Steelers lose Rashard Mendenhall to torn ACL

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 2, 2012, 4:16 PM EST
AP

The news is in on Rashard Mendenhall’s right knee injury, and it’s as bad as it could be.

Mendenhall has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, ESPN’s Josina Anderson reports.

Obviously, Mendenhall won’t be playing for the Steelers in the playoffs, and the question with an ACL tear is whether he can even be ready for the start of next season. He may be at less than 100 percent when the 2012 regular season begins.

Mendenhall carried 228 times for 928 yards this season. He’ll be replaced in the Steelers’ offense by Isaac Redman and John Clay.

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63 responses to “Steelers lose Rashard Mendenhall to torn ACL”

  2. The real question is, how does that drama queen Ben turn this into something about him and his embellished injuries? “Yeah, it’s a tough break but I’ll get through it. It was Rashad’s knee, but I feel the pain too. I’ll be out there though, I’m pretty heroic.”

  3. Pittsburgh became a passing team a long time ago. Mendenhall isn’t much better than Redman. They will be ok.

  6. Well…that’s gonna hurt! As if the road thru the playoffs wasn’t already hard enough…having to go on the road. And Redman fumbled twice last week. And january you gotta be able to run the ball effectively. Now i’m concerned…

  9. I’m pretty sure most of us Steelers fans are not crying over this….he has pretty much sucked all year and Redman is a much tougher runner. I’m sure they can pick up a 3rd round RB in the draft that can take his place. He was our worst first round pick since Leon Searcy.

  10. At least we did something good yesterday. That is too bad. The only thing better would have been if it happened to Ben…… Just Sayin’

    Go Brownies! Give us half of an offense and we will be right in the mix.

  13. Ugh, I had my ACL (And MCL) ruined in a snowmobiling accident, Docs said it would’ve been better to have multiple breaks.

  14. Not a steelers fan but I remember when this SAME thing happened to Wes Welker. I wish the guy a speedy recovery, feel bad for the fans, and shame the coach.

  15. such ignorant comments from fellow Steelers fans and other fans alike. Knee injuries are absolutely devestating. Im not sure if you remember who has fumbled the ball 3 times in the last two seasons, but it was Mendenhall. Redman put the ball on the ground TWICE just in one game. Now, the Steelers are not a running team, but we need a ball carrier who can protect the ball and get the ball down the field keeping the clock moving.

    WORD OF WISDOM FELLOW STEELER FANS

    take off the black and yellow glasses and take a look at reality. Born and raised here and still cannot stand a yinzer.

  16. Pretty sure that offense won’t miss a beat with Redman.

    Steeler fans should be more concerned with their battered offensive line, Big Ben’s mobility, and a good chance their leading tackler misses the Wild Card game.

    One thing Denver has going for them is the presence of Elvis Dumerville and the interior defensive line – Marcus Thomas and Bunkley. Von Miller has been wrecked by that cast (how do you rush the passer with one). If they can get pressure – they have a shot.

    Not saying Pittsburgh shouldn’t be (heavily) favored – but stranger things have happened (i.e. Seattle’s 2010 Wild Card upset over the Saints).

  17. Wow, look at all you steelers haters. You all say ben is such an awful person and how he doesent deserve to play in the NFL. But look at you guys, happy that this guy suffered an awful knee injury! You all are hypocrites.

  18. Wow, look at all you steelers haters. You all say ben is such an awful person and how he doesent deserve to play in the NFL. But look at you guys, happy that this guy suffered an awful knee injury! You all are hypocrites.

  19. Alot of Steeler fans have been complaining about his weak running style this yr but u hate to see anyone from any team lost due to injury. Leave it to the CLASSLESS CLOWN FANS to root for a player being lost to injury.

  20. Yeah, this injury is really going to impact Ben tossing bombs to Wallace and Brown!

    Newsflash – #Tebowtime is over. Harrison, Woodley and co are going to eat the poor kid alive!

  22. Man…. I hope this doesn’t hurt their chances in Denver. I’m really pulling for them to win….so they can lose to the Ravens for a third time this year. Will that be a threep?

  24. It sucks no matter who it is, because everybody, even the fans of opposing teams, like to see all the teams at full-strength for the playoffs. Nobody likes saying, “yeah, we lost, but we didn’t have____”. And nobody likes hearing the only reason their team won was because___was injured for the other team”.

  30. People on here think RB’s are “easy to replace”. It’s a myth if they’re a good/great RB. They get hurt often and careers are short but at their peak (3 to 5 years) those elite RB’s that I’ve listed are harder to replace than ALMOST anyone else on their specific team. The only time a great RB is not need to win is when you have a Franchise QB ie Rodgers, Brady, Brees and Roethlisberger sometimes Eli Manning. They talk about how many teams have won the Super Bowl without a great RB which is unfair because that label can be applied to every position on the team EXCEPT QB. The fact is 7 out of the 12 playoff teams have a good/great a RB. I’d like someone to tell me which RB’s on this list are “easy to replace”. It’s not as easy when you have to actually name them.

