Kovacevic: Tomlin's assessment of Dotson should serve as a challenge

Let's make this clear: The Steelers are a stronger team with Kevin Dotson earning a starting job.

That's earning.

Let's make this even clearer: He currently doesn't hold one.

In a June 25 column, I reported exclusively that there was a 'general dissatisfaction' among the team's coaching staff with Dotson's offseason. I offered no specifics at the time -- and not a syllable about his possibly being out of shape, contrary to an Instagram accounting of that column that went viral -- and I've got none now. I flat-out don't know what it's about, and I don't care to guess.

But I do know that, on this sunny Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field, Dotson resumed full practicing after what Mike Tomlin had previously described as a minor injury ... and he did so with the second-team offensive line. Rashaad Coward, the starting left guard all through training camp, remained there for all team drills.

Tomlin couldn't have been more blunt when asked afterward why Dotson wasn't with the starters.

"He has done nothing to earn first-team reps," came the rapid-fire reply. "What are we talking about? He’s a second-year guy that hadn’t worked."

Ow.

In contrast, watch Tomlin light up when, just before that, I asked about Coward:

"Man, I think he's done an excellent job," Tomlin began. "He has the mannerisms and the demeanor of a veteran, and that’s needed, particularly when we’re going through the transition we’re going through at that group when we’re missing some guys or work at that group. HIs level of maturity and experience is showing, and it’s an asset to him and to us."

I'll get more into Coward in a bit, but suffice it to say, Tomlin's making a statement.

If anyone isn't convinced yet, here's what Tomlin had to say July 22 when asked why Dotson wasn't participating: "We were taking care of him. He's got a day or two. He should be fine. I think he tweaked a little something. But it's not anything of any concern whatsoever, to be honest with you."

That was 18 days ago.

And if anyone suggests that Dotson's being eased back into action by being with the second team, know that Tomlin doesn't operate that way. When a player's available, he's available. Chuks Okorafor also returned to practice from injury Sunday, and he was with the first team. The previous day, Zach Banner did likewise, and he's got half as many NFL starts as Dotson's four.

It couldn't be more obvious that something's off here. Just as it couldn't be more obvious that it'd better change, and soon.

Even if Coward continues to prove his worth, this offensive line can't afford to have any potential starters erased from the equation. And that goes double for one who impressed the way Dotson did in subbing for Matt Feiler in 2020. I thought he was terrific, arguably the most effective of the group, especially in the run game. Maybe that was exacerbated by how bad everyone else had become in that facet, but still.

Ideally, Dotson's out there for the first snap in Buffalo. But he's evidently the only one who can alter the current course.

DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS

Chuks Okorafor speaks with a team official after practice Sunday at Heinz Field.

• Coward's not nothing, by the way, though I get the feeling he's viewed as such because he isn't familiar. He's 26, he's got 30 NFL games and half of those have been starts, including five last season for the Bears. What's more, he's converted from defensive line, where he played at Old Dominion, so he could be a late-bloomer project.

Regardless, he's legit shown well so far. It's not like he's being set up to tease Dotson.

He sure doesn't see it that way:

Be certain that he'll start Thursday night in Philadelphia. We'll see what he does with his shot.

• T.J. Watt continued to practice only in individual drills Sunday, as he's done all through camp to stay healthy through the contract extension he's expected to receive soon. And when team drills occurred, he'd do extra, supervised work outside the sideline.

I've got zero issue with this from either perspective. The player's putting pen to the exchange of a lifetime, and so, for that matter, is the team. The scope of the investment is massive, and neither party has anything to gain from an injury in this mostly meaningless stretch of an elongated camp.

Ideally, though, this could've been completed weeks ago. There's also that.

• The best balls thrown in his camp continue to come from the hand of Dwayne Haskins, including a few more beauties on this Sunday. Deep downfield. Across the middle. Sideline routes. Running backs in the flat. Everything.

And when I say best, I don't mean better than those of Mason Rudolph or Josh Dobbs. I mean the best balls in this camp.

