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The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in winner’s row after a solid performance vs. the Atlanta Falcons at Heinz Field in Week 5. With the Cincinnati Bengals looming ahead in Week 6, the Steelers will hope to “stack wins” for the first time this year and improve on their 2-2-1 record.
Something I did last season and I’m going to start again is the Black-and-gold Links article.
This is an article where I take stories from quality news sources across the Internet and add them here for your viewing pleasure. I won’t be posting the entire articles, but I’ll link each story and author so that you can read the full article.
Today we talk about how rookie safety Terrell Edmunds has been playing more than anyone ever expected, largely due to the injuries to Morgan Burnett, and how the experience he’s gaining could be huge for his overall development and growth.
Let’s get to the news:
Rookie Terrell Edmunds’ on-job training continues with Steelers
By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Sean Davis had the type of start to his Pittsburgh Steelers career in 2016 the team envisioned for rookie Terrell Edmunds this season.
The Steelers took their time before putting Davis on the field at strong safety. He began the season playing nickel cornerback in subpackages, and it wasn’t until after a few games he took snaps at his natural position behind starter Robert Golden.
By Week 10, Davis had progressed enough to the point where the Steelers felt comfortable starting him.
Edmunds, though, has enjoyed no such apprenticeship in his inaugural NFL season. He is expected to make his fourth consecutive start and fifth in six games in place of veteran strong safety Morgan Burnett on Sunday when the Steelers visit the Cincinnati Bengals.
“We’ve thrown a lot on him. His plate is really full,” said Davis, now the team’s free safety. “He’s playing top-notch guys. We are asking him to do a lot. He’s adjusting well and playing well.”
Edmunds is coming off arguably the best game of his young career. In the Steelers’ 41-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons, he had seven tackles, which ranked second on the team, and he wasn’t beaten on any long passing plays. He allowed four completions on six targets, but those passes gained all of 15 yards.
Edmunds also played every snap for the third consecutive game and has logged more playing time than any defensive back on the roster this season except for Davis.
“The journey sometimes is a learning process, and sometimes it’s on-the-job training,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “So when you think about a guy like Edmunds, he’s getting on-the-job training and having to deliver a winning performance at the same time.
“I believe he’s up to the task. He’s a talented young guy. He’s hard-working, but at the same time, he respects his lack of experience. And you see that in terms of his preparation and the way he leans on veteran players.”
Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger will skip bye-week practices
By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Ben Roethlisberger’s tender elbow isn’t hindering his ability to play, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said, but he is on something of a “pitch count” on a weekly basis.
And that count will be zero for the upcoming bye week.
“I don’t know that it’s completely healthy,” Fichtner said of that Roethlisberger’s right elbow that was injured late in the Week 1 tie at Cleveland, “but I don’t know that in any given season anyone — or any arm — is going to be completely healthy all the time.
“We try to do the right things to manage numbers of throws in the week, and I know that after this weekend he will get an extended rest and it will be good for him. But as far as being able to make throws, he can make the throws, and as far as practice, he can practice.”
Roethlisberger has been held out of Wednesday practices the past three weeks, although that is not atypical. He also did not practice Wednesday or Thursday in the week that followed the Cleveland game, during which he was injured on a sack by the Browns’ Gernard Avery on the second-to-last Steelers snap in overtime.
Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his 93.7 FM radio show that his elbow altered his throwing mechanics and was forcing his throws to sail on him – although on Wednesday he told reporters his elbow was “fine” and “good.”
Roethlisberger sitting out bye-week practices – of which there are three – isn’t unusual, either.
“In the past (the bye week) has been great work for our young (quarterbacks),” said Fichtner, who previously was the team’s quarterbacks coach. “It’s always been Landry Jones’ time or young Josh Dobbs’ time or Dennis Dixon’ time.”
Despite drama, Steelers could still be best AFC North bet
By: Ian O’Conner, ESPN
Le’Veon Bell is approaching the 2018 season like he approaches a developing hole at the line of scrimmage -- with extreme patience. The running back defined by hesitation has made big news by hesitating to join his team, and his absence has inspired a season-on-the-brink vibe in Pittsburgh that cannot be expunged by one sunshiny day on the banks of the Allegheny.
The 2-2-1 Steelers did not solve all their internal problems by thrashing the 1-4 Falcons, a shell of the doomed Super Bowl team that held a 25-point lead on the Patriots two seasons ago. Bell remains a nowhere man for now, and Antonio Brown has added lawsuits alleging destructive frat-house behavior in a South Florida condo (the receiver denied the allegations) to his apparent bid to become the high-maintenance heavyweight champion of the NFL. Beyond that, as they prepare for a road game against 4-1 Cincinnati that could shape their season, the Steelers have yet to prove that they can consistently play high-level defense in a division that no longer offers a two-game sabbatical in the form of the Browns.
The AFC North looks like it belongs in an octagon, and traditional Steelers-Bengals physicality could set a record for penalties in a sport trending toward safety after a wave of serious injuries -- such as the one suffered by Ryan Shazier the last time these teams clashed in December -- badly damaged it. This improved division has suddenly become a free-for-all, with the Bengals and Ravens holding the early advantage. But as longstanding partnerships in Marvin Lewis/Andy Dalton and John Harbaugh/Joe Flacco race against their closing windows of opportunity, and as the fledgling tandem of Hue Jackson/Baker Mayfield tries to fast-forward its way through a rebuild, the best bet to emerge in the North might yet be Mike Tomlin/Ben Roethlisberger.