View From The Press Box
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Hits keep on coming
June 28th, 2010
Think coach Mike Tomlin wants to fast-forward the calendar to July 30?
That is when the Steelers report to training camp -- and when they can officially close the book on what has been a wretched offseason.
The quietest time of the year for NFL teams still couldn’t prevent the Steelers from getting more bad news Monday as starting right tackle Willie Colon sustained a foot injury that looks like it will end his 2010 season long before it started.
Colon, by all accounts, suffered a freak injury when he heard a pop during a routine agility drill at the Steelers’ practice facility. The MRI Colon had taken is only expected to confirm the worse, his agent Joe Linta said ruefully.
If Colon did indeed tear his Achilles tendon the Steelers have limited options at right tackle, and none of them are too appealing: plug in Trai Essex or Jonathan Scott at the position or try to sign or trade for a veteran that can hold down the right side of the offensive line in 2010.
Bigger picture, you have to wonder if the Steelers will be able to overcome all they have endured this offseason.
It might be an exaggeration to say the offense has been gutted but the Steelers lost an emerging star in wide receiver Santonio Holmes when he couldn’t stay out of his own way off the field. Now it looks like they will also have to make do with an underrated right tackle in Colon.
And, of course, they will be without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the first four games of the season.
If they want to return to the ranks of Super Bowl contenders after underachieving last season, the Steelers are going to need the defense to approach the level at which it played in 2008 –- and hope that nothing else goes wrong between now and the end of July.
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