Nov 8, 2016 5 min read

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Mike Tomlin had some good news again today on the injury front, which is something the struggling Steelers needed.

Center Maurkice Pouncey had a surgical procedure on his injured right thumb but could return to practice as early as Thursday and play against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday.

Tomlin said the thumb injury isn’t expected to affect Pouncey’s ability to snap the ball.

I saw Pouncey at the team facility on Tuesday morning and he was in good spirits, though he did have his hand wrapped.

As we saw Sunday, backup center B.J. Finney also is dealing with some hand issues, so perhaps Pouncey’s status is less of an issue than what Finney is dealing with.

Tomlin also said that tight end Ladarius Green and linebacker Bud Dupree are moving along nicely as they attempt to come back to play this season.

I would expect Green to be activated and play this week against Dallas. Dallas has been bad covering opposing tight ends this season, giving up 47 receptions for 464 yards and three touchdowns.

That’s on 53 targets, meaning if you throw the ball to your tight end against Dallas, you’re very likely to complete the pass.

By comparison, the Steelers have given up 42 catches for 499 yards and two scores on 65 targets to opposing tight ends. That’s not great, either, but the completion percentage is much lower.

In fact, Dallas’ completion percentage allowed to tight ends of 89 percent is, by far, the worst in the NFL.

Dupree will begin practicing Wednesday, meaning the Steelers will have 21 days in which to evaluate his progress before placing him on the active roster.

He practiced for just two days before shutting things down in training camp with a sports hernia. I would expect the Steelers to use the full three weeks for Dupree, meaning he could be back Dec. 4 against the Giants. But any pass rush help at outside linebacker would be a blessing for the Steelers at this point.

@ Tomlin said that he would not be afraid to have placekicker Chris Boswell attempt his “ribona” onside kick attempt again, despite the fact it failed miserably against the Ravens.

The kick, which calls for the kicker to cross his front foot over at the last second and kick the ball behind his plant leg in the opposite direction is designed to get the receiving team thinking the ball is headed one way – in this case, to the right – when it fact it is going the other.

Tomlin said he has seen Boswell pull it off regularly in practice – as have I – and that his kicker just didn’t execute it when the pressure was on.

“We felt comfortable about allowing him to deliver that kick based on what we’ve seen him do here in practice-like settings,” Tomlin said. “Would I give him the opportunity again? I would, based on what I’ve seen in preparation.”

Onside kicks have been recovered this season by the kicking team six times in 33 attempts this season, but history also shows that when the other team knows you’re going onside, that rate declines greatly.

The trick, it would seem, is to not get into those kind of situations.

@ Tomlin, who often says he does not live in his fears, admitted to doing so against the Ravens when asked why the Steelers didn’t open things up offensively earlier in the game.

Tomlin said the Steelers were concerned about putting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in situations where the Ravens could take a lot of free shots at him. So they leaned heavily on their running game, which, as we now know, was going nowhere.

But early in that game, Roethlisberger was forced to scramble to his right and throw on the run, showing he was capable of moving well in the pocket.

The Ravens are a team that works hard to slam the run on first and second downs to keep opponents in third-and-long and then blitz or show blitz on third downs.

In attempting to protect Roethlisberger, and living in their fears, the Steelers played into the hands of Baltimore.

But the Steelers always expect a knock-down, drag-out game against Baltimore every time they play and go against their own strengths.

Le’Veon Bell is certainly a strength. He’s one of the best running backs in the league.

But the Steelers are at their best when they’re in no-huddle mode, keeping the defense guessing. And Pittsburgh didn’t go with that style of attack until it was down 21-0 early in the fourth quarter.

Because the Steelers were living in their fears.

When you expect a knock-down, drag-out battle and play that way, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

@ Tomlin acknowledged, of course, that penalties have been an issue the past two games, as Pittsburgh has drawn 23 in losses to New England and Baltimore.

But it should also be noted – for all the people out there saying this is an undisciplined team – that the Steelers are, after Monday night’s game, tied for 19th in the league in terms of penalties called against them with 55. Oakland leads the league with 94.

Have the penalties been high the past two games? Certainly.

But it’s not as big an issue as some would have you believe. And remember, Baltimore drew 10 penalties in that game.

Some crews are just more prone to calling a lot of penalties. And if you play a game those crews are officiating, you get that kind of sloppy game.

That’s an NFL issue more than it is a Steelers issue.