Ramon Foster's injured right knee won't require surgery, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed after practice today, but Tomlin also didn't want to "frame" a timetable for Foster's return.
"We'll see when he gets back," Tomlin said.
In the meantime, third-year pro B.J. Finney is the new starting left guard.
"Kinda the same way you'd approach games, next man up for right now," Finney said. "It's going to be great opportunities for me to work against (defensive end) Cam (Heyward) and (defensive end Stephon) Tuitt and some of the other guys. It is what it is, an opportunity.
"This is just another day for me in my job."
Finney started for Foster twice last season, on Oct. 15 at Kansas City and on Dec. 25 at Houston. Running back Le'Veon Bell carried 32 times for 179 yards against the Chiefs and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wasn't sacked and tied his second-highest passer rating of the season (115.0) against the Texans.
Finney also started twice for Foster in 2016 and Bell rushed for a combined 380 yards (144 against the Chiefs and a team-record 236 against the Bills).
The Steelers won all four games.
"It's not a new thing for me so yes, I know that I can play at this level and I know I can do a good job filling in when I have to fill in," said Finney, who signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie out of Kansas State in 2015. "I'm not worried about my mentality in the slightest."
As a rookie, "I was anxious and nervous, a lot more than I am now," Finney continued. "I still get the jitters and the bugs every time you go out and play. That lets you know that you care and you want to be good."
Finney said he'll rely on what he always has in Foster's absence.
"Technique, just making sure I'm in the right spot and making sure that I put myself in a position to win," he said. "I don't want the other guys to suffer from me coming in. My mentality is to always make sure I'm not going to bring anybody down or hold anybody up."
MEDICAL FILE: "We had a number of guys go off with a variety of injuries or ailments today," Tomlin said after the fourth practice of training camp.
The list included wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (undisclosed), outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi (undisclosed), safety Sean Davis (groin), outside linebacker T.J. Watt (hamstring) and tight end Vance McDonald (foot).
Safety Morgan Burnett didn't practice for the third consecutive day (hamstring).
"Don't know the severity of any of these," Tomlin said. "Such is life this time of year."
THAT'S ONE: Safety Terrell Edmunds came up with his first interception in 11-on-11 work when he tipped a pass from Roethlisberger to McDonald and then collected the deflection. Edmunds, the Steelers' No. 1 pick, got his hands on a lot of balls but didn't intercept any passes in OTAs or mandatory veteran minicamp.
POPPIN' THE PADS: Cornerback Dashaun Phillips apparently craves contact. He blasted fullback Roosevelt Nix after a sideways completion, slammed into running back James Summers and dragged wide receiver Tevin Jones to the ground after a catch on consecutive snaps in an 11-on-11, non-tackling drill.
Phillips (5-foot-11, 186 pounds) also clotheslined wide receiver Marcus Tucker along the sideline late in the final 11-on-11 "Team" period of the day.
At that juncture Tomlin advised Phillips to "play the ball."
"My bad," Phillips said.
EXTRA POINTS: The defense won "Seven Shots," 4-3. The offense converted on a lob from Roethlisberger to Nix off a bootleg, on a catch by wide receiver Justin Hunter from Roethlisberger, and when quarterback Mason Rudolph found Smith-Schuster on a slant … Position work included "Backs-on-'Backers" (and tight ends) in a pass route/pass coverage drill, and the wide receivers/defensive backs version of the "Oklahoma Drill" (blocking/getting off blocks) … Roethlisberger twice took advantage of completely uncovered targets (tight end Xavier Grimble and Tucker) for long completions in 11-on-11 work … Safety Marcus Allen also had an interception (of quarterback Joshua Dobbs).
