Kevin Dotson was a lightning rod in the Steelers' offseason when the coaching staff was upset with him for not putting in what they felt was the necessary study work in for a second-year player expected to move into a starting role.
But once the season began, the second-year guard began to quickly establish himself as perhaps their most consistent offensive lineman. And with Dotson starting between a pair of rookies in left tackle Dan Moore and center Kendrick Green, his steadying influence was seen through the line's consistent improvement over the first 10 weeks.
Dotson, however, suffered a high-ankle sprain in a Week 10 tie against the Lions and hasn't played since. The injury landed him on injured reserve and. with Dotson sidelined the past six games, the Steelers have lined up with four different players -- Joe Haeg, J.C. Hassenauer, B.J. Finney and now John Leglue -- in his place.
Then, this week, Mike Tomlin permitted offensive line coach Adrian Klemm to leave to become associate head coach/offensive line coach for the University of Oregon, with first-year offensive line assistant Chris Morgan taking his place.
So much for continuity.
The Steelers (7-7-1) could get Dotson back for Monday night's critical game against the Browns (7-8) at Heinz Field. He returned to practice last week and could be activated from injured reserve in time for the game.
"It'd be nice if you could have, you know, everybody in place for so many years, and then you build up this continuity, and everybody knows everybody's wives, kids, uncles and all of that stuff," right guard Trai Turner said Wednesday on the South Side. "It's just something we have to continue to work on."
What Turner just explained was what the Steelers used to have with their line for the better part of the past decade when their line largely consisted of Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster, Marcus Gilbert, Alejandro Villanueva and others who had been with the team for the long term.
"That's phenomenal. That's awesome," Turner said. "But I'll say that roughly 90 percent of the teams aren't like that."
No, they aren't. But the Steelers were building that earlier in the season when Dotson was in the lineup.
After a slow start, they had rushed for 100 or more yards in five consecutive games before his injury, including a season-high 147 yards in a 27-19 Week 5 win over the Broncos. Despite failing to rush for more than 75 yards in any of their first four games, the Steelers were averaging 94.7 yards rushing per game with Dotson in the lineup. The Steelers allowed 18 sacks in the nine games with Dotson in the lineup as they went 5-3-1 in those games. With Dotson out, they've gone just 2-4 while averaging 77 rushing yards with Ben Roethlisberger being sacked 17 times.
That's not to say simply plugging Dotson back into the lineup will solve the line. Green has struggled in recent weeks and is now dealing with a calf injury.
"I thought he was playing pretty well," Turner said of Dotson.
Whether the Steelers can regain any kind of continuity if Dotson returns for their final two games remains to be seen.
• Turner was asked what he thought went wrong on the Steelers' fourth-and-1 sweep call in last week's 36-10 loss to the Chiefs that ended in a three-yard loss by Najee Harris.
After thinking about it for a moment, he simply replied, "That's above my pay grade."
• Turner said Roethlisberger got all of his offensive linemen gift cards to purchase custom sports coats, dress shirts, a tie and shoes for Christmas.
"He thinks he's a dapper guy," Turner said of Roethlisberger.
• Joe Haden said that he's completely focused on helping the Steelers win their final two games of the regular season, but admitted that he also knows he might be playing his final games as a member of the team.
"We're not mathematically eliminated. We still kind of control our own destiny," said Haden. "What we can do is still win these last two games, and then hopefully, we can get into the playoffs. That's my biggest goal, just trying to end it the right way. You know, trying to go out and finish this season strong. But then knowing, at the end of the day, I will be a free agent after this year. So, I am thinking about it."
