A healthy Maurkice Pouncey is critical to Steelers’ postseason run
PITTSBURGH 无毛视频� Several NFL athletes maintain that the game they play is their platform, but not their purpose. For Steelers无毛视频� All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey, it无毛视频檚 more of an equal balance.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin alluded during his weekly press conference that Pouncey will sit out the final regular season game against the Browns on Sunday in preparation for the postseason. It all but guarantees that Pouncey will be the one snapping the ball to Ben Roethlisberger when the Steelers kickoff their seventh playoff appearance of the Tomlin era in the AFC wild-card round.
That无毛视频檚 not something that could be said a year ago.
The Steelers faced the AFC North rival Bengals in a game that resembled more of a brawl than the playoffs. Pouncey was in the midst of a string of seven surgeries due to a broken left fibula he suffered in the preseason. He watched as Roethlisberger took shots below the waist after the whistle, and as Antonio Brown was knocked to near unconsciousness on a dirty hit from Vontaze Burfict.
Pouncey, a known enforcer on the Steelers无毛视频� offensive line, wanted to be on the field. Except he couldn无毛视频檛 even walk.
无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 start walking until March,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淚 had seven different surgeries. 无毛视频� After two surgeries, it was tough.无毛视频�
For someone who loves the game of football as much as Pouncey does, defining it as merely 无毛视频榯ough无毛视频� wouldn无毛视频檛 be doing the situation justice.
无毛视频淵ou无毛视频檙e so involved. I无毛视频檝e been doing this since I was 6 years old,无毛视频� Pouncey said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 a big fan of this thing. I love it inside and out, and to be able to not go out there and help the team that you无毛视频檙e on and you have to sit back and just watch. 无毛视频� You just want to be out there with your boys.无毛视频�
Recovering from a broken leg is a process in itself, but Pouncey also faced an uphill battle from a mental standpoint. The initial surgical wound didn无毛视频檛 heal properly, which resulted in several staph infections that required the repeated surgeries. It was Pouncey无毛视频檚 second season-ending injury in three years. He was completely out of football, and with that, he needed a support system. The Steelers offensive line didn无毛视频檛 break tradition 无毛视频� coming over to his house every Thursday night for film study, haircuts and team-bonding sessions 无毛视频� that Pouncey credits to helping him weather the time off. His teammates saw firsthand how difficult it was.
无毛视频淭hat guy went through a lot with those surgeries,无毛视频� Steelers lineman Ramon Foster said. 无毛视频淗e was going to the doctor almost every day to get his medicine and everything. It speaks volumes. He says it all the time, 无毛视频楻amon, you don无毛视频檛 want that.无毛视频� The mental part of it is what kills you the most. For him to go through that and come back the way he has in Pro Bowl form, back at the level he无毛视频檚 done it during his career, I think everybody realizes his presence in the game right now.无毛视频�
Pouncey has started all 15 games en route to his fifth Pro Bowl selection and paved the way for a career year for Le无毛视频橵eon Bell, who ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards (1,268) and rushing yards per game (108.7). It is Pouncey who is tasked with similar pre-snap responsibilities to Roethlisberger in terms of identifying defensive fronts, indicating strong and weak side linebackers and making protection calls. In a sense, he无毛视频檚 the focal point for the offensive line无毛视频檚 success. It无毛视频檚 a group that, in addition to Bell无毛视频檚 numbers, has allowed just 17 sacks to rank second in the league. Out of the 17, Pouncey has been responsible for one.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 an intangible thing to where you play better with a guy like that. He brings everybody up,无毛视频� guard David DeCastro said. 无毛视频淭he rising tide lifts all the ships. It无毛视频檚 extremely, extremely true in his case, and it无毛视频檚 one of those things that people don无毛视频檛 really notice but it无毛视频檚 really there.无毛视频�
That may just be part of the reason as to why Pouncey will be resting on Sunday while the rest of the offensive line has helmets on. His presence 无毛视频� like that of Roethlisberger, Bell and Antonio Brown 无毛视频� will be critical to a potential Super Bowl run.
无毛视频淵ou know how important he is if the coach is pulling the center out of the game,无毛视频� said Foster.