Steelers: Adjustments after error and key absences; Highsmith out

Steelers rookie Kaleb Johnson “probably” won’t be returning kicks in Week 3 following his special teams blunder during Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks. Coach Mike Tomlin announced this on Tuesday. Johnson, apparently believing the play would stop, allowed Jason Myers’ kickoff to bounce over his head and into the end zone in the final quarter. However, according to the new NFL rules, any ball that lands between the goal line and the 20-yard line and enters the end zone must be returned or downed by the receiving team. Otherwise, it’s a live ball. George Holani, Seahawks backup running back, recovered the ball near the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

I will certainly give Johnson the opportunity to recover from that. I believe in his talent. He’s a smart young man. He’s a hard worker, so we’re leaving the door open for him. We’re giving him the opportunity to move forward, but he has to do it.

Mike Tomlin

Tomlin also added:

He has to prove it with his daily work and he will earn the position to participate again, so we’ll see where this takes us. I’m open to it, certainly.

Mike Tomlin

Although Kenneth Gainwell is the other return man for the Steelers, Tomlin said he hasn’t decided on potential replacements for Johnson. During the preseason, the Steelers also used running back Trey Sermon, now on the practice squad, as a kick returner. Second-year receiver Roman Wilson has some experience after returning some punts at Michigan. After the game, Johnson expressed his regret for the mistake.

I only made one mistake. You have to accept it, move on, and keep improving every day.

Kaleb Johnson

The Steelers haven’t practiced since Sunday’s loss, but Tomlin said he expects to see Johnson’s response and growth following the incident.

You have to be a man, you have to recognize the deficiencies and then you have to work to overcome them. And it’s my job as a leader to provide that opportunity.

Mike Tomlin

Tomlin continued: … Forget what you say, it’s about how you progress in terms of your work, the level of detail and the consistency of it. And, certainly, we will be watching that closely as we move forward this week. The Steelers will also be without several defensive players due to injuries. Both outside linebacker Alex Highsmith and defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk have been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots due to ankle sprains, and Loudermilk is expected to miss several weeks. The availability of Derrick Harmon (medial collateral ligament sprain), DeShon Elliott (knee), and Joey Porter Jr. (hamstring) is considered “questionable at best,” Tomlin said. Inside linebacker Patrick Queen (oblique) and cornerback Darius Slay (shoulder) suffered injuries against the Seahawks, but Tomlin was optimistic about their availability for Sunday. Due to those injuries, the Steelers’ schemes were limited and contributed to Seattle gaining 395 offensive yards. Tomlin commented:

Our defense wore down a bit, especially as the game went on. … Our lines weakened at several points in the game. I think we felt the effects of that.

Mike Tomlin

And he added:

Certainly, we were somewhat limited with some of the schemes we would like to implement, because we had new people there and we are relatively new this season. We weren’t as good as I would like in terms of our mid-way adjustments in terms of some of those things.

Mike Tomlin