It appears that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall won’t be ready for the start of the 2012 NFL regular season, and possibly won’t play at all due to a torn ACL suffered in the 2011 regular season finale versus the Cleveland Browns.
Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert told www.steelers.com what he thought of the status of Mendenhall for the 2012 season.
“Potentially Rashard Mendenhall might not be ready for camp,” said Colbert. “In my mind, I never feel good about an ACL until a year. I am not a doctor but that’s just my mindset. If he gets back before then, to me it’s a bonus. Is he a potential candidate for the PUP List? Absolutely.”
Looking for a running back via free agency may not be an option for Pittsburgh, since they will be $25-30 million over the salary cap for 2012. So the Steelers may be left with a running back-by-committee with Isaac Redman, Mewelde Moore, and John Clay.
As important as it is to provide Ben Roethlisberger with a solid running game, it is even more important to add some much-needed talent on both the offensive and defensive lines.
Redman has shown late in the 2011 regular season and in the wildcard loss to the Denver Broncos that he is capable of caring the load as a starter. And with Moore and Clay added to the mix, along with some possible additions to the o-line through the draft, and the return of a healthy Maurkice Pouncey at center, Pittsburgh’s running game should be good enough to complement the passing game.
This should give Mendenhall a reason not to try too hard to come back from a very serious injury, which could further hurt his career.
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