Mendenhall is looking at more bench time
PITTSBURGH – Who says the last preseason games are meaningless? Whoever says that had better check with Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed.
Thursday’s 19-16 win over Carolina had plenty of meaning for the Steelers top two draft picks, although not for any of the right reasons.
Mendenhall, the team’s top pick in April’s draft, lost a fumble for the third time in six days.
Sweed, Pittsburgh’s second-round pick, did everything right on a play late in the second quarter, except, of course, catch the ball. Sweed was so wide open, he probably couldn’t believe it took the ball so long to get to him. But as a professional pass catcher, his job is – dah – to catch the ball.
So what do these plays mean to these players in this otherwise meaningless preseason finale?
Plenty.
Instead of being Willie Parker’s direct backup at tailback, Mendenhall is looking at a lot more bench time. Instead of making a splash as a rookie, he’s looking at biding his time, waiting for another chance to get on the field.
He may become the Steelers best kickoff return option, but his offensive plays are almost certain to diminish now that the regular season is upon us.
And he has no one to blame but himself. Sure, he was trying to get a few extra yards on the play, but he has to hold onto the ball at all cost.
In journalism, it’s akin to writing a Pulitzer Prize-caliber story, but missing deadline with it. It’s not a great story if nobody gets to read it and it’s not a great run play if it ends with a fumble.
After Saturday’s two-fumble debacle in Minnesota, Mendenhall was forced to carry a football around with him everywhere he went at the Steelers’ South Side practice facility. What’s next, duct-taping it to his hands?
Mendenhall seemed for all the world to be getting it, too. That’s what hurts the Steelers the most. He seemed to have carved his niche with the team. He was the china shop bull to Parker’s roadrunner speed.
Did you notice that, after Parker ripped off a 26-yard run in the first quarter, it was Carey Davis, not Mendenhall, who gave Parker a blow in Pittsburgh’s one-back set? And it was Davis, not Mendenhall, who scored three plays later.
Maybe that was Mendenhall’s punishment for his twin fumbles against the Vikings. He responded by fumbling in the next series. If nothing else, the Steelers should know now that this is a problem. It must be corrected. Maybe the healing began in the third quarter, when Mendenhall carried nine plays in a row on his way to 79 yards rushing.
As for Sweed, he’s becoming harder to figure out by the day. He came in with all of the tools necessary to be successful in this business, but has not made the most of his opportunities.
He’ll certainly make the team, but he never even staged a serious challenge to Nate Washington as the team’s No. 3 wide receiver. Of course, Washington had a lot to say about that by having the best training camp of his life.
Sweed, meanwhile, did a lot of what he did Thursday night. He got to the right spot, well ahead of any defender, but failed to catch the ball.
The great potential of draft day didn’t look so good in the last tune-up.
Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com