The regular season opener is only two weeks away, and the Pittsburgh Steelers still aren't sure who they can rely on in their running game.
The boost the Steelers received when Rashard Mendenhall came off the PUP list last week has been replaced by the reality Mendenhall still isn't likely to be ready to play anytime soon.
"To be real, I don't know when I'll be ready to play," Mendenhall said Wednesday, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I'm just working with the training staff and doing what I can to get on the field."
Mendenhall is practicing in 7-on-7 drills again, which is a great sign. But it would be surprising if he played in the first few weeks of the season. Presumptive starter Isaac Redman, meanwhile, isn't feeling 100 percent after taking an MRI on his hip.
"I'm a downhill runner and take a lot of pounding," Redman said. "I'm not really sure how the hip is going to hold up or if it's going to hurt at all, or if I'm going to be fine. I'm just going to go day to day and see how it feels. It's pretty much a pain-tolerance thing. It might nag me throughout the year. I'm just going to have to fight through the pain."
The Steelers brought Todd Haley to Pittsburgh in part to re-focus the offense on the running game. We suspect the team is going to be passing like Bruce Arians never left in September.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
