By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com
The Steelers came away from the Broncos game with a huge win and also relatively healthy.
The only injury reported by Coach Mike Tomlin at his weekly news conference on Tuesday was a hamstring injury to fullback Carey Davis.
"I don't have an update on him but I can pretty much imagine it's going to be tough for him to participate this week," said Tomlin. "Usually when you pop a hamstring and you're unable to come back in a football game, very rarely are you capable to participate the next week."
Tomlin didn't have any other injury updates, as the team just got back from Denver hours earlier and the training room was barely open yet.
"Not much clarity in terms of injury issues; just hadn't been back in town long enough," said Tomlin. "I'm sure as the afternoon wears on we'll hear about minor bumps and bruises during the football game."
Two players everyone wanted to hear about were linebacker Lawrence Timmons and defensive end Travis Kirschke, who both missed the Broncos game with injuries.
"I don't know at this point, and really, don't know because we haven't had an opportunity to visit with those guys since we've returned from Denver. I'd imagine that they're going to be closer."
Injuries or not, Tomlin will take it easy at the start of the week on some of the veterans as they prepare for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, making sure their bodies have time to rebound from the Monday night game.
"We've got our work cut out for us. We got a short week in which to do it," said Tomlin. "Preparation is going to be quality based instead of quantity based. Coming off a road game on Monday night, might exercise some precaution and protect some veteran players tomorrow, I can anticipate doing that, but we've got to get ready. We've got a big game at home."
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Rashard Mendenhall continues to impress, especially after his 155-yard performance at Denver, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement and the sky is the limit with this young running back.
"I think he's doing a nice job of seeing blocks develop, and very rarely is he missing holes," said Tomlin. "The vision aspect of the game that has very little to do with physical skill, I think he's doing a nice job of. I think he's finishing off runs. I think that when he gets into the second level, into the secondary, he's doing a nice job of making what could be 8 to 10-yard runs into 20 to 25-yard runs. That speaks to his pedigree and what he's capable of doing.
"But I'm sure Rashard will agree with me when I say that he can grow in all aspects and areas of his game. This is a young guy. The more he plays, he's going to improve. The more he walks into this building, right-minded, ready to work, on a daily basis, the more he will improve. We like what we're getting from him with regards to that."
