Steelers’ Foster could return in time for opener
LATROBE 鈥� Ramon Foster left Saturday鈥檚 practice on a cart with a right knee injury, but the Steelers鈥� left guard is expected to return around the time of the season opener.
鈥淲e got relatively good news,鈥� said Mike Tomlin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 non-surgical. We鈥檒l see when he comes back. I don鈥檛 want to frame it at this juncture.鈥�
Foster鈥檚 injury had cast a pall over the first day of contact football practice, when it appeared his season was in question.
In Foster鈥檚 place will be B.J. Finney, one of the top reserves on the roster. In fact, the Steelers are 7-0 when Finney starts, all in the last two years.
Finney has started four games in place of Foster at left guard, and in three of those games Le鈥橵eon Bell rushed for 144 yards or more, including his best career game (236 at Buffalo) and his best game last season (179 yard versus Kansas City).
Bell鈥檚 numbers in the four Finney starts at left guard are 628 rushing yards on 102 carries, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.
Finney also has started two games at center and one at tight end, all Steelers wins.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want the other guys to suffer from me coming in,鈥� Finney said, 鈥渟o my mentality is to always make sure that I鈥檓 not going to bring everybody down or hold anybody out. Being with (Mike) Munchak and getting the technique and having the older guys step in the way they have, it鈥檚 a point of pride for all of us.鈥�
Finney said that Munchak 鈥� his position coach for two active seasons and a practice-squad season 鈥� has taught him, 鈥淓verything. From coaching technique to making sure that I鈥檓 right mentality-wise, and pick me up when I need to be picked up, and put me down when I need to be put back down. So he does everything.鈥�
Tomlin believes that tough and smart offensive linemen such as Finney not only can make it in the NFL, but stay there a long time.
鈥淚f it comes from Coach T than it has credibility behind it,鈥� Finney said. 鈥淥ne thing I was told from guys from my school who played when I was coming into the league was always be consistent. Be Mr. Consistency and that鈥檒l keep you around a long time. They don鈥檛 want guys that go up and down, up and down like a roller coaster ride. They want the same guy every day, every block, every play. And that鈥檚 what I take pride in trying to do.鈥�
NOTES 鈥� Tomlin reported that WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (undisclosed), OLB T.J. Watt (hamstring), OLB Ola Adeniyi (undisclosed), FS Sean Davis (groin) and TE Vance McDonald (foot) left practice with various injuries. Tomlin didn鈥檛 provide further details. 鈥� First-round draft pick Terrell Edmunds made his first big play. The safety cut in front of tight end Vance McDonald to make a perfectly timed interception of Ben Roethlisberger. Edmunds juggled the ball before hauling it in and making the tight turn down the sideline for the score. Edmunds was in his third day of working with the first team in place of strong safety Morgan Burnett (hamstring). 鈥� WR Antonio Brown tweeted to Dez Bryant in an attempt to recruit the ex-Dallas WR to the Steelers as a free agent. But a source with the Steelers said they have no interest in Bryant.