One deep pass on this day extended 35 yards down the left sideline, and everyone on hand would still be buzzing about it except that its intended target, running back Tony Brooks-James, let it slide right through his fingers.

Haskins really should start in Philly. I'm serious.

• Long way to go, but I'm not feeling this Antoine-Brooks-as-Mike-Hilton thing yet. And if it doesn't take, there should be no hesitation on the coaches' part to go with James Pierre on the outside and bump Cam Sutton back inside. Put the best 11 on the field.

• For anyone who missed Troy Polamalu's speech in Canton over the weekend ... just don't:

• The Pirates were embarrassed yet again -- and again and again -- over the weekend in Cincinnati, now 0-7 there with a ridiculous aggregate score of 61-17 in the Reds' favor, and continue to steam toward 100 losses.

So, what say we talk about a Pittsburgh player being the National League MVP?

I know, right?

But hear this out: Bryan Reynolds, with another double and another dynamite catch Sunday, rates as a 4.5 WAR player, a catch-all stat accounting for all elements of the game, and that's third-best of anyone in the league. The Dodgers' Max Muncy leads at 5.2, and the Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., who's hurt, is at 5.1.

If focused solely on offense, Reynolds' .923 OPS ranks eighth in the league, but two of the players ahead of him are Reds, whose numbers are always skewed by the Great American Band Box, and two others are hurt, Tatis and the Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr., who's done for the season. So the road's paved there, as well.

It won't happen, though. Reynolds plays in Pittsburgh, which might as well be Pluto to most national baseball writers. And besides, though it's shifted somewhat over the past decade thanks to Mike Trout being stuck in Anaheim, there's still a sentiment that a player whose team stinks should never be MVP.

It'll make for a fun debate regardless. The advanced analytics crowd will take up the Reynolds cause if he tops the WAR list, for sure.

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Bryan Reynolds dives to make a catch in the sixth inning Sunday in Cincinnati.

• Don't know about anyone else, but my primary takeaway from the Pirates' weekend was Ben Cherington jettisoning Phillip Evans and Erik Gonzalez to clear roster space and playing time for younger guys who'll have a chance to be part of the future. And if Derek Shelton follows through, that'll mean a ton of Hoy Park and Rodolfo Castro down this otherwise doom-and-gloom stretch.

The consensus is that Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero, both of whom are obliterating baseballs at Class A Greensboro of late, represent the future middle infield in Pittsburgh. But between Park, Castro and Tucupita Marcano, the shortstop who headlined the Adam Frazier trade, that's a lot added to that mix. And the time to see where -- or if -- these players fit best is right now. I'll be stunned if Marcano isn't a September recall from Indianapolis.

• I still don't agree with Ron Hextall punting on addressing the Penguins' goaltending, but I feel Iike I'm at least beginning to understand it.

Speaking with reporters over the weekend, he said of Tristan Jarry, "When you're a goaltender -- and I lived it -- there's disappointments that you have to get over and you have to bounce back from. And I feel strongly that Tristan is going to bounce back and be a very good goaltender for us throughout the entire year."

Hextall, for anyone who doesn't go that far back, flashed an unrivaled competitive streak as the Flyers' goaltender. In addition to being brilliant for a big chunk of his career. So I can see where someone of his spirit finds it correctable that Jarry occasionally lacks ... intensity might be the most appropriate term. His perpetual even keel off the ice can help manage the downs but it also might not rise to the ups. Which is what can lead to some of the laissez-faire errors we saw in the playoffs. It's not that Jarry doesn't care. It's that he just doesn't turn up the temperature.

I'm not sure if Andy Chiodo, the new goaltending coach, can achieve that. Chiodo was intense in the crease, too, but it's asking a ton. 

• Everyone will hate me for this, but Sidney Crosby turned 34 over the weekend. Sorry.

And yes, for the few who might not know, the planet's most superstitious person was born on 8-7-87. Here's betting he celebrated by taping up 87 stick blades precisely the same way.