomlin was asked to provide an update on defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who is still on the team’s Reserve/Injured list, and the head coach somewhat obliged that request,
“It is a weekly update, but it’s very similar to last week,” Tomlin said of Tuitt on Tuesday. “It’s been a good week. He’s getting better. No negativity in terms of anything to report regarding his work back to return, but not close enough to put any color to it more than what I just described.”
So, there you go. It does not sound like Tuitt will resume practicing this week, and that means his 21-day window isn’t likely to be opened. Assuming that Tuitt doesn’t resume practicing this week, it’s hard to imagine him playing in any game for the team until Week 12 at the earliest. The Steelers next three games are against the Bears, the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Chargers so don’t look for him to play in any of those three contests
In addition to dealing with some sort of knee injury prior to the start of the regular season, Tuitt has also been dealing with the sudden and tragic death of his younger brother this past summer. His brother was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Georgia, and his mother unfortunately witnessed it as well.
Several weeks ago, a picture of Tuitt doing some work on the field at the team’s practice facility surfaced on Twitter. That picture showed a seemingly healthy-looking Tuitt sporting a brace on his right knee. The Steelers restructured Tuitt’s contract earlier in the offseason to free up some salary cap space. He has been on the team’s Reserve/Injured list since being placed there in Week 1.
