The Pittsburgh Steelers began the week with virtually their entire secondary on the injury report. Fortunately for them, the week ended with more answers than questions in that regard.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and cornerback Levi Wallace were deemed cleared to play in Sunday’s game at the Buffalo Bills, via the league-mandated official game status report released after practice Friday. While cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was declared out for the game, as expected, safety Terrell Edmunds was elevated to “questionable” status, which is seen as good news for a player who left last week’s game before halftime because of a head injury and spent the week in NFL concussion protocol.
No. 1 cornerback Cameron Sutton also officially was listed as questionable, but Sutton’s demeanor after practice Friday suggested he is much more likely to play than not.
“Feel good, feeling good,” said Sutton, who has groin and hamstring injuries and was limited at practice all three days this week.
Asked if he was ready to go for Sunday, Sutton said, “Yes sir.”
Pressed if he was limited physically by anything this week, Sutton replied: “What’s ‘limited?’ If I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.”
Who's healthy and who's not on defense as the #Steelers prep for the Bills?https://t.co/rlFPgwUknX
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Wallace has a foot injury that had him limited at practice Wednesday and Thursday, but he was a full participant Friday and ready to go and play a significant role against the team for which he spent his first four NFL seasons.
Fitzpatrick had a knee injury, but he gradually worked his way from sitting out Wednesday’s practice to getting dubbed “limited” Thursday to being full-go Friday.
If Edmunds cannot play, Tre Norwood is expected to start in his place. If Edmunds does play, Norwood will join Arthur Maulet in helping to round out the secondary against the AFC Super Bowl favorites who lead the conference in total offense (412.5 yards per game) and passing offense (297.0 yards per game).
“Whoever’s out there, it’s about getting the job done,” Sutton said. “Whatever the gameplan is, just line up down-in, down-out, whatever the call is, guys understand what they have to do. Our guys have played a lot of different rolls, so we’re just ready to go.”
It was in Buffalo for last season’s opener — his NFL debut as a rookie seventh-round draft pick — that Norwood played 68 snaps, the second most of his career. Norwood joins Sutton, Maulet and, to an extent, Edmunds and Fitzpatrick as players who have lined up at myriad spots and positions in the defensive backfield this season.
“I think you always recruit guys that are, first and foremost, good players and that can do multiple things. They’re not just pigeonholed into one thing,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “That’s really going to come into play this week. It’s going to be, hopefully, helpful for us, and we’ll see how we line up on Sunday and what we’ve got.”
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