Mammoth task awaits center Ryan McCollum as he prepares for 2nd start with Steelers

The challenge for center Ryan McCollum in his second career NFL start Sunday night was bringing consistent play to the Pittsburgh Steelers injury-riddled offensive line.

The challenge will be magnified Monday night in McCollum’s anticipated encore at the pivot.

Magnified to the measurements of 6-foot-4, 340-pound nose tackle Dexter Lawrence.

When McCollum lines up at center against the New York Giants, he will look across the line and see the NFL’s sacks leader and a front-runner at the midpoint of the season to become the league’s defensive player of the year.

Lawrence already has achieved a career high with nine sacks for the 2-5 Giants. He has totaled six in the past three games, and he was one of the few bright spots for the Giants when he had two sacks in their 28-3 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday.

“Dexter Lawrence is a problem,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “He’s a problem in the running game. He’s a problem in the passing game. He’s a dominant, dominant player.”

The Giants selected Lawrence with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2019 draft. That was the year the Steelers traded up from No. 20 to take linebacker Devin Bush at No. 10. While Bush has bounced around in recent seasons — he’s playing for his third team in as many years — Lawrence has emerged as a two-time Pro Bowl force on the Giants’ defensive line.

That presents a significant mismatch for McCollum, although Tomlin isn’t going to allow the journeyman center to wage it without some assistance. Lawrence has faced double teams on 63.3% of his snaps this season, according to NextGen Stats, which is the most of any NFL player since 2018.

Tomlin indicated that McCollum would get his share of help from Isaac Seumalo and/or Mason McCormick,

“You’re not going to get a lot done unless you’re prepared to put four hands on him,” Tomlin said. “We better do more than wish Ryan McCollum luck. We better give him some schematic help and be highly sensitive to this man’s capabilities. Not only his capabilities but what he is putting on tape week in and week out.”

Tomlin gave McCollum a “double thumbs up” for his first start in place of rookie Zach Frazier, who missed his first game with an ankle injury that likely will sideline him until after the bye week.

Injury report

Nose tackle Montravius Adams was placed on injured reserve after being limited to one snap against the Jets. Adams must miss the next four games.

The Steelers replaced Adams on the 53-man roster by signing cornerback C.J. Henderson from the practice squad. Nose tackle Breiden Fehoko has been added to the practice squad.

Tomlin expects cornerback Donte Jackson to return from a shoulder injury that forced him from the game against the Jets in the first half. Jackson did not return.

“It may affect him in the front part of the week, but by no means do I expect it to limit his game availability,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin had no update on Frazier (ankle) or outside linebacker Nick Herbig (hamstring) who has missed the past two games.

Safety Damontae Kazee was a late scratch Sunday because of an ankle injury, but he could return against the Giants.

“As we got close to game time, we thought it was prudent to wait another week to include him,” Tomlin said. “I don’t expect there to be any restrictions with him.”

Running back Cordarrelle Patterson could return from his ankle injury, and Tomlin said linebacker/special teams player Tyler Matakevich could be designated to return from injured reserve.

The other Wilson

While Russell Wilson made his Steelers debut against the Jets, rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson sat out for the sixth time in seven games. After making his first appearance with the Steelers and playing five snaps at Las Vegas, Wilson injured his hamstring in practice Thursday. He didn’t practice fully the rest of the week.

“Roman needs to work for me to really consider him,” Tomlin said. “His participation got compromised some last week. Once it got compromised, I moved on.”

Brandon Johnson was elevated from the practice squad and filled the spot as the No. 5 receiver. He played 10 snaps but was not targeted with a pass.