KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As a decorated Army Ranger and Afghanistan combat vet, Alejandro Villanueva has been through a lot worse than making a couple of lousy plays in a football game. But you wouldn't know that to have seen the man Sunday afternoon.
"Sorry, man," Villanueva told me at his stall as I approached after the Steelers' 23-13 loss to the Chiefs. "I'll be right back. I've got to shower this one off."
True to his word, he was back a few minutes later, everything all washed off but the sullen expression that clearly wasn't going anywhere.
"When you give up a sack and put them in a drive to win the game, and then give up a strip-fumble, it's a terrible feeling," Villanueva said of his NFL starting debut in place of Kelvin Beachum. "Especially since it's the first sack I've given up going one-on-one."
He was referring to Kansas City veteran Tamba Hali's second sack of the day, the one in the fourth quarter that forced the ball loose from Landry Jones:
Villanueva credited Hali not only with being "a class act" and a "very nice guy throughout the game" but also with attacking him smartly on that particular play.
"I was just trying to get on him as fast as possible," he said of his overly eager thrust forward, which Hali was able to elude to the outside. "I watched a lot of film on him, and he's a very powerful guy. He gets very low, and I'm very tall, I didn't want to get driven back, and I was playing with adrenaline and all ... they got me on that one. I know I'm going to see that in the future. I'll just keep working hard."
Villanueva's debut, which he acknowledged came with "a lot of eyes on me right now," wasn't all bad, actually. He showed good footwork and leverage, blew open at least two big holes for runs and -- for what it's worth in the final tally -- actually held his own against Hali other than the second sack. On the first, Hali cut well to his left around a teammate and burst through the heart of the Steelers' line.
INJURY REPORT
• William Gay left in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury and didn't return. Mike Tomlin added only that Gay will be evaluated upon returning to Pittsburgh.
• Antwon Blake, the other starting corner, left briefly in the second quarter after taking an unintentional blow to the head, was administered concussion tests and returned for the third quarter.
"No big deal," Blake said. "Dinged up."
In an amusing show right after he was hurt, Blake saw the Chiefs' athletic trainers coming to help him -- he was near the home sideline -- and sprinted away from them toward the Steelers' staff.
I asked what that was all about.
"I only deal with John Norwig," Blake said, referring to the Steelers' athletic trainer.
• There were no additional updates on any of the inactives, except Ben Roethlisberger. He and Mike Tomlin described him as having been "close" to playing in this game, and both acknowledged he'll be a full participant in practices this week with an aim toward returning next Sunday against the Bengals.
"In the end, we decided to go with the guys who had the practice reps," Tomlin said of not using Roethlisberger in Kansas City. "That was the appropriate thing to do. No second guessing there. We'll move forward with Ben as we prepare this week."
Markus Wheaton is wrapped up by the Chiefs' Eric Berry in the second quarter Sunday. -- GETTY