Steelers safety Troy Polamalu has already been ruled out for Thursday night’s game against the Titans after re-aggravating his right calf injury during Sunday’s win over the Eagles.
Coach Mike Tomlin confirmed at his press conference today that Polamalu will not be ready to get back on the field three days from now.
“He will probably be deemed out this week because of the week itself being a quick turnaround and the nature of the injury,” Tomlin said of Polamalu. “We will evaluate him when we get back from Tennessee. We don’t think he will participate.”
The play on which Polamalu re-injured his calf looked totally routine -- he was just running toward the sideline in coverage when all of a sudden he started hopping on his left foot, unable to put any weight on his right calf. It appears that the calf injury was more serious than he or the Steelers realized: They thought he was good to go for the game, but Polamalu only made it through 19 snaps on defense before his calf gave out on him.
Tomlin added that linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday, probably won’t play on Thursday either. He said that both linebacker James Harrison and running back Rashard Mendenhall, who were making their returns from knee injuries on Sunday, came out of the game unscathed and will be good to go against the Titans.