As the Steelers continue to look for answers for their running game, they may be ready to increase the workload for Rashard Mendenhall.
Mendenhall’s practiced the last two weeks, but hasn’t been active for games. He’s coming off ACL surgery in January, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said it might be time to test him.
“Maybe we will bump him around a little more in practice this week,” Tomlin said, via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He has done a nice job of running and cutting at full speed. Now, let’s see if he can play a little football.
“We will thud him up a little bit on a day we are allowed to carry our pads and see if he can respond positively to it.”
The Steelers could use him, as their 141 rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry are 30th in the league, well off what they were hoping for. The Steelers averaged 4.4 yards per carry last season.
“We haven’t run the ball as well as we have liked,” Tomlin said, in his understated manner, but he wouldn’t point to any individuals.
“I’m not interested in assigning blame in that regard. I will take responsibility for it. The reality is we’ve got room for growth.”
If that means more Mendenhall, they should find out in the next few days.