While safety Ryan Clark is not expected to play in Monday night's game in Denver, there will be no official confirmation from him or coach Mike Tomlin on his status before the game.

The Steelers will not release any kind of public statement on Clark's availability and will leave the question to be answered when they face the Broncos at 8:30 p.m. at Invesco Field. Clark, though, sounded like a player who wasn't going to play when he was asked about his status yesterday after practice.

"This is not about me," said Clark, whose rare sickle-cell trait can be complicated by high altitudes. "It's two good teams playing on Monday. Whether I play or not, the game is going to go on, and that's what I do know. They won't stop the game if I don't play.

"I just want to deal with it and get it over with. I can honestly say, I'll be happy Tuesday morning to get back to a regular life."

Ed Bouchette's blog on the Steelers and Gerry Dulac's Steelers chats are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.