Kevin Dotson would like nothing more than the opportunity to prove he is the hands-down starting left guard on the Steelers offensive line. An ankle injury is preventing him from taking those steps, which has made his second training camp a bit disheartening.
Dotson has practiced once in the first three weeks of training camp, which has made for some uncomfortable moments as he and others wonder exactly when he can return.
“Walking around the facility, people asking me are you all right? They’re doing that every day,” Dotson said. “It gets to the point where, ‘Do people feel like I’m dragging it out?’ It makes me want to come back earlier even though I know I’m really hurt. That’s the frustrating thing. You don’t want to be on [the injured list] too long, but you have to be smart and don’t want to come back injured.”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has done nothing to ease Dotson’s concerns. When he has been asked about Dotson’s status in the past few days the messaging has been cryptic.
One quote particularly didn’t sit well with Dotson and prompted him to explain his situation on social media. After Sunday’s practice, Tomlin was asked why Dotson worked with the second-team offense rather than the first-team offense in his first practice of camp.
“He has done nothing to earn first-team reps,” Tomlin said. “What are we talking about? He’s a second-year guy that hadn’t worked.”
Dotson, who started four games as a rookie last season, understood what Tomlin was saying even though his wording might have conveyed a different message to the masses.
“I legit have not done anything,” Dotson said. “There is nothing to look at for my body of work right now. I have not practiced once except for [Monday] which was my first kind of half practice. He wasn’t lying. If you don’t get how he says it, reading it sounds worse than it really is.”
Dotson, for what it’s worth, remains the starter on the depth chart, but veteran Rashaad Coward has been working with the starters. Coward, who started 15 games for the Bears over the past two seasons, was signed as a free agent in the spring.
“It’s a what have you done for me lately type of thing,” Dotson said. “You can’t go off someone’s last year. You have to see what they’re doing this year. I still have to prove myself. I’m not a No. 1 proven guy. I still have to prove myself.”
Dotson didn’t reveal much about his ankle injury other than he has received platelet-rich plasma injections to help speed up his recovery.
Time remains for Dotson to prove himself. The regular season is more than a month away. But for Dotson, the sooner he can strut his stuff the better.
“That’s why it was so frustrating to be out day one,” he said. “That’s what made me mad. I didn’t get to prove anything. I felt like I could show them the first day I was different than I was last year but still reliable.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: August 10, 2021, 11:05 p.m.
