Virtual Life: Steelers Survive Their First Run-In With COVID-19

Virtual meetings, illness outbreaks and no quarterback. How the Pittsburgh Steelers made it through their first COVID-19 scare.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers made it through (kind of) their first encounter with COVID-19.

In a week that removed their starting quarterback, inside linebacker, and left them without a coach on Sunday, the Steelers can say they survived enough to head into Sunday afternoon with the ability to play against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

It started Monday when tight end Vance McDonald received a positive COVID-19 test. On Tuesday, Roethlisberger, Vince Williams, Jaylen Samuels and Jerald Hawkins were placed on the team's Reserve/COVID-19 list for "high risk" contact with McDonald. 

This led to the Steelers spending most of their week outside of the facility. Players only reported for practice, and weightlifting/body care was done in shifts. Besides that, all meetings were held virtually. 

"We're working out tails off to adhere to the protocol," Tomlin said on Tuesday. "It's actually been a good experience the last couple of days, working with New York, sorting through some of the details associated with this, and seeing how, procedurally, things get done."

Virtually life didn't work to perfection. The Steelers will head into their Week 10 matchup at Heinz Field without assistant offensive line coach Adrian Klemm because of an illness. Rookies Anthony McFarland and Kevin Dotson weren't in the building on Friday for the same reason. They're both listed as questionable for Sunday. 

"Being in the heightened circumstance that we are in terms of the intensive protocol, we are exercising all of the proper precautions and not allowing those guys to come to work even though it's an illness," Tomlin said.

This doesn't mean COVID-19 spread throughout UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. All it means is that the Steelers are doing whatever necessary to keep themselves aligned to play the Bengals on time. 

It hasn't been the easiest life to live virtually. NFL coaches took some adjusting to work away from their classroom setting meetings. One issue being that players and coaches can't see each other. 

"They can hear you, and you can hear them, but you don't get a chance to see them face to face," defensive line coach Karl Dunbar said. "Coaching, just like most things with football, is personal and it's interactive, and you don't have that when you go virtual. But, this is the only way you can do it because it's 2020, and we have to learn how to do it."

The biggest standout of this Steelers team, though, is that they live by this "we have to learn how" mentality. The playing field can become crazy for any of the 32 teams, and it has for the Steelers more than once this season. 

It doesn't matter. From the players to the coaches, everyone takes it as it is and moves on from it. 

"They're professionals. They know at the end of the day, just like I said earlier, it's a production game," offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett said on handling a virtual week. "We are all about wins and losses. We have to win on Sunday. They know it's just as much on them as it is on us as coaches."

They survived, though. Saturday, the team will receive their four "high risk" contact players back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, including Roethlisberger. They'll work an extended walkthrough to assure everyone who did not practice throughout the week is up-to-date. 

From there, they'll finish with virtual meetings on Saturday night and move into Sunday. And even if they are concerned with their two rookies and assistant coach coming down with illnesses, they're prepared to play on schedule. 

The Steelers made it through their first COVID-19 scare. 

"Now, we push into our weekend itinerary getting singularly focused on the opportunity, which is AFC North football," Tomlin said. 

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.


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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.