Steelers News: Balochko, Tomlin, Gradkowski

The Steelers have their first preseason game under their belts and have some things to work on going forward.

While the Steelers get back to camp and gets ready to work on the rest of the preseason we’ll be busy looking for mentions of your Black & Gold so we’ve got you covered. Here’s your Steelers Morning Huddle for Tuesday, Aug. 16^th.

Breaking the Black & Gold glass ceiling

The Pittsburgh Steelers as an organization have been at the forefront of equality in the league for quite some time. One of their most senior contributors of their website, often quoted on this very blog is Teresa Varley.

She describes the story of Stephanie Balochko, a former defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Passion women’s football team. Balochko was an assistant at last year’s Steelers training camp and this year she gladly accepted an invitation from Steelers to be a coaching intern for the preseason opener on Friday.

"“It was amazing to get the call. Not only do I love football and everything about it, learning about it and advancing it, but I am a huge Steelers fan. Not only was it a great call to get because I want to coach, but to be with the team you love is unbelievable. I still think I am on cloud nine.” – Stephanie Balochko"

I know the feeling. I’ve been able to interview Steelers greats like Brett Keisel, Rocky Bleier and Mel Blount and still find myself giddy at the thought that those things actually happened.

Flipping the morning and the afternoon

The Steelers had to adjust the practice schedule on Monday due to some weather concerns and ended up working in the morning as opposed to the usual 2:55 start. Mike Tomlin addressed the media following the practice and had some good news about the return of some younger players.

Rookie Artie Burns returned to practice with pads for the first time in a few weeks after being held back with a quad injury. He noted that Burns’ learning curve may differ based on the time he spent on the sidelines watching. Obviously.

Yikes

One thing you can’t control in the NFL is injuries. They’re going to happen and you just hope that they don’t happen to your starters. The Steelers put themselves in a difficult position last season when backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski was lost to them for the year in a preseason game.

They signed Michael Vick as both a sign of the lack of quality backup quarterbacks around the league and the confidence level they had in Landry Jones. Unfortunately neither quarterback really worked out when it came to replacing Ben Roethlisberger for the time he had to miss.

Gradkowski was pulled from Friday night’s 30-17 preseason loss to the Lions with an injury that is now being described as a hamstring tear, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The Steelers have Dustin Vaugh on the roster but he’s never taken an NFL regular season snap.

Next: Are the Steelers Super Bowl hopes in danger?

What move should Pittsburgh make and how much time should be invested in a backup quarterback when you have a starter like Ben Roethlisberger?