Steelers Notebook: Harrison cleared to play Sunday; Spaeth hobbled with thigh bruise
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Linebacker James Harrison, carried off Heinz Field three days ago on a straight board with a neck injury, may play against San Francisco on Sunday.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Harrison has nothing more than a stiff neck. Harrison may miss a practice or two but has a chance to return to his starting job at right outside linebacker.
"We may limit him in some way tomorrow, but he has a clean bill of health, so we look forward to moving forward with him," Tomlin said yesterday at his news conference.
Harrison, who replaced the departed Joey Porter on defense, leads the team with 1 1/2 sacks.
Tomlin said the only other player with an injury of note from their 26-3 victory against Buffalo Sunday was rookie tight end Matt Spaeth with a bruised thigh.
"When you are 6-7 and catch balls on the fly, people are going to hit you in the thigh," Tomlin said. "That is how they tackle you. He has to get accustomed and used to that and how to defend himself in those situations. He will be limited some. We will see where he is tomorrow.
"But as of right now, he is going to be limited a little bit, particularly at the top part of the work week tomorrow. Other than that, we are a healthy football team."
Tainted kickoff return
Tomlin took the blame for not asking for a replay when Buffalo's Terrence McGee stepped out of bounds at the Bills' 35 on way to a 63-yard return of the second half's opening kickoff. It led to the Bills' only three points of the game.
TV replays did not show him stepping out of bounds until after the next play -- too late to challenge. And no one, apparently, brought it to Tomlin's attention.
"I was preoccupied trying to figure out what the breakdown was," Tomlin said, laughing. "It happened on the far sideline. I didn't realize the guy was that close to being out of bounds, or my line of questioning would have been different with the people I was communicating with. ... I was asking probably the wrong questions at the wrong time."
Red zone concerns
The Steelers failed to score a touchdown all four times they got inside Buffalo's 20 in the first half Sunday, although they did score touchdowns twice in the red zone in the second half.
Tomlin said it's not so much what they did but how they did it.
"Situational football is important. We have to have a finisher's attitude down there, and really, it's not that we need to change anything we're doing. We just need to continue to do what we're doing and do it better, and finish."
Kudos for blockers
Tomlin praised the play of left tackle Marvel Smith against Buffalo defensive end Aaron Schobel, the blocking of fullback Carey Davis and the play of right tackle Willie Colon up to a point.
On Smith: "Marvel did an excellent job against Schobel over at the left tackle. We identified that as a critical matchup in the game."
On Davis: "He does a nice job of sticking on people in space, sifting through traffic and getting on guys he's supposed to get on. He's growing every week and we look forward to him continuing to do that."
On Colon: "I think he has played well. Is he capable of playing better? Absolutely. Last week we challenged him to finish. I think he is a better finisher than what he is showing us right now, particularly in the latter part of the football game. I think one of the defining elements in his game is the way he finishes off blocks. He is a very good competitor in that way. He was better this week. The quality of his play has definitely been acceptable. We are pleased with where he is and all he is going to do is continue to get better."
Still going strong
Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu has six total tackles in two games, 11th on the team. Because of it, some people have raised alarms that his play has fallen off. Tomlin laughed that off.
"Troy is as good as advertised, no question," Tomlin said.
Polamalu leads the team in passes defensed with three.
49ers have local flavor
The San Francisco 49ers' coaching staff contains three members with Western Pennsylvania connections, including offensive coordinator Jim Hostler, a Bethel Park native who played at IUP. Their quarterbacks coach is Frank Cignetti Jr., who played and coached at IUP for his father and coached at Pitt. The defensive line coach is Jim Tomsula, a Homestead native.
First Published September 19, 2007 12:00 am
