Steelers safety Troy Polamalu left Sunday’s game against the Jaguars with concussion-like symptoms.
On Tuesday, Polamalu reportedly passed a concussion test. Even though he didn’t have a concussion. (Actually, the team now concedes it was a “mild” concussion.)
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Polamalu is “good to go” for Sunday at Arizona. “We anticipate him practicing tomorrow and moving on throughout the week like everyone else on our football team,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin also acknowledged that Polamalu, whose history of concussions at USC may have impacted his draft status a bit, used a cell phone after exiting the game to let his wife know that he was OK.
“He wasn’t checking his bank account,” Tomlin said.
As a result, Tomlin doesn’t think Polamalu will be fined. But if that’s the rule then any player who suffers an injury can grab a cell phone and call his wife, mother, sister, father, brother, girlfriend, cousin, whoever to let them know he’s OK. If an exception is made for one guy, then it needs to be made for everyone.
Feel free, Steelers fans, to gripe in the comments about my position on this, and to argue that a basic interest in consistency and fairness is, in reality, hatred of your favorite team.