PITTSBURGH — Like some coaches in the NFL, Mike Tomlin is customarily vague when it comes to publicly discussing the nature of a player's injury and the extent to which it might affect his playing time.
The main reason for this practice is to not give the upcoming opponent any additional information they might be seeking for game-planning purposes. But it is also done in some instances to protect the player — not give opponents a target on which to focus during the game, thereby risking further injury to the player.
Former Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz said he used to tape both ankles when he had a sprained ankle so the opponent wouldn't know which one was hurt. That way, they couldn't figure out which blocks he couldn't make because of the injury. And they couldn't try to specifically attack the actual injury, which he even admitted he would do if he knew an opponent had a specific injury.
