Derrick Harmon is not the only Pittsburgh Steelers starter about who coach Mike Tomlin believes “certainly has got a chance this week to come back” from injury. Veteran safety Kyle Dugger also could, as well, after he did not play in this past Sunday’s win at the Baltimore Ravens.
As is his unofficial policy, Tomlin declined to speculate on the status of players in NFL concussion protocol, of which this week the Steelers have three who left the victory against the Ravens: fill-in left tackle Andrus Peat, inside linebacker Malik Harrison and tight end Darnell Washington.
Peat was the third left tackle to play in a three-game span; Broderick Jones (neck) is on injured reserve and Calvin Anderson (knee) is out again this week. Fourth-string Dylan Cook remains on the practice squad but is the next man up if Peat is not cleared.
Tomlin said cornerback James Pierre (calf) and wide receiver Ben Skowronek (finger) will be limited at practice early in the week but should be able to play against the Dolphins.
Metcalf ‘fine’
Tomlin said that No. 1 receiver DK Metcalf is “moving in the right direction” after a stomach ailment compelled the team to leave him behind a night in Baltimore instead of taking off on the team plane home.
Metcalf got evaluated at a Baltimore hospital but was released and returned to Pittsburgh on Monday.
“I don’t think it’s going to jeopardize his (game) availability at all, but it certainly may jeopardize his availability at the early portions of the week from a practice standpoint,” Tomlin said. “But thankfully, he’s fine. I’m appreciative of our medical staff and how quickly they acted in making sure that he was safe and taking care of him post-game.”
Tomlin said Metcalf sustained a hit in the abdominal area and during the game was given some over-the-counter stomach remedies.
“Like Pepto, or something like that,” Tomlin said. “(The pain) got probably progressively worse after the game, and so I’m appreciative of our medical experts. We just exercised an abundance of precaution. We didn’t want to get him in the air without having a complete understanding about what he was dealing with, and they did a good job of that.”
