So it looks like Ben Roethlisberger might not play on Friday because of the ol' dreaded lingering groin issue. If this were 2004 or, hell, 2006, it would be potentially troubling news, but I fully embrace the idea that Big Balls (groin problems, get it?) will be safely tucked away on the bench sporting sweats and one of those earpiece thingys so he can hear the plays.Saying all that, I now fully expect him to get Joe Paterno-ed on the sidelines and be out for the season. I'm skeptical like that.
Actually, if I'm Mike Tomlin, I have Chaz Batch play one series, and then get him the hell out of Dodge, too. I suspect Dennis Dixon can play -- he's been participating in training camp practices -- so it'll be nice to see what he can do, and for all of you Neanderthals who don't know, the backup backup quarterback Mike Potts is from William and Mary. So if you've never seen a W & M QB in action, you're in for a treat. Assuming he doesn't get cut between now and Thursday.
For me, preseason is all about the new guys, but there's always the lingering issues about the offensive line. It's hard to tell exactly how far a unit has come with just a few series per game, but I think we can all agree the fewer the sacks the more optimism. I've totally blocked out the Max Starks fiasco -- the team is basically paying him $7 million to take up space on the bench -- but these things happen. Plus, I suspect in a few months will all be extolling the wonderment that is Max just like it's 2007.
Enough about that, guys I'm really interested in seeing: Rashard Mendenhall is the way-too-obvious choice, so I'm going with Bruce Davis. Limas Sweed will no doubt be battling nerves, knowing the offense and so on and so forth, but Davis will hopefully just be able to play. I know, he's basically learning a new system, but LaMarr Woodley pretty memorable preseason-opening performance. I'm also interested to see what Mike Humpal and Ryan Mundy do. Humpal has apparently had a solid start to camp while Mundy has just been "a guy."
At this point, I'm all for finding the next Anthony Smith so we can get rid of the current one. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I'm officially over him. Yeah, he can knock the crap out of guys, but I'll take not getting beat deep EVERY SINGLE GAME.
In other, random news, here's a cool article from the St. Louis paper on Dan Kreider. You know, I really liked that guy and I hope he does well (or as well as can be expected given the circumstances) with the Rams.
Also, and this is awesome in a completely lame way, I'll be at Bills' training camp this Thursday. I'll be soliciting questions from you to ask J.P. Losman. Or, more importantly, Bobby April.
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