Friday, May 31, 2002

Steelers’ fleet having engine problems

It’s really early, but RBs Jerome Bettis and Amos Zereoue are having health issues

By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor

It looks as though the Steelers’ ground game, which led the league in rushing last season, is having some trouble getting out of the blocks this early, early offseason.

"Trouble?" you ask. "What do you mean?"

Well, it seems as though the top two rushers on last season’s squad — Jerome Bettis and Amos Zereoue — are having what I would call health issues at this point. I refrain from saying problems because, well, it’s still too early to call them problems. If the issues persist into training camp in July, then I’ll call the problems.

But for now, they have issues. For Bettis, it’s his weight. Now, "The Bus" doesn’t believe it’s a big deal that he’s a bit on the chunky side after nine weeks of inactivity. Bettis has said in reports that it’s not something to worry about now, but it will be if the excess weight is still around in August. And I think I’d have to agree with him on that point.

But what about his groin injury, which we now know was re-aggravated in the AFC championship game, Bettis’ first (and only) game back after he hurt himself in Week 12 of the regular season? Bettis says all the right things, of course — that the groin is healed and he’s running and jogging to build up the strength of the muscle once again.

So is this injury a concern, really? It’s possible that the injury and the weight gain could work in tandem against Bettis’ conditioning leading up to the season. What if Bettis’ groin injury prevents him from taking part in his conditioning at 100 percent? In turn, maybe he doesn’t lose all the excess weight, which slows him down in the regular season.

Is this too far-fetched? Maybe. But look at what happened to Titans RB Eddie George last season, when his offseason conditioning program was severely limited by toe surgery and the rehabilitation that followed. He wasn’t the same back. Indeed, Bettis did not have surgery for his injury, but the fact that it cropped up a second time in the AFC championship game cannot be settling for the Steelers.

To make matters worse, Zereoue, Bettis’ third-down replacement, has issues of his own. Zereoue spent three days in the hospital with severe stomach pains. The doctors finally pinpointed the problem: Zereoue had a parasite latched on to his liver. He is now on antibiotics and is also limited to running and jogging, like Bettis. Because of the affliction that Zereoue has, he has the opposite problem of Bettis: He’s lost a decent amount of weight.

But again, this is May, right? It shouldn’t be a problem come August, right? Bettis and Zereoue will pace the Steelers’ offense once again, without a problem, right?

The problem is, it’s too early to tell even that. Personally, I think that neither player will have a problem once training camp rolls around. Both are hard workers and their health issues aren’t major at the moment. I think we’ll see both guys at 100 percent at least by the middle of training camp, if not sooner.

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2001 - 2002 Season