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Ben Did Not Refute Report of Early Return

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 8 years ago

Good morning,

A report by Jason LaCanfora of CBS that Ben Roethlisberger is on track to return to play against Kansas City Oct. 25 was not necessarily refuted by the quarterback on his 93.7 The Fan radio visit Tuesday as others seemed to believe.

All Roethlisberger said about the report was that it did not “come from me or our doctors.’’ He never said it was not true.

“We know that people like to just speculate and say things,’’ Roethlisberger said. “So, they did not come from me, the Steelers or any of our doctors, more importantly.'’

Yes, but is it true?

It all remains conjecture until Roethlisberger actually returns to practice and play. Here’s more speculation: He will return the week of Nov. 2, after the Steelers play Cincinnati at home Nov. 1. That would be smack in the middle of the 4-6 week prognosis originally reported to us because he will have missed five games.

Onto some other stuff:

--- Mike Tomlin gave linebacker Jarvis Jones one big vote of confidence on Tuesday and explained why he might not have the stats to back up his opinion:

“I think he’s been solid. I like the violence in which he is playing. His hands have been heavy. He’s done a nice job in the run game. He hasn’t necessarily produced the numbers from a pressure or sack standpoint yet. We have been doing some things, particularly in the two weeks prior to Thursday’s game, that really minimized his rush opportunities. We would bring the left outside linebackers probably three to four times more often than the right outside linebackers.

“Such is life. We are going to do things that give us a chance to win. Over the course of 16-plus games, I’m sure that will even itself out and he’ll have an opportunity to represent himself in that area. I am not disappointed by his performance by any stretch.”

--- Those minimized rush opportunities on the right side, though, do not explain why Jones has no quarterback pressures while James Harrison, who rotates with him on that side, has five to go with a sack and, with 15 tackles, six more than Jones. Those five pressures by Harrison lead the team.

--- That sack of Joe Flacco left Harrison with 70.5 career sacks, only their second player to ever hit 70. Jason Gildon is the career leader with 77.

--- With 14 sacks, the Steelers are on pace to get 56, which would dwarf the 33 they had last season, top the 51 they had during their last Super Bowl-winning season of 2008, and top their team record of 55 set in 1994 and tied in 2001.

Will it continue and what does it mean, since all those sacks have helped produce nothing more than a 2-2 record? The Steelers sacked Joe Flacco five times last Thursday.

“Ultimately, I believe your ability to pressure the quarterback is measured by your ability to rush with four,’’ Tomlin said. “We didn’t do that a lot in the [Baltimore] game. We usually brought more than four, but that was the game plan. As we move forward, we obviously want to establish a good, consistent rush that’s steeped in the four-man principle.”

--- Iron Man I: William Gay played in his 132nd straight game, the longest streak among cornerbacks still active in the NFL.

--- Iron Man II: Lawrence Timmons played in his 73rd consecutive game, the fifth-longest among active NFL linebackers.

--- If Ross Cockrell continues to play well, does Kevin Colbert and his staff get the credit for finding him after Buffalo cut its 2014 fourth-round pick to offset the fourth-round rookie the Steelers cut this year in cornerback Doran Grant?