The Steelers expect to get Ben Roethlisberger back off the Reserve/COVID List in time for their game against the Chargers Sunday in Los Angeles.
They're unsure regarding the status of All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Why? Well, given how the COVID testing is in the league right now, players need to be symptom-free and then test negative twice within a 24-hour period to be cleared.
Roethlisberger, who was placed on the Reserve/COVID List Saturday, was symptom-free on Tuesday -- three days after his initial symptoms -- and took his first test on Tuesday. He'll test again Wednesday morning. Depending on the outcome of those two tests, he could be cleared as soon as then. If either one of those tests is positive, he'll still need two consecutive days of negative tests.
That's why Mike Tomlin was less sure regarding the status of Fitzpatrick. He reported symptoms and tested positive Monday. Players have until 4 p.m. Saturday to be eligible to play Sunday.
That doesn't leave a lot of time to be both symptom-free and then get two negative tests in a 24-hour period.
Which brings us to the Chargers. They placed star defensive end Joey Bosa and starting defensive tackle Jerry Tillery on the Reserve/COVID List Tuesday -- a day after Fitzpatrick went on.
Bosa leads the Chargers with 5.5 sacks, while Tillery has 2.5. Bosa has played 83 percent of Los Angeles' defensive snaps, while Tillery is at 81 percent.
With those two guys playing that much, the Chargers are allowing a league-worst 155.1 yards rushing per game -- nearly 20 yards more than the next-closest team. Without them? Well, let's just say the guys playing behind them can't be better, right?
With Tomlin unsure about getting Fitzpatrick back in time, the Chargers have to be even less sure about Bosa and Tillery given that they went on the COVID list a day later.
Certainly, the Steelers would love to have both Roethlisberger and Fitzpatrick available. And they'll also likely be without All-Pro T.J. Watt, cornerback Joe Haden and guard Kevin Dotson. But the Chargers have issues of their own with which to deal.
• There has been a lot of criticism regarding the Steelers' offensive game plan in the 16-16 tie against the Lions last Sunday, much of it certainly warranted.
One thing that doesn't hold up, however, is simply stating the Steelers threw the ball 50 times and ran it 30. That's looking at things way too simplistically.
Here's the thing, 12 of those passing attempts came in overtime. And of those, 10 came with 3:30 or less remaining in overtime. They should have run their way down the field in that amount of time while trying to win a game?
Najee Harris had two carries in overtime. But that was because the Steelers couldn't stop either turning the ball over or snapping the ball over the head of Mason Rudolph.
Harris finished this game with 30 touches -- 26 carries and four receptions. The Steelers had 28 runs and 37 passes in regulation. Five of those pass attempts came with less than 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter -- again, when the Steelers were trying to get into position to win the game.
Now, you want to argue that it wasn't a great idea to have Rudolph throw three-straight passes on first-and-goal from the 5 in the second quarter, I'm all ears.
But simply pointing at the 50 pass attempts in a vacuum and saying they threw the ball too much is not looking at things fairly. Time was an issue with at least 17 of those pass attempts. And you're trying to win the game.
• The bigger issue is the lack of using anyone else in the running game. Benny Snell got one carry for four yards, while Kalen Ballage was targeted twice with passes, catching neither. Anthony McFarland was not active for this game.
If the Steelers don't trust the backs on their roster not named Najee Harris enough to give them some carries or touches, they shouldn't be on the roster.
And to this point, I've seen nothing that screams that they should trust those running backs.
This team should be scouring the waiver wire for someone -- anyone -- who can spell Harris. And it should be doing so, well, about five weeks ago.
• It won't be a hard sell for Tomlin to get his team to believe it can go to Los Angeles and win against the Chargers with the odds stacked against it.
After all, the Steelers just did it two years ago, heading to Los Angeles and beating the Chargers 24-17 with Duck Hodges at quarterback.
Despite the youth of this team, there are still plenty of guys who were around for that game. Regardless of how you feel about Tomlin, he does have a tendency to do his best work when the chips are down.
That's why, despite the tie on Sunday and all of the issues facing his team, Tomlin seemed pretty loose Tuesday.
"As a competitor — and I'm a competitor, we're competitors — we're all always excited about having an opportunity to smile in the face of adversity," Tomlin said. "The adversity that life in the game of football presents, whether it's injuries or COVID or otherwise, that's just something that always has my attention, something that we're always ready to stand up against. I think about last time we went to L.A. to play these guys. We went out there with Duck Hodges and had a pretty good day. That was then, this is now. We’ve got a big week ahead of us in terms of the work, and obviously, not only are we different, but they're different."
