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Bus stopped Bettis to miss next two games with knee injury
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated LATROBE, Pa. -- The Pittsburgh Steelers' already thinned running back position took another blow Tuesday when it was learned that leading rusher Jerome Bettis is expected to miss the team's next two preseason games while resting his sore left knee. Bettis did not practice Tuesday in the Steelers' afternoon workout and wore an ace bandage on his knee. He played Sunday night at Dallas in the Steelers' preseason-opening 38-10 victory, but said the knee swelled up Monday, the team's off day, after he took a bone-on-bone hit on it in the Dallas game. "It's kind of swollen in there, so we're trying to let it calm down," Bettis said. "I've got some fluid in there and it's a little stiff. I'm going to take it easy. That's the goal. Take it slow and see how it goes."
Steelers coach Bill Cowher said Bettis is expected to miss seven to 10 days with the knee contusion, but Bettis is all but certain of not playing Saturday at home against Miami, or Aug. 10 at home against Carolina. Both games will be on artificial surfaces and would subject the knee to further pounding. Pittsburgh's fourth preseason game is against Indianapolis at Mexico City, Mexico, on a grass field. Bettis has been bothered by the knee for about a week and was held out of last Thursday's practice for precautionary reasons. But he ran seven times for 24 yards at Dallas and scored the Steelers' first touchdown on a 1-yard first-quarter plunge. "The swelling is behind the knee cap," Bettis said. "So it's hard to move the joint. It was a little rough [in Dallas], but it was manageable. It hurt, but as I got going it was better." Bettis had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee early last August and missed the Steelers' entire training camp. Bettis is the third Steelers rusher injured inside of a week. Running back Richard Huntley pulled his left hamstring Thursday and missed the Cowboys game. He did not practice Tuesday and is still day-to-day. Rookie running back Destry Wright broke his right leg and dislocated an ankle against Dallas, and had season-ending surgery Monday. To replace Wright on the roster, the Steelers on Tuesday signed former Ohio State standout Pepe Pearson, who played this spring and summer with the Rhein Fire during the NFL Europe season. Pearson has spent time with many NFL teams, including Cleveland, Jacksonville, Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco. Of missing Tuesday's workout, the hottest and most humid day of camp thus far for the Steelers, Bettis joked: "It's not the worst thing in the world to miss a day like this." With 40 yards on eight carries, plus two catches for 46 yards and a touchdown, second-year veteran Amos Zereoue led the Steelers in rushing at Dallas. Zereoue and third-year man Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala figure to handle most of the rushing load in Bettis' absence.
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