Tomlin Talks: Steelers healthy ahead of Sunday's opener against the 49ers

Heading into Sunday’s home game against the 49ers at Acrisure Stadium, head coach Mike Tomlin has a healthy roster of players at his disposal.
The only significant injury of the preseason was to rookie cornerback Cory Trice, who was injured early in training camp and will spend the year on injured reserve. There were other injuries over the past six weeks, but all appear to be shorter term.
“We had a couple of guys who were somewhat limited yesterday but that was just a prudent approach on our part,” Tomlin said Tuesday afternoon at his first news conference of the regular season. “We feel pretty good about player availability as we sit here today.”
One player to keep an eye on this week is veteran defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi, who did not play in any of the preseason games. Ogunjobi had foot surgery following the 2021 season and did not practice much last summer.
The Steelers were hoping he could be a regular participant in camp this summer, but that never materialized. He was seen with a walking boot on the same foot he injured two years ago.
The Steelers will release their first injury report of the season on Wednesday.
The story is much different in San Francisco, where head coach Kyle Shanahan is dealing with some uncertainty with his roster before the opener.
Star tight end George Kittle has a groin injury and his status is in doubt. But the biggest storyline for the 49ers, as it has been all summer, is the holdout of star defensive end Nick Bosa, who is not with the team five days before the first game.
Tomlin and his staff are preparing as if Bosa will be in the lineup Sunday.
“Yes, we are preparing for Bosa,” Tomlin said. “It’s prudent for us to assume he’ll be there. We were in a similar circumstance with a dynamic rusher a couple of years ago. We got a deal done at the 11th hour. He showed up and he was T.J. Watt that day. That’s what those guys do. They show up and are who they are. We expect him to be there. We know the type of player he intends on being. That’s something to be dealt with.”
What he said: “I know oftentimes depth charts produce stories — maybe what’s wrong with Broderick [Jones]? There’s nothing wrong with Broderick. There was nothing wrong with Cam Heyward when he watched. If you have a good team, if you have people playing well, oftentimes it means young capable guys get an opportunity to watch as they grow and develop. I feel really comfortable where we are.”
Our take: That was Tomlin’s evaluation of the competition between rookie Broderick Jones and Dan Moore for the left tackle position this summer. Jones, the No. 14 overall pick in the draft, never seriously threatened to unseat Moore, who has held down the job the past two seasons. Tomlin acknowledged Moore’s growth and how his play was the No. 1 factor in Jones beginning his career as a reserve. But there is an important thing to note in Tomlin’s take on the matter. His reference to Heyward is interesting. Heyward barely played in his first two NFL seasons, logging fewer than 300 snaps in each of his first two years. No one is batting an eye now that Moore is the starter, but they certainly will be if Jones isn’t starting by 2024.
Up next: The Steelers are 10-12 all-time against the 49ers and lost the last meeting in San Francisco in 2019. The 24-20 loss was the third of three consecutive losses to open that season. The 49ers were 13-4 and ran away with the NFC West division title last season. They lost to the Eagles in the NFC championship game.
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
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Published September 5, 2023, 6:01PM