• All of that said, if I'm Tomlin and the Steelers, I'm going all John Travolta, Boy in the Plastic Bubble -- you younger readers can Google it -- with Cam Heyward this week. If the Steelers are down Watt and Fitzpatrick, they absolutely can't afford to have anything happen to Heyward -- not just this week -- but in any week.
• If there was one thing besides the lousy tackling for about a quarter-and-a half that Tomlin seemed particularly fired up about Tuesday, it was the snaps of Kendrick Green.
Asked if he would address it this week, Tomlin was very direct in his response.
"There’s nothing to be on the same page about. Green’s just got to get the snaps down," Tomlin said. "It doesn't require a meeting. It doesn't require schematic adjustments. Certain things are just fundamental, and when you coach and play football at this level, sometimes you can make the simple complex, or you can get too smart. No, we're just going to ask that guy to snap the ball in a proficient professional manner and we're going to move on with our life. We're not going to put the quarterback under center and change our personality or approach that way. It requires nothing from Mason. Mason's got a lot of work ahead of him getting ready to play quarterback, and I think it's reasonable to expect the center to execute shotgun snaps on a consistent basis.
"He didn't in the last game, and so he's got to recenter his focus and do a good job there this week in preparation, but it won't create any additional meetings or planning from us. Just like we expect our guys to tackle better this week and we expect our guys to maintain possession of the ball this week. It won't require any additional meetings or additional points of emphasis. It’s steeped in our culture. It’s fundamental. And so, we'll go in with that understanding."
Given that J.C. Hassenauer stepped in at guard against the Lions and performed well, it wouldn't be shocking to see Green replaced, if even for a short time, if he has another issue that is beyond the normal growing pains.
And snapping the ball over the quarterback's head multiple times would certainly qualify as something beyond normal growing pains.
• Seventeen teams in the NFL have a winning road record heading into this week's games. Just 12 have winning records at home.
Perhaps that will balance out by the end of the season, but maybe it's a trend. After all, home teams held just a 132-123-1 record in 2020.
Much of that was blamed on most stadiums having little to no crowds in the stands. But it's looking like this goes deeper than that.
The Steelers have both a winning record at home and on the road thus far this season. Now, they're just a game over .500 in both instances, and perhaps that will even out. But with wins at Buffalo and Cleveland thus far this season, they're not going to be intimidated going into anyone else's stadium.
• Tomlin also hinted that Ray-Ray McCloud might be on a shorter leash, at least as the team's return man.
"We need more splash in our special teams. I thought they punted 10 or 11 times in-game (10 actually), many of which were open grass scenarios," Tomlin said. "And if you get that number of opportunities in that phase of the game, you'd like to think that you're going to have a significant play in that phase, either a blocked punt or a significant return. We didn't get enough splash in special teams, and that's just an example of what I'm talking about."
McCloud is a turnover waiting to happen as a return man. He nearly coughed the ball up in overtime on one punt return. It makes you long for the days of Ryan Switzer. At least he typically hung onto the football, even if he also almost always called for a fair catch.
And if McCloud isn't the return man, he also probably shouldn't be on the roster. Both Steven Sims and Anthony Miller, who are both on the practice squad, have experience doing both kick and punt returns in the NFL.
Sims was active against the Lions largely because he's been with the team longer.
But Miller, after a slow start on the practice squad, has looked better in recent weeks. It might be time to at least take a long, hard look at elevating him to the active roster.
• With Fitzpatrick likely out this week, it will be interesting to see how the Steelers handle free safety. The guess here is that there will be times that Tre Norwood will be back there. There will be other times when it's Karl Joseph, who will be activated off the practice squad.
One thing I'd do this week, as well, is put Cam Sutton in the slot exclusively when they play nickel.
Why? Keenan Allen.
In nine games this season, Allen has had double-digit targets six times, including in each of the past three games. The Chargers are 1-2 in games in which Allen doesn't get double-digit targets.
After a hot start, Mike Williams, the Chargers' No. 2 receiver, has just 21 targets in the past four games. He's dealing with a knee issue that has slowed him.
In terms of intended air yards, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is 29th at 7.2 per attempt. Now, that's slightly ahead of Roethlisberger, but we all know the Steelers are dinking and dunking.
You don't necessarily expect Herbert, who has a big arm, to be doing that. But Allen thrives at those short passes, which is why the move should be to put Sutton on him as often as possible.
• If Sutton does move inside, that would mean either Justin Layne or Ahkello Witherspoon would be on the outside with James Pierre if Haden misses this game as expected.
Some have wondered why the Steelers would trade for Witherspoon, giving up a 2023 fifth-round draft pick, because he only been active for one game this season. That game came in Week 2 when Haden was out with a groin injury.
This is why.
You can't be too rich, too good looking or have enough cornerback depth.
