The Steelers will face Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict for the first time since he concussed Antonio Brown with a late hit in the AFC wild-card game in January. For that vicious hit and others, Burfict was suspended for the first three games of the season and missed the first meeting between the Steelers and Bengals at Heinz Field in September.
Brown wasn't the first Steelers player Burfict injured or tried to injure. In the regular-season game at Heinz Field last Nov. 1, Burfict ended Le'Veon Bell's season with a hard tackle from behind. It wasn't necessarily a dirty hit, but several Steelers believed then and still believe Burfict was trying to intentionally injure Bell because of the way he celebrated when Bell was prone on the field.
Burfict also tried to injure quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the regular season game in Cincinnati last season when he dived at his knees well after Roethlisberger released a pass.
The Steelers plan to do whatever is necessary to protect their stars in this game, but they weren't in the mood to provide any bulletin board material for the Bengals, either.
"Of course, we have to protect each other," right tackle Marcus Gilbert said Monday afternoon. "You can't be cautious. You have to play full speed. If you're out there wondering what other people are doing you're going to end up getting yourself hurt or get somebody else hurt. You just go out there and play football. It's a rivalry game for us. This is a good team. They have a lot at stake, and we do, too. We have to get through Cincinnati to get to where we want to go, and that's our next stop."
It was Gilbert who famously said last December that all he wanted for Christmas was the Bengals in the playoffs because "they choke."
But there was no trash talking Monday afternoon. In fact, Gilbert praised Burfict.
"He's one of the best inside linebackers in the game of football," Gilbert said. "He makes plays. He's all over the field."
Left guard Ramon Foster was in the middle of the mayhem with the Bengals last season. Like Gilbert, he had no plans on getting into a war of words with Burfict and the Bengals.
"We'll deal with him whenever it gets to that," Foster said. "They have enough sound bites from this past game."
Foster was referencing the sound bites that came out of the Bengals' game against the Browns on Sunday, after which Bengals cornerback Adam Jones called Browns receiver Terrelle Pryor "garbage."
