PITTSBURGH — Najee Harris went into the exhibition game Sunday against the Detroit Lions with a potentially serious foot injury, perhaps more serious than the Steelers had let on. So why did he play most of the first half in a meaningless game, a total of 28 snaps?
T.J. Watt nearly had his left knee blown out by a legal — yet dirty? — block by Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson early in the second quarter. So why, after hobbling off the field, did he return briefly for the next series?
Cam Heyward missed time during training camp with a minor lower-leg injury and didn't play in the first two exhibition games. So why was he on the field Sunday for most of the first half, a total of 23 plays?
And why was Minkah Fitzpatrick out there for 34 snaps?
Why?
Why?
Why?
I get that football is a brutal game and injuries happen. The Steelers lost Damontae Kazee on Sunday for significant time because of an arm injury. He needed to play to get work in what was expected to be a three-safety defense at times this season.
Losing Kazee is a tough break for the Steelers, but they have been — knock on wood — pretty lucky so far with injuries.
The team appeared to avoid serious jeopardy when Diontae Johnson injured his shoulder while making a 38-yard catch early in the game. He needed to get at least some time with presumptive starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
But there was absolutely no reason for Harris, Watt, Heyward and Fitzpatrick to play. The Steelers' season would have been destroyed if any of the four had been seriously injured.
Tomlin said last week he would be happy if Harris got a carry or two against the Lions. Harris, who led the NFL with 381 touches last season, did not need to have four carries for 10 yards and three catches for 11 yards. He certainly didn't need to attempt to leap over cornerback Saivion Smith, prompting a rough, awkward landing. But that's how Harris plays. He's so competitive he fights for every yard, even in an exhibition game.
Watt didn't need to play against the Lions. It seemed excessive that he played 12 snaps the week before against Jacksonville, showing he was in mid-season form with a sack, a quarterback hurry and a tackle for loss. This is the same man who didn't play at all in the exhibition season last year because of his contract hold-in. All he did was go on to be the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, matching the league record with 22.5 sacks. It was no coincidence the Steelers won most of the games in which he played and lost the ones when he missed all or most of the game.
Heyward might be the Steelers' most valuable player after Watt. He was first-team All-Pro three times in the past five seasons, including last season. But he's also 33, starting his 12th NFL season. It made no sense to have him on the field Sunday. I promise you, he still would have been ready for the opening game in Cincinnati on Sept. 11 without those snaps.
The same is true of Fitzpatrick, the leader of the secondary and a top playmaker.
Tomlin disagreed, of course.
"You don't. You get the work," he said tersely when asked how he juggles the reward of game action and the risk of injury to star players.
"You can't box without sparring."
That sounded good, as many Tomlin soundbites do, almost as good as his priceless use of "skedaddlers" to describe the Steelers' small, quick wide receivers.
But I'm not buying it.
Sparring isn't boxing. Boxers wear headgear and use bigger gloves when sparring. They don't have that protection during a fight.
There were no such safety valves on the Acrisure Stadium lawn on Sunday.
It was a real NFL game with real hitting even if it didn't count in the standings.
Tomlin got lucky that Harris, Watt, Heyward and Fitzpatrick weren't seriously hurt.
It would have been unforgivable if any of the four had been lost for a part or all of the season.
