No specifics from Mike Tomlin on Steelers’ injuries, potential surgeries

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin used only vague terms Wednesday in addressing which players would require offseason surgeries.

“We are just kind of scratching the surface in terms of (determining) potential or pending surgeries and an assessment from a medical standpoint,” Tomlin said during his season-ending news conference. “That will be ongoing in subsequent days and weeks. We have got to proceed appropriately and aggressively in those areas because you can’t allow surgeries and recovery and so forth to negatively affect the foundation of the preparation for 2019, when you can avoid it.”

In other injury news, Tomlin said safety Sean Davis did not respond well to his return to practice Friday after missing the previous two days because of a quadriceps injury.

Running back James Conner had an up-and-down week in advance of the finale, Tomlin said, and his status to play Sunday was not finalized until pregame warm-ups. Conner missed the previous three games because of an ankle injury.

Tomlin also clarified it was a groin injury that landed kicker Chris Boswell on injured reserve. The Steelers made that move 48 hours before their final game after Boswell did not respond well enough physically during his regular practice day Thursday. Boswell, Tomlin again said Wednesday, initially felt the groin discomfort during the Dec. 23 game at New Orleans.

The kicker the Steelers signed to replace Boswell for the finale against the Bengals, rookie Matt McCrane, made all four of his kicks in the win.

“Can’t say enough about Matt,” Tomlin said. “He came up big. We awarded him the game ball and appropriately so, contributing to our efforts in the ways that he did.”

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.