A healthy Maurkice Pouncey is critical to Steelers’ postseason run
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Several NFL athletes maintain that the game they play is their platform, but not their purpose. For Steelers鈥� All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey, it鈥檚 more of an equal balance.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin alluded during his weekly press conference that Pouncey will sit out the final regular season game against the Browns on Sunday in preparation for the postseason. It all but guarantees that Pouncey will be the one snapping the ball to Ben Roethlisberger when the Steelers kickoff their seventh playoff appearance of the Tomlin era in the AFC wild-card round.
That鈥檚 not something that could be said a year ago.
The Steelers faced the AFC North rival Bengals in a game that resembled more of a brawl than the playoffs. Pouncey was in the midst of a string of seven surgeries due to a broken left fibula he suffered in the preseason. He watched as Roethlisberger took shots below the waist after the whistle, and as Antonio Brown was knocked to near unconsciousness on a dirty hit from Vontaze Burfict.
Pouncey, a known enforcer on the Steelers鈥� offensive line, wanted to be on the field. Except he couldn鈥檛 even walk.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 start walking until March,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had seven different surgeries. 鈥� After two surgeries, it was tough.鈥�
For someone who loves the game of football as much as Pouncey does, defining it as merely 鈥榯ough鈥� wouldn鈥檛 be doing the situation justice.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e so involved. I鈥檝e been doing this since I was 6 years old,鈥� Pouncey said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a big fan of this thing. I love it inside and out, and to be able to not go out there and help the team that you鈥檙e on and you have to sit back and just watch. 鈥� You just want to be out there with your boys.鈥�
Recovering from a broken leg is a process in itself, but Pouncey also faced an uphill battle from a mental standpoint. The initial surgical wound didn鈥檛 heal properly, which resulted in several staph infections that required the repeated surgeries. It was Pouncey鈥檚 second season-ending injury in three years. He was completely out of football, and with that, he needed a support system. The Steelers offensive line didn鈥檛 break tradition 鈥� coming over to his house every Thursday night for film study, haircuts and team-bonding sessions 鈥� that Pouncey credits to helping him weather the time off. His teammates saw firsthand how difficult it was.
鈥淭hat guy went through a lot with those surgeries,鈥� Steelers lineman Ramon Foster said. 鈥淗e was going to the doctor almost every day to get his medicine and everything. It speaks volumes. He says it all the time, 鈥楻amon, you don鈥檛 want that.鈥� The mental part of it is what kills you the most. For him to go through that and come back the way he has in Pro Bowl form, back at the level he鈥檚 done it during his career, I think everybody realizes his presence in the game right now.鈥�
Pouncey has started all 15 games en route to his fifth Pro Bowl selection and paved the way for a career year for Le鈥橵eon Bell, who ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards (1,268) and rushing yards per game (108.7). It is Pouncey who is tasked with similar pre-snap responsibilities to Roethlisberger in terms of identifying defensive fronts, indicating strong and weak side linebackers and making protection calls. In a sense, he鈥檚 the focal point for the offensive line鈥檚 success. It鈥檚 a group that, in addition to Bell鈥檚 numbers, has allowed just 17 sacks to rank second in the league. Out of the 17, Pouncey has been responsible for one.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an intangible thing to where you play better with a guy like that. He brings everybody up,鈥� guard David DeCastro said. 鈥淭he rising tide lifts all the ships. It鈥檚 extremely, extremely true in his case, and it鈥檚 one of those things that people don鈥檛 really notice but it鈥檚 really there.鈥�
That may just be part of the reason as to why Pouncey will be resting on Sunday while the rest of the offensive line has helmets on. His presence 鈥� like that of Roethlisberger, Bell and Antonio Brown 鈥� will be critical to a potential Super Bowl run.
鈥淵ou know how important he is if the coach is pulling the center out of the game,鈥� said Foster.