Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor missed practice for the second consecutive day reports ESPN’s Scott Brown, putting his status in doubt for the Steelers week 15 road match up with the Atlanta Falcons.
It was only two weeks ago that Steelers Nation hailed the reunion of Taylor, Brett Keisel, Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. The “Get the Band Back Together Moment” the Steelers defense lasted barely 2 quarters, as Brett Keisel tore his triceps. Kesiel has gone on injured reserve ending his season, James Harrison missed the Bengals game with a knee injury.
- The NFL really does stand for Not For Long.
The injuries are an unfortunate turn for Taylor. Taylor struggled through much of 2013, accepted a pay cut to stay with the Steelers in 2014 with an eye towards disproving the doubters. He had a tough run in the second half vs. Cleveland – what Steeler didn’t, but then held the Raven’s Steve Smith to 6 catches for 71 years. Taylor of course broke his forearm vs. Carolina and was out until the loss vs. the Saints.
- All too often, injuries are one of the cruler ways in which doors close on NFL carrers.
No one is saying that injuries will keep Taylor out of the Steelers games vs. the Chiefs or Bengals, but they might provide the catalyst that does. Antwon Blake entered the Bengals game after Taylor took himself out, and broke up passes to A.J. Green and Mohamed Sanu.
It was Blake who replaced Taylor when he was injured vs. Carolina, but Blake quickly gave way to Brice McCain. But Blake has had 9 weeks of practice to improve his skills. It looks as if he’ll get the chance to test them as the Steelers enter the home stretch.
