Sorely missed Steelers rookie is one step closer to making a return at the perfect time ahead of Monday Night Football
The Steelers need as much help as they can get ahead of a heavy rushing attack coming to Acrisure.
The Pittsburgh Steelers may have gotten the win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, but it was more of the same on defense, and primarily on the ground. In back-to-back weeks now, the Steelers have let up over 200 rushing yards.
That has been commonplace ever since rookie DT Derrick Harmon suffered a knee injury that has kept him out of the lineup, and it could certainly be the case yet again on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins and their red-hot rush offense. According to Mike Tomlin, however, Harmon will be doing something he hasn’t in weeks.
Derrick Harmon expected to return to practice ahead of Dolphins game
“Derrick Harmon will be limited at the early portions of the week and we’ll let the amount of participation and how quickly it picks up, and the quality of that participation as we go through the week determine whether or not he’s available,” said Mike Tomlin during his weekly presser on the Steelers YouTube Channel. “Certainly excited about an additional day as it pertains to him.”
The Steelers have allowed, on average, 191 yards on the ground when Harmon does not play. In games that he does play? Just 91 yards. If you knock off 100 yards on the ground with one player, that goes to show you how important that one player is to the Steelers’ defense.
Should it be that way? Definitely not. But against a Dolphins team that has been hammering the run as of late, I think it’s safe to say that Harmon’s availability will go a long way in determining who wins the game on Monday.
Other Steelers injuries and updates
“Certainly, we have several guys in the concussion protocol. We’ll let that process run its course and the medical experts will be center stage in determining availability of those guys,” added Tomlin.
“Those guys are [Andrus] Peat, Malik Harrison, Darnell Washington. We have some other guys who got banged up during the course of play. Keeanu Benton had an ankle. He was able to go back and finish. I’m sure that will limit him some at the early portions of this week. James Pierre suffered a calf injury. He was able to finish but could impact him at the early portions of this week. Ben Skowronek, Yahya Black, and some others. Kyle Dugger has a chance to come back this week from his hand injury, and the rest are bumps and bruises associated with play.”
As for DK Metcalf, despite his trip to the hospital, Coach Tomlin expects him to be good to go Monday, even if he’s unlikely to practice early on. The extra day will work wonders for everyone in Pittsburgh.
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