    Based off of my list there are close to (18) RB’s that teams would go belly up if their RB was lost or at least be dramatically less effective on offense. Great RB’s are easy to replace is nothing more than an often repeated myth.

    PLAYOFFS
    Arian Foster, HOU
    Frank Gore, SF
    Ray Rice, BAL
    Michael Turner, ATL
    Cedric Benson, CIN
    Rashard Mendenhall, PIT
    Darren Sproles, NO

    NON PLAYOFFS
    Maurice Jones-Drew, JAC
    Adrian Peterson, MIN
    Darren McFadden, OAK
    Matt Forte, CHI
    Fred Jackson, BUF
    Chris Johnson, TEN
    LeSean McCoy, PHI
    Marshawn Lynch, SEA
    Steven Jackson, STL
    Shonn Greene, NYJ
    DeMarco Murray, DAL

  31. Redman puts the ball on the turf stiller fans so keep on saying he’s better when most know he is not….I highly doubt a SB run is in their future.

    They will beat Tebow but thats about it. Too many injuries and regardless of what Ben says hes not even close to 75% and won’t be till the season ends.

  32. @ Ravenator

    Tooltroll you are to the maximum. If you have anything intelligent to add to the conversation please do. Until then go back to the little kids table and drink the purple kool aid. Remember when you guys won a superbowl in 2000? Happy 2012 bro.

  34. Steelers fans should not be issuing excuses…Play w/what you have. Green Bay did it last year..and NE injury list this year obsene.

    And those of you critical of people all over Bens butt…wake up! He’s a good [ not great] QB who raped a few [ that we know of] women…then decided to save himself [ rape doesn’t count] for a phony marriage to fool the world into thinking he changed…just like Kobe….won’t last

  35. If you put your hand up next to your ear, you will hear that flushing sound. Hats off to the Browns. Banged up the opposing QB a couple of weeks ago and now taking out their RB. making even more difficult for the stealers. Sounds like the stealers won the battle but the Browns won the war.
    They are far better than their record indicates.

    A little karma for the McCoy hit.

  36. This will finally answer the question of who is a worse quarterback? Tebow or Roethlisberger?

    Don’t expect too much out of Roethlisberger against a good defense on the road. See Niners game and almost any game.

    GO STEELERS!

  38. Ya we threeped the ravens in 2008. That was a true sweep. Steelers dont get excited when we beat baltimorons twice in a year.. Ravens fans get all excited about that stuff. We focus on playoffs. I will enjoy how rusty the ravens will be after the bye week. Trust me a bye isnt all that is cracked up to be. Ravens don’t know that yet. Cause theyre not used to having it..classless organization with a toolbag fanbase!

  39. cheezheadz says:
    Jan 2, 2012 4:30 PM
    Actually, I think the Steelers are reporting it as “ACL Tear-like symptoms.”

    _________________________________

    Well that is good then it’s a tear like syptom. Tape it up and share some of the drama queens shots and all should be good. Boldin had a miniscus tear like symptom and took off two weeks ready for the playoffs. Make sure their ready for their third thumping by an opposing team in one season.
    No excuses.

  41. Willie Parker 75-yard TD run in the Super Bowl…undrafted free agent

    James Harrison 100-yard INT return in the Super Bowl…undrafted free agent

    Isaac Redman is another player who came out of nowhere but he can play. You don’t like to see somebody get injured but it wouldn’t surprise me if this is exactly what the Steelers needed.

    Redman’s style of running gives the offense and offensive line more of an attitude. They kind of need a back they can lean on, with Ben not 100 percent and if they play a team like New England where they have to possess the ball.

  42. Nobody should be happy for an injury. This should not significantly hurt the Steelers, though. Redman fumbles, yes! Mendenhall put a big one on the ground in the Super Bowl. Redman is a harder, but slower runner. Redman picks the blitz up better. The running back should be irrelevant for us in the playoffs. We’re a passing team. If our defense plays tough, we should beat Denver & then who knows? We beat the Pats, finally, this year & lost to the Ravens twice. We are capable of beating either team or getting our ass kicked by either team. Who know which team will show up!

  43. Mendenhall has much more speed but he runs like a candy for a back his size.

    Redman runs hard between the tackles and knows how to shed tackles and pick up the hidden yards, much more like a Jerome Bettis, for example.

    Redman’s biggest problem, potentially, could be that he fights for extra yards on basically every run. He’s trying to drag five guys and they’re going for the ball.

    We’ll see what happens but just because a lot of people have never heard of the guy doesn’t mean he can’t make a name for himself. He’s hungry for this opportunity. I think there’s a good chance in a couple of weeks, that Redman is one of the biggest stories of this postseason. The shot of life that the banged up Steelers needed. Stay tuned.

  44. Why this injury doesn’t impact the Steelers…

    Redman is a grinder who positions Ben for a 3rd and 4 and not 3rd and 8. Clay is also a grinder.

    Rashard doesn’t have vision. Hence the reason Jon Dwyer comes in and darts for 70 yards on 1 carry, untouched.

