Steelers News: Adjusting to life without Stephon Tuitt will be no small feat

The Pittsburgh Steelers are moving into Week 7 of the NFL regular season, and as the team prepares to rest and recover during their bye week we continue to provide you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over until the next game starts!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how the Steelers getting by without Stephon Tuitt will be easier said than done.

Let’s get to the news:

• Stephon Tuitt wasn’t just having a great season, he was having an All-Pro season. Now with his season over due to a torn pectoral muscle the Steelers will have to find a way to adjust without No. 91.

Steelers preparing to adjust with DE Stephon Tuitt injured, out for season

By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Stephon Tuitt might not want to hear it now, but there is a positive that can come from enduring a season-ending pectoral injury.

All the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman has to do is look a few feet down his row at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex locker room for proof.

In 2016, Cameron Heyward’s sixth NFL season ended after seven games because of a pectoral tear that required surgery. He rebounded the next year to record a career-high 12 sacks and become a first-team All-Pro for the first time.

“You’re not going to the grave with this,” Heyward said Tuesday. “This is something you can come back from and be a better player because of it.”

The irony is bittersweet. Also in his sixth season, albeit in the sixth game, Tuitt suffered a torn pectoral muscle against the Los Angeles Chargers that will require surgery and end his season. The Steelers placed the 26-year-old defensive end on the reserve/injured list Tuesday and re-signed former Steelers defensive lineman L.T. Walton to replace Tuitt on the 53-man roster.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Stating the obvious...but Mason Rudolph should be the Steelers’ starting quarterback.

Mark Madden: Nice job, Duck, but Mason Rudolph should be Steelers starting QB

By: Mark Madden, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

For a third-string quarterback from a small football college who didn’t get drafted, Devlin Hodges has made considerable impact in Pittsburgh.

Between his duck calls, duck T-shirt and duck tweet that included a duck video, Hodges seems ready to establish a duck dynasty.

One obstacle: The moment Mason Rudolph is cleared to play, he should start. Hopefully, that’s the Steelers’ next game, Oct. 28 at home vs. Miami.

That’s no knock on Hodges. He did as well as could be expected in the Steelers’ 24-17 win Sunday at Los Angeles.

Hodges and the offense were greatly buoyed when the defense got the Steelers a 14-0 first-quarter lead. Hodges managed that edge from there, completing 15 of 20 passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He had just two completions more than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage.

Don’t call Canton yet.

Hodges did what he was asked and did it well. But he’s not the quarterback that’s going to help you catch up in the fourth quarter.

Rudolph might not be, either. But he’s got much more talent and pedigree.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• The Steelers didn’t just take over Los Angeles for Sunday Night Football, they dominated the TV ratings too.

Like attendance, Pittsburgh dwarfs L.A. in ratings for Steelers-Chargers

By: Chris Adamski, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Much has been made about the high ratio of Pittsburgh Steelers fans to the “home” team Los Angeles Chargers during Sunday night’s game at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The television ratings tell a similar story.

According to NBC, Pittsburgh by far was the top-rated market for the Steelers’ 24-17 victory broadcast on its network. Pittsburgh households delivered a 41.9 rating (percentage of the entire market watching) and 61 share (percentage of households with TV sets in use).

Los Angeles? The hometown team didn’t even register among the top 10 markets. (The caveat being that southern California neighbor San Diego – the longtime home of the Chargers until three years ago – indeed was the second-highest rated market at 17.3 with a 34 share.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• JuJu Smith-Schuster bye week media availability

• Around the locker room

• Social Media Madness