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Steelers' [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] eager to learn if left knee is fully healed
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers know Ben Roethlisberger will be suspended for four games, they're about to get the answer to their second most-pressing question of the off-season.
Can [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s twice-injured left knee stand up to the stress of another full NFL season? They'll start finding out Sunday, when the Steelers — without Roethlisberger — play Atlanta in their season opener.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] is one of the NFL's most game-altering defensive players, a multi-talented safety who is equally effective in covering the run, dropping into coverage and serving as a linebacker-like pass rusher.
The five-time Pro Bowl player missed 11 full games last season and most of two others, with a predictable effect on the Steelers' defence. The Steelers were 4-0 when [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] played more than a handful of snaps in a game. When he didn't, they were 5-7.
A defence that led the NFL in most major statistical categories in 2008 managed only 12 interceptions last season, eight fewer than they had in 2008. That season,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] made seven interceptions.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s knee felt fine throughout off-season workouts, a conditioning program he goes through on his own in California and training camp. He played during the exhibition season and wasn't held out of any practices because of knee discomfort.
"I wasn't going half-speed in the preseason," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "I prepared the way I would normally prepare for a game."
However, [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said nothing he does physically is comparable to playing during a 16-game season, and even he won't know how his left knee and quadriceps will hold up until Sunday.
Asked if he is 100 per cent, [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said, "There's a lot of speculation about that, and I can't answer until I get out on the football field for four quarters."
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] sprained his left medical collateral ligament in the 2009 season opener against Tennessee, a game in which he was dominating before getting hurt late in the second quarter. He ran from one side of the field to another to stop running back Chris Johnson on a goal-line play at the two-yard line and made an exceptional, one-handed leaping interception of a Kerry Collins pass.
He missed four games with that injury, then returned to play three more games before injuring his posterior cruciate ligament a few plays into a game against Cincinnati. He missed the final seven games, and the Steelers missed the playoffs.
A coincidence? Probably not.
The Steelers' pass rush also suffered without [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and so did their pass coverage, which became highly susceptible to the deep ball. They also had 22 takeaways, or seven fewer than they had the season before. And they tumbled to No. 16 in pass defence after leading the league in 2008.
If nothing else, [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s absence proved that there is no doubt about the Steelers' most valuable player.
"Troy has the most versatility of all the backs I've coached," defensive co-ordinator Dick LeBeau said. "He literally can do anything.
"If you ask him to blitz, he's going to be a great blitzer. If you ask him to cover a team's best wide receiver, he's probably going to do a good job there. If you ask him to play in the linebacker area and chase down a runner, he'll do that as well. And he can co-ordinate the (pass) coverages because he has a great knowledge of the defence."
With a healthy [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] and defensive end Aaron Smith returning — Smith missed most of the season with a shoulder injury — the Steelers believe they can be an elite-level defence again. They were No. 5 overall last season but, to them, that represented a major falloff in performance from the unit the was No. 1 in total yardage, passing yardage and points allowed in 2008.
"You would like to think that," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "It wasn't like we were horrible last year, but obviously that's behind us.
"We'll find out how good we really are through a 16-game schedule."