Sean Davis almost certainly out for Steelers’ opener at Patriots; Kameron Kelly will start

Sean Davis completed the first practice week of the Pittsburgh Steelers regular season without participating at all because of an ankle injury.

That opens the door for Kameron Kelly, a castoff from the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent last season (Dallas – nor any other team – did not even deem him promising enough to sign him to their practice squad).

About six months after having three tackles in a game at the Salt Lake Stallions for the Alliance of American Football’s San Diego Fleet, Kelly is in line to start against the defending Super Bowl champions for a Super Bowl contender on Sunday Night Football.

“Only way I can really think about it is just God’s work,” Kelly said after practice Friday. “It’s just him trying to put me in the right positions, and I just feel like the Cowboys wasn’t for me. So I had to let go and me sitting at home and not getting a call, just made me work, allowed me to work and made me – I was always hungry – but it took my hunger to the next level. Came to the AFL, and the rest is history.”

That Kelly has repeatedly misidentified the AAF as the AFL only adds to remarkable leap Kelly has made in a matter of months. One of Kelly’s biggest fans in the Steelers’ secondary similarly couldn’t even correctly reference the AAF, which folded after eight weeks of its inaugural season.

“It’s been amazing that he was in the Canadian Football League to starting for the Steelers,” veteran cornerback Joe Haden said. “That shows that everybody starts off (the same); once you get to the Steelers, you are on an even slate. It’s what you do on the field that can get you the playing time.”

Since coming to #Steelers, Kameron Kelly has been a real find. @TimBenzPgh writes that he has probably played his way into a roster spot https://t.co/AiB4xXJ36g

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) August 29, 2019

Davis’ status for Sunday’s game, officially, was ruled as “doubtful” on the Steelers’ final injury report of the week, but it is incredibly rare for a player who did not practice all week to be given a green light to play in a game.

Davis was the lone player the Steelers listed because of injury. Kelly will start in Davis’ place at free safety. But if the Steelers have any apprehensions about a player making his NFL debut in the secondary against Tom Brady & Co., they sure aren’t showing it.

“Dude is a baller,” Haden said. “He’s a ballplayer, man, and you just could tell when you watch him.

“I’ll watch people do their drills and just the way they go about their business – and when Kam’s out there, he’s overlapping, he’s reading routes, he reads the quarterback’s eyes. He’s playing like a really good free safety.”

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