Dec 1, 2015 4 min read

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There was understandably some confusion when Ben Roethlisberger announced on his weekly radio hit that he had passed concussion tests and was ready to resume practicing with an eye toward playing Sunday when the Steelers host Indianapolis.

Then, less than an hour later, head coach Mike Tomlin said definitively that Roethlisberger did have a concussion and would be subject to NFL concussion protocol.

Huh?

Turns out, Roethlisberger had just finished taking his imPACT test and felt like he aced it. He didn’t.

That’s the thing with concussions. You can feel OK until you don’t.

The Steelers learned that with Roethlisberger in 2009 when he suffered a concussion the week before the team had to travel to Baltimore. Roethlisberger practiced Wednesday and Thursday with no issues. Friday, he experienced concussion symptoms and was held out of the game.

Following the loss, receiver Hines Ward said the locker room was split 50-50 as to whether Roethlisberger should have played despite the concussion.

That’s one reason why the league has taken the decision out of the hands of the players. Too many guys would go back out there – especially ones who aren’t as established as Roethlisberger – because they wouldn’t want to risk losing their job. They’ll worry about the long-term health issues later.

Now, the doctors handle it. Period.

The imPACT tests aren’t perfect. But they measure a player’s normal cognative skills and give doctors a baseline to what is normal for each player. If you’re not normal or still experiencing symptoms, you not only don’t play, you don’t practice.

And that’s a good thing.

Fans won’t like it if Roethlisberger doesn’t play in an important game against the Colts any more than Ward didn’t like it when he didn’t play in 2009 against the Ravens. But it’s the right thing to do.

@ Tomlin said today that he’s considering all possibilities in a secondary that has allowed more than 300 yards passing in each of the past three games while also allowing 10 TD passes in that time period.

The yardage totals were something the team could live with when the secondary was taking the ball away. But when it doesn’t, things look pretty bad.

And even an offense that has put up 30 or more points in each of those games can’t always make up for that, as we say in the team’s 39-30 loss to Seattle last Sunday.

To me, Antwon Blake seems to be the biggest culprit. The problem remains that William Gay is just OK on the outside while he excells in the slot, where Brandon Boykin has played throughout his career.

Gay is likely, however, a better option outside than Blake at this point. Blake is as tough as they come and has made some big plays this season. But he also has given up a number of big plays and his tackling has been suspect.

Boykin isn’t as physical, but if he can make some plays, the Steelers will deal with that.

Tomlin also said rookie Doran Grant is a possibility, but I don’t see that happening. Grant lacks top-end speed and his future with the team could be at safety.

@ Tomlin said Bud Dupree started Sunday opposite Jarvis Jones because he has continued to progress and that will be the starting alignment for the remainder of the season.

The Steelers wanted to pair Dupree and Jones because they liked that duo’s athleticism against Russell Wilson.

Some might scoff at Jones’ athleticism, but he’s been making plays in recent weeks and looks to have turned the corner.

James Harrison and Arthur Moats, while valuable, are probably better served as backups at this point. Instead of a 50-50 split – or so, since it never seems to work out that way – the Steelers need to play Dupree and Jones three out of every four series.