Troy Polamalu sounds contemplative about his future, but he sounds certain he could have missed less time if he and the Steelers had handled his calf injury differently.
After injuring his calf in the opener, he came back prior to the Oct. 7 game against the Eagles by practicing fully for three days the week before. He reinjured himself, though he said it was a different muscle, and missed the next seven games.
This time, he’s taking plenty of time. He hasn’t practiced yet this week, but will today and is expected to start Sunday against the Chargers.
“I think it was a better game plan going into the last game than it was going into the Philadelphia game where I injured myself,” Polamalu said, via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Polamalu was listed as a full participant last week, but didn’t necessarily take all the snaps. He was also in and out of the Ravens game.
“I was limited in a way in terms of repetitions and the game plan as far as practice was concerned throughout the week,” Polamalu said.
He also said missing so much time has given him a new view of the game, saying it “just kind of reinforces the perspective that maybe I didn’t appreciate as much as I used to.
“My plans are always the same. When you live day to day you can’t talk years, you can’t talk weeks, you can’t talk months. I just try to deal with the present.”
Of course, if he and the team had handled the past differently, he might be present on the field a little more in the future.
