Steelers/NFL
Timmons could make 1st career start at LOLB
An off the radar topic after Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins was linebacker Lawrence Timmons sliding over to LOLB to replace injured starter LaMarr Woodley.
Timmons who has been a dynamic force in the middle of the field, leading the Steelers with 62 tackles, was somewhat taken out of the game once he moved over to OLB, limited to just 3 tackles, his lowest total of the season.
Timmons is in position to possibly make his 1st start of his career at LOLB Sunday night against the New Orleans Saints as LaMarr Woodley is questionable to play due to a hamstring injury.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said today that Timmons would start if Woodley can’t go.
Tomlin called Timmons a player who can be a force at anywhere in the field and Larry Foote will slide into Timmons spot inside.
The mindset from the coaching staff is to get the best players on the field, even if it means sliding Timmons over to the outside where he likely won’t be such a disruptive force.
In his 4th season, Timmons has established himself as one of the best at his position through the early stages of the season.
If Woodley is limited or out, rookie Jason Worilds will also see time at LOLB during passing situations according to Tomlin. Worilds though will not start and likely won’t see the field during 1st or 2nd down.
Worilds did some good things on the pass rush against Miami, applying pressure to Chad Henne on the Dolphins final offensive play, a 4th-and-6 in completion.
“He {Jason Worilds} made significant play when we needed it, ” Tomlin said when asked about Worilds possibly replacing Woodley.
He’s a promising developing player who can step in and create some pressure on the pass rush when needed.
Veteran linebacker Larry Foote saw a much heavier workload in Sunday’s game with Woodley out and had 4 solo tackles and 1 sack.
