TOMLIN'S INJURY UPDATE
"Le'Veon Bell wasn't played in the game, because he had some swelling on his knee. Maybe it was an accumulation of a week's work. Maybe it was a result of the plane flight, but it was my decision. I decided to exercise caution and not play him in the game. He had fluid on his knee when we got to the stadium, and I also took into consideration the surface we'd be playing on and decided to go with the guys with the clean bill of health. I thought that gave us the best chance to win. I fully expect him to be a complete participant this week and participate for us in the game now that all of those things are behind him.
"We're excited about Darrius Heyward-Bey (foot) taking another step forward in participation this week and seeing where that participation might take us. He was running full speed in a straight line last week, and we're going to do some unanticipated directional changes this week and check his football readiness. Hopefully, we have him. Robert Golden could be put in that category as well as he works back from his knee injury.
"Some in-game injuries to talk about: Stephon Tuitt has a knee sprain. That has been evaluated. He actually is downstairs rehabilitating right now. He'll have an opportunity this week. We'll watch him participate over the course of the week and see what that participation looks like. Obviously the position that he plays gives him an opportunity, and it would probably be less likely if he were a wide receiver or a cornerback but such is life in football. We'll give him an opportunity to show his overall readiness.
"Same thing with Ricardo Mathews. He sustained an ankle injury in the game, and he was able to come back in the game in different spurts and finish for us. And we appreciate his willingness to contribute and what he provided for us. We'll watch him this week. He'll probably be limited in the early stages.
"Anthony Chickillo had an ankle injury. You can ditto the same things I said about Ricardo for Chickillo. He was able to finish the game and be a core special teams contributor, but he was limited. We'll watch him this week. The last one is Ladarius Green. He's in the concussion protocol. He's at the UPMC Concussion Clinic right now being evaluated, so I don't have an update on him. We'll follow the protocol to the letter, as we always do, and keep you guys informed as to his status. And as often is the case, his participation or level of participation is an indication of where it's going or where it's maybe not going. We'll be prepared to make necessary adjustments that include him or exclude him, depending on where those winds take us."
