The Steelers have received positive updates regarding injuries. Shortly after it was reported that star linebacker TJ Watt may not have had a completely torn pectoral muscle, news broke that Pro Bowl driving Najee Harris should be good for Sunday’s game against the Patriots after tests on his knee came back negative, according to ESPN. Harry, during an interview with Adam Schein of CBS Sports, said his foot is fine now and plans to practice this week and also play in Sunday’s game.
Both players sustained injuries during the second half of Sunday’s overtime win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Harris had 12 hits on Sunday, including Pittsburgh’s first offensive touchdown of the season on a one-yard pass from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Watt, the reigning defensive player of the year, scored six tackles (three for a loss), a sack and an interception before leaving the game.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged during his Tuesday press conference that Harris has expressed optimism regarding Sunday play. That said, Tomlin said the team will do what’s best for both sides when it comes to Harris’ standings against New England.
“It’s good to be young,” Tomlin said of Harris’s optimism. “He seems to be positioned” [to play], but he will have to practice and prove his willingness. That’s just my perspective. He’s a talented guy, but he’s a young guy. And so I’m going to see some of his work. We will watch him day by day and see where that leads us in terms of his participation and the quality of that participation. As always, we’ll just do what’s right for him and for us.”
A lower body injury kept Harris sidelined for a significant portion of the training camp. He subjected himself to a grueling training regimen when he returned from that injury, which included doing extra cardio that lasted up to an hour after training camp exercises. Harris was gearing up for another potentially heavy workload this season after lugging 395 yards in 18 games (including the postseason) as a rookie.
“I just want to be prepared for whatever is presented to me during the season,” Harris said: during the last week of camp. “So when it’s a heavy workload I want to be prepared for that. I was down for two weeks. I went back a little bit in fitness but I did a lot of swimming, hills, extra running, even the plays after training, just extra running . Any way to stay in shape.”
The Steelers will face a Patriots defense this Sunday that enabled the Dolphins to snag just 65 yards on 23 carries in their Week 1 20-7 loss. In a losing effort, the Patriots defense set up a solid result. They let the dolphins pick up just 18 first downs and a total of 307 yards. New England also held Miami at just 6 of 14 on the third downs.
While they left Cincinnati with a win, the Steelers’ offense struggled to get much going against the Bengals’ defense. In 70 minutes of playtime, the Steelers’ offense amassed just 13 first downs (compared to the Bengals’ 32) and 267 total yards. Pittsburgh ran just 75 yards on 22 carries, with receiver Chase Claypool being the team’s leading rusher with 36 yards on six attempts.
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