Sep 19, 2013 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – The Steelers spent much of the preseason and training camp working on expanding their offensive playbook to include outside zone plays in the running game.

Through two games, however, the Steelers have run the outside zone once. And that particular play, the eighth offensive snap in the opener against Tennessee, was a disaster.

As the linemen moved to the outside, guard David DeCastro attempted to cut block a Tennessee defender and wound up taking out center Maurkice Pouncey’s knee, ending his season with a torn ACL.

But at 0-2 and having rushed for 75 total yards, the Steelers are ready to try anything to reverse their fortunes when they host Chicago (2-0) at Heinz Field Sunday night.

“We had been working on the outside zone scheme so much, we kind of got away from the other stuff,” said right tackle Marcus Gilbert. “We got away from it after Pouncey went down. I think once we use that, it will open up the game, going to play-action or whatever. We have to identify ourselves as an offensive line. We want to be a great run team.”

So far, they haven’t even been a mediocre running team.

Guard Ramon Foster doesn’t want to hear any excuses about Pouncey going down or the relative lack of experience among the group – neither left tackle Mike Adams nor DeCastro have ever played a full season. Foster wants results.

“We can’t be nice guys up front. We’ve got to be (jerks) and elbows,” Foster said. “That’s just how we have to be.

“Nobody’s rookies any more. I don’t think we can use the excuse of people being young and not understanding. We’ve just got to have a different mentality. We have to get it done. There are no excuses.”

Gilbert, for one, thinks a return to the outside zone scheme, which allows the running back to pick his hole rather than being limited to one running lane, could help.

“As an offensive linemen, you have to love that play because the defender doesn’t know where the ball is going,” Gilbert said. “If you see the guard pulling, you know we’re going A-gap. You could maybe bounce it outside, but most of the time, we’re going inside. Teams know who we are. They’ve studied us for years. We just have to get this outside zone scheme going to free up our receivers.”

A bonus for the Steelers is that center Fernando Velasco, signed to replace Pouncey, ran plenty of outside zone runs when he was with Tennessee, which used the scheme a lot with speedy running back Chris Johnson.

Velasco, who started against Cincinnati earlier this week despite having just a week of practice with the Steelers under his belt, knows more about running the outside zone than anyone else on the roster.

“He was coaching us up on it. We were like, ‘Wow, you did run it with C.J. and it was pretty good for him.’ He’s familiar with what’s going on,” Gilbert said. “He’s coaching us up with it because we’re brand new to it. We just need to get better at it. I feel like in the preseason when we ran it, we got pretty good yards. That’s what we’re looking for.”

A change at running back could also be coming.

Rookie Le’Veon Bell returned to practice in a full capacity Thursday after sitting out the past month with a mid-foot sprain. Bell, for whom the Steelers put the outside zone running scheme in place after selecting him in the second round, won’t play this week, but the Steelers feel that Felix Jones can also thrive running the play.

“We can’t blame anyone but ourselves,” said Foster. “Defenses are running downhill at us. But we’ve got to be able to do it. They’re doing it to other teams, too. There’s no excuse for being in third-down and eight every time because we’re not efficient on first and second down.”

Odds and end zones

Tight end Heath Miller made it through a second consecutive day of full practice and appears ready to make his season debut Sunday. … Defensive end Brett Keisel returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday with a calf injury. … Linebacker Jarvis Jones (heel) was limited for the second consecutive day. … Cornerback Cortez Allen missed his second consecutive day of practice with an ankle injury.