Rashard Mendenhall, who emerged from Tomlin's doghouse to lead the Steelers with 1,108 yards rushing last season, will start and also serve as the prime third-down back, as he did for the second half of last season.
"Rashard is our feature runner. He's good in about all circumstances you put him in. He's had a good training camp and preseason. He's good with the ball in his hands, he's good with the blitz pickup out of the backfield. We like how his game is shaping up in that it's well-rounded. He's an emerging player. He's becoming a veteran player. We're going to call on him."
But ...
"We are going to monitor his touches simply because that's the appropriate thing to do this early in the season. He is going to be in; he is capable of staying in on third downs. But, of course, we're also capable of inserting a Mewelde Moore or even an Isaac Redman for that matter.
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