    We are in a passing league with our strength being in the passing game.

    Denver can’t score 17 points and New England’s secondary is abysmal.

  45. Steelers will either make the AFC Championship or they’ll lose in the divisional round in a game where they give either New England or Baltimore all they can handle but lose in the closing seconds, in a heartbreaker.

    They won’t go away without giving a very resilient, gutsy effort first.

  46. Unfortunate loss, but not the first important player Steelers have lost this year for at least of period of time. You never want to lose your first team RB. He wasn’t having a breakout year, but was still solid and capable of a big play at any time, so he will be missed. Redman is a capable replacement, as long as he holds onto the ball, which he hopefully learned after yesterday. This year they have relied more on the pass anyway, so Ben’s health is more important. He needs to be more mobile than he was yesterday.

    As Tomlin says, the standard is the standard. No excuses, except by those that will CLAIM the Steelers and their fans will now make excuses (you watch for those posts!). The Steelers will field the best players they have and work to win the game.

    GO STEELERS!!

  47. Steelers fans don’t have to worry about Denver. Denver won’t get more than 10 points. Tebow’s offense has been exposed and the Steelers will win it easily.

    The Steelers were already going to be in a tough game in game 2 against either the Patriots or Ravens.

  49. Love what Tebows done this season but James Harrison is gonn put the fear of God in his eyes this weekend.

  54. Steelers fan here…

    If that was the last carry Mendenhall had for the Steelers, I say good riddance. He’s always had a penchant for putting the ball on the ground in critical situations, none moreso than on the first play of the 4th Quarter in Super Bowl 45. If the Steelers score on that drive it changes the whole game. Instead, Green Bay goes back up by 10 and turn out the lights, it’s all over.

    The Steelers are no longer “Ground and Pound”. A good running game IS vital to the play action, but Ben is like a RB himself and can make something out of nothing. Redman and Clay can come in and get the job done. That being said, it’s time for the Steelers to try and get a prime RB coming out of college in the first or second round. And show Mendenhall the door.

    And please…ANY team can lose to anybody, especially in the playoffs. But Tim Tebow is not going to pass all over the Steelers, Von Miller wasn’t even on the field in a lot of that KC game, and the Steelers offense is superior to KC’s. That’s like saying Detroit is going to roll into NO and beat them after NO rolled and has been rolling at home (and beat DET 34-17 a couple weeks go).

    The only upset possibilities I see are ATL over the Giants and CIN over HOU (since the first game CIN was winning until the final play).

  55. A little anonymity empowers a lot of idiocy. Anyone wishing injury on a player is a demented twit. This has nothing to do with Roethlisberger but why would that stop his legion of trash-talking followers launching into their dramaqueenrape chants like four-year-olds with the intellect of aphids. And no Steelers fans have used this injury to make excuses since we’ve suffered bigger losses and still made the Super Bowl. Basically you dingalings are making up your own whines and then responding to them. Steelers fans don’t even need to be here.

    Mendenhall has been money for us because he chews up yards without coughing up the ball. His fumble in the Super Bowl was due to the great defensive play of Clay Matthews more than his own error. And I’m sorry to lose him. Get well soon, Rashard.

  56. last time rashard was out for the season we won the super bowl.this isnt bad news redmond and clay and dwyer are just as good.we dont run the ball much anyway.as long as big ben can go we have a chance to win.

  58. @dontstabmeray says:
    Jan 2, 2012 4:23 PM
    He was our worst first round pick since Leon Searcy.
    —

    Troy Edwards is unimpressed

  59. Hope Mendenhall recovers for the 2012 season. But at least we wont have to watch any pointless spin moves and his skill at missing his holes to hit.

  60. jeepin08 says:
    Jan 2, 2012 4:45 PM
    If you put your hand up next to your ear, you will hear that flushing sound. Hats off to the Browns. Banged up the opposing QB a couple of weeks ago and now taking out their RB. making even more difficult for the stealers. Sounds like the stealers won the battle but the Browns won the war.
    They are far better than their record indicates.

    A little karma for the McCoy hit.

    ————————————————–

    I love browns fans. “they are better than their record inidcates”? hahahahaha

    their record hasnt really changed since 1992. Based on your thinking, they are the best team in the league. hahahaha

    how exactly are they “better”? they have no qb, a sissy for a RB, and an ok D. They barely won the 4 games they did and showed no improvement. The browns won the war? really? they got swept AGAIN by the entire division. If they were not in our division, we would be the toughest division in football. All they are really good at us ruining qb’s careers (see every one since couch), making excuses, saying next year, and rooting against the ravens and steelers in the playoffs. Based on the product on the field this year, looks like another dismall year again in 2012. Sorry

  63. If and that’s a big if , but If the steelers lose to T-bow prepare to not read any articles on here cuz ravens and browns fans will troll the hell out of you haha

    And besides we have to deal with the about 7 or perhaps just one person in every post. It get annoying but is funny 10% of the time .

    Ravens fans are the biggest Houston fans this week go Ravens

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