The Pittsburgh Steelers are dealing with injuries all over the offense and will start running back Jonathan Dwyer on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens on the road, head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday.
Tomlin said Dwyer was the healthiest running back on the roster and the most consistent this season.
"He's been consistently the most productive guy. I think we have a large enough body of work to be able to identify that at this point," Tomlin said, according to ESPN.com. "Obviously, we've been working at less than ideal circumstances with the rotation and the shuffling of those guys due to health and lack of production. But over the course of the last several weeks, it's obvious that he is healthy and he is the most productive of the group."
Pittsburgh has dealt with injuries and inconsistent play at running back all season and the team turned the ball over eight times in the game on Sunday, including five fumbles lost.
"When you turn the ball over the way we did, you're not going to beat anybody," Tomlin said to the Associated Press after the game. "We were highly penalized. When you do those things, you're going to lose I don't care who is playing quarterback."
Last year's starter Rashard Mendenhall missed the majority of the season with ACL and Achilles issues and has played in only four games, rushing for 113 yards on 34 carries and zero touchdowns. Mendenhall also fumbled twice against the Browns on Sunday.
Isaac Redman has been ineffective over the past few games, while rookie Chris Rainey has proven to be injury-prone while rushing for 79 yards and two touchdowns
Dwyer is the last man left on the depth chart and was officially named the starter for Sunday's game by Tomlin, while Redman will serve as the backup and Mendenhall will be the third-stringer.
Dwyer started two games against Cincinnati and Washington and gained over 100 yards in both games, including 122 against the Bengals. According to Steelers.com, "Dwyer became the first Steelers running back to post back-to-back 100-yard games since Willie Parker did it on Sept. 7 and Sept. 14, 2008."
Over the past three games his is averaging nearly 50 yards and has rushed for 429 yards on 98 attempts this season. Against Cleveland on Sunday, Dwyer rushed for 19 yards on nine carries and made two receptions for nine yards. He also had one fumble in the game.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, "Since 1993, six teams have committed eight turnovers in a game. Those teams are 0-6, and the five teams before the Steelers lost by an average of 18.2 points."
The Steelers are ranked 22nd in rushing yards this season averaging 101.5 per game and was held to just 49 in Sunday's 20-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Dwyer was drafted in 2010 in the sixth round out of Georgia Tech and is the team's leading rusher this season.
The Steelers will likely get wide receiver Antonio Brown back for the game after he missed the past three games with an ankle injury and has 42 receptions for 499 yards and a touchdown this season.
Starting wideout Mike Wallace has struggled the past few games and may possibly be benched against the Ravens. Tomlin listed Wallace or Emmanuel Sanders as the starter with Brown on the official depth chart.
"Mike is frustrated and rightfully so," Tomlin said. "He's not producing like we'd like him to and he'd like to."
Tomlin said that safety Troy Polamalu, who has missed nearly the entire season with a calf injury, might play on Sunday. The team also announced that rookie offensive lineman David DeCastro was activated on Monday after being injured in the preseason. He is in line to make his NFL debut against the Ravens.
The biggest injury update for the Steelers though, is at the quarterback position. Ben Roethlisberger has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury, both losses for Pittsburgh. Backup Byron Leftwich was hurt in the teams 13-10 loss to the Ravens two weeks ago, leaving third-stringer Charlie Batch to start Sunday's 20-14 loss to Cleveland.
According to ESPN.com, a team source said "Roethlisberger has a 50-50 chance of playing Sunday against the Ravens."
Batch was ineffective against the Browns, throwing three interceptions in the game. According to Tomlin, Batch will take the first-team offensive snaps early in the week.
The Steelers are 6-5 and are three games behind the Ravens in the AFC North. For any chance to win the division, Pittsburgh must win on Sunday. The team has lost two straight division games and finishes the season with home games against AFC North-foes Cincinnati and Cleveland.
