Pittsburgh — Due to a knee injury, star outside linebacker T.J. Watt of the Steelers will not be available for Sunday’s wild-card game against the Buffalo Bills, coach Mike Tomlin revealed on Tuesday.
“Obviously, it’s important to play without T.J., but to be really honest, we’ve played without a lot of guys this year,” Tomlin stated. It’s just another chance for us to deliver a blow to the concept of a team and show what it truly means—a group of people who collaborate to achieve a goal. In order to replace T.J., it won’t be a one-man job. It’s going to be a by committee, just like I stood in front of you and said similar things when Cameron Heyward missed a stretch of games.
T.J. is unique, so we should improve our productivity in other areas, but that’s just it. It involves a component of attrition. It’s the best team game because of this.
Mason Rudolph will start at quarterback in Sunday’s playoff game, Tomlin also revealed. Since Rudolph was named the starting quarterback, the Steelers have won three straight games. In the 2017 Camping World Bowl, Rudolph made his postseason debut as Oklahoma State’s quarterback and was voted the game’s MVP after throwing for 351 yards and two touchdowns.
“We’re not going to upset the apple cart; we’re just sticking with what works,” Tomlin remarked. “We’ve encountered some challenging situations. We’ve delivered, he’s delivered, and we’ll keep doing so.
Watt suffered a knee injury during the Baltimore Ravens game on Saturday. The precise nature of Watt’s injury has not been disclosed by the team. Former pass rusher J.J. Watt revealed on social media on Sunday that his brother required a “couple weeks of rest/recovery” due to a Grade 2 MCL sprain.
The Steelers are 1-10 when T.J. Watt isn’t playing, despite leading the NFL in sacks this season with 19. Watt was chosen in the first round of the 2017 draft.
In Watt’s place on Saturday were rookie Nick Herbig and Markus Golden, who forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal on their final drive with a sack of quarterback Tyler Huntley.
To be quite honest with you, I hadn’t given it much thought that T.J. wouldn’t be there, but we have depth at the position, Tomlin stated. “For this reason, we carefully sought for and bought Markus Golden. It is the reason we choose Herbig. We’ve reached that point as deeply as we have in a while. We feel at ease with the depth’s quality.
Tomlin expressed optimism on the return of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who hasn’t been in a game since suffering a knee injury against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15, even if Watt won’t be playing for the Steelers. The return of safety Damontae Kazee, who was suspended for the final three regular-season games for repeatedly breaking the rules to preserve player health and safety following a hit to Michael Pittman Jr. that resulted in a concussion for the Colts receiver, is also expected to provide the Steelers another lift.
Each year gets harder than the last. I’m not even close to the player I once was. Jalen Hurts improves our collective appearance and facilitates my work greatly. It will only get worse, and whether you can execute at that level and be accountable to your teammates, as well as if you have the mental stamina to be the difference-maker I believe I am in that regard, will all play a part.
Encouraged by his quarterback’s performance, he made the decision to try again, hoping that this time he would be able to stand on the mountaintop, or more accurately, on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, dressed as a Mummer.
It was not to be, though. The Eagles’ lackluster 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent them out of the playoffs in the wild-card round.
As the last few seconds passed, Kelce became emotional. According to sources who spoke with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, when he got to the locker room, he informed his teammates that it was his last game.