The Pittsburgh Steelers got back on track in Week 5 with a convincing 38-17 win over the Tennessee Titans. The win came as a surprise to some fans and pundits who were expecting Pittsburgh to struggle thanks to multiple changes to the active roster on both sides of the ball. Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars will be no different in that regard.
On offense, Jonathan Scott will start at right tackle in favor of the still-injured Marcus GIlbert according to Scott Brown. Scott played well last week in relief of Gilbert last week. The rookie OT re-aggravated his shoulder injury and did not return.
Staying along the offensive line, the Steelers have also ruled out Chris Kemoeatu due to a lingering knee injury. In all likelihood, Doug Legursky will get his second consecutive start at left guard.
At running back, the Steelers will welcome Rashard Mendenhall back to the fold. Bruce Arians said Mendenhall’s hamstring is fully healed and that he’ll be reincorporated into the game plan fully this Sunday:
“Rashard’s the man. He’s ready to go and everything will be back to normal.”
I’m not surprised to hear this. Even though Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer looked fairly good last Sunday while Mendenhall’s hamstring was healing, Mendenhall certainly has more upside as a big-play runner. I think the week off will make him eager as can be to play well after a sluggish start to his 2011 season.
We’ll see if Jonathan Dwyer gets a helmet again this week. Arians said that Mewelde Moore will likely miss the Jaguars game, but has not been ruled out just yet.