The Steelers began their preparation for Sunday's game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, a relatively healthy team, something that comes with it being Week 1 of the season.
"Thankfully, as we sit here today, and really just based on the structure of the preseason and how it's set up, it is done so that we all get an opportunity to move into the season as healthy as possible," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "Not having a game last weekend helps that."
Rookie No. 1 pick Derrick Harmon is the only player who has been ruled out for the game. Harmon suffered a sprained knee in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers.
With Harmon out, expect multiple players to step up and do their part, something that isn't that far from the norm on the defensive line early in the season.
"It's going to be a committee of people, but I would imagine it would have been a committee of people if he were available," said Tomlin. "We generally play a lot of D-linemen, particularly early in the season, due to lack of conditioning and potential heat and so forth.
"And so, not only us, but globally speaking, this time of year, most teams play a lot of bigs up front defensively so that fatigue doesn't become a factor, particularly down the stretch in the football game."
The only other player Tomlin mentioned regarding and injury is linebacker Nick Herbig, who he characterized as questionable at this portion of the week. Herbig was limited in practice on Wednesday.
"He had a really good day (Monday)," said Tomlin. "We'll leave the door ajar for him and see where work leads us during the course of the week. Certainly, his participation, and the quality of his participation, will be the key variables in terms of our decision making, whether we choose to use him or not."
Other players who missed time during the preseason due to injuries, including linebacker Alex Highsmith and receiver Calvin Austin III, are on the road back to playing in Week 1.
"Other than those two instances (Harmon and Herbig), we're largely a healthy group," said Tomlin. "Certainly, we had some bumps and bruises associated with preseason work. And some people have been non-participants in games. Some of it due to injury; some of it due to precaution.
"Some of those guys have been working their way back. Alex Highsmith for example, and others. But we don't anticipate any of those guys' availability being questionable. You can include Calvin Austin, for example, in that discussion.
"We've got a relatively healthy group. I'm excited about that. We had some really good quality work (Monday) working on some football conditioning."
The full practice report is below.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 1
Wednesday, September 3
No. 51 LB Nick Herbig (Hamstring) - Limited
No. 99 DT Derrick Harmon (Knee) - DNP
New York Jets Participation/Injury Report, Week 2
Wednesday, September 3
No. 1 CB Sauce Gardner (Fibula) - Limited
No. 2 QB Tyrod Taylor (Knee) - Limited
No. 75 G Alijah Vera-Tucker (Tricep) - DNP
No. 79 OL Chukwuma Okorfaor (Hand) - DNP
