Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin met the media Friday morning for his pregame press conference for the game Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts at Heinz Field.
Tomlin refused to rule out any players for the game, but it is obvious that both tackle Max Starks (knee), punter Jeremy Kapinos (back) and running back Isaac Redman (groin) will not play. Kapinos, who reportedly was kicking around a socccer ball on Thursday, might even kick a football on Friday according to Tomlin. Tomlin also said that linebacker Sean Spence (ankle) is expected to practice on Friday.
When asked to give an update on linebacker James Harrison (knee) following his scope procedure that was done Wednesday morning, Tomlin said he didn\’t have one.
The quarterback rotation against the Colts will be Ben Roethlisberger followed by Charlie Batch and Jerrod Johnson, who Tomlin says he wants to get another good look at. In regard to Johnson, Tomlin said that he is a young guy that is showing the growth and development that young guys show. He noted that he is sharp and attentive with a desire to be great and that he has had his good and bad moments in camp. Byron Leftwich is not expected to play Sunday. When asked about the possibility of keeping two quarterbacks instead of three this year, Tomlin would only say that there are four guys fighting for three positions, which means he will likely once again keep three on the 53 man roster.
The return rotation for the Colts game according to Tomlin will be Chris Rainey, David Gilreath and Marquis Maze.
When asked about the performance of Colts quarterback Andrew Luck in his first preseason game, Tomlin said that he thought that Luck played really well and that he did not mean just for a rookie.
As far as what Tomlin is looking for in the Steelers second preseason game, he said that he would like to see a significant step made in quality of play, from both individually and collectively standpoint. He is also looking for an understanding of situational football and the team excelling in it.
When asked if there was one guy in particular that he thought opened eyes this year in camp that nobody knew about ahead of time, Tomlin said, “No!”
