For the first Mike Tomlin Tuesday of the regular season, the veteran head coach outlined the Pittsburgh Steelers’ health heading into their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday. Overall, it was a short list of names and good news for a healthy Pittsburgh bunch as they kick off the 2023 season.
Via the team’s YouTube channel, Tomlin said there aren’t any concerns about the team’s injuries or health. In fact, Tomlin did not mention anyone by name, only generally talking about the players who were hurt at the end of the preseason.
“Not really as I sit here today,” Tomlin said when asked if he had any injury concerns. “We’ve had a couple guys who were somewhat limited yesterday but that was just a prudent approach on our part considering that we’re still kinda in the bonus day phase of planned development for the week…we feel pretty good about player availability as we stand here today.”
While not named today by Tomlin, the two central players include DL Larry Ogunjobi (right foot) and OG Nate Herbig (shoulder). Both players missed the final few practices of camp and sat out the preseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons. A few veteran players also sat out the Falcons game in DT Cam Heyward and OG James Daniels. After the game, Tomlin deemed them as “day-to-day” injuries and with plenty of time off, there’s little concern over their availability.
Later in the press conference, Tomlin declined to comment about how many reps Ogunjobi might see in Week One after missing the entire preseason. In last year’s regular-season opener, Ogunjobi played 53 percent of the Steelers’ snaps in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Pittsburgh will release its first injury report tomorrow. At this point, it’s likely to be a light list of names.
The San Francisco 49ers are dealing with more uncertainty. Rookie kicker Jake Moody is dealing with a leg injury, leaving his status in doubt for the weekend. If he can’t go, ex-Steeler Matthew Wright will be elevated from their practice squad. Tight end George Kittle may miss this game with an abductor strain he suffered nearly a month ago. And while not injury-related, DE Nick Bosa’s holdout continues and he won’t play unless he and the team agrees to a long-term deal.
The Steelers and 49ers will kick off Sunday at 1 PM/EST at Acrisure Stadium.
