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Sunday, September 05, 1999 By Ed Bouchette and Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writers
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The principal objective of the final preseason game is not so much to win as it is to stay injury-free.
That's why the most disconcerting aspect of last night's 16-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills was the fractured right forearm sustained by Mike Vrabel that will keep the third-year linebacker out indefinitely.
Vrabel is not a starter in the base defense, but he lines up as one of two down linemen in the team's oft-used dime defense that features six defensive backs.
Vrabel, the Steelers' No. 3 draft choice in 1997, was injured when he got caught in a pile making a tackle on a screen pass to Bills running back Anthony Gray.
It was another in a series of setbacks for the former Ohio State defensive end. He missed five games last year with a stress fracture in his ankle/foot. This year, the team wanted to take advantage of his quickness and pass-rush ability, so defensive coordinator Jim Haslett moved Vrabel to one of the inside linemen spots in the dime defense.
With Vrabel out, defensive end Kevin Henry lined up as the second lineman in the dime defense. That wasn't the only injury.
Outside linebacker Carlos Emmons injured his finger in the first quarter and did not return. The extent of the injury was unknown.
The good news was that Jerome Bettis finally dressed for his first game of the preseason. The bad news is that's all he did.
Bettis tested his injured left knee in the pregame warmups, doing some running and cutting. But Coach Bill Cowher decided against using his 252-pound running back in the game as a precautionary measure.
Bettis, though, is expected to play when the Steelers open the season in Cleveland next Sunday night.
Earlier this week, Bettis said it wasn't important for him to play in the preseason.
"I've been in the league for seven years," Bettis said. "I think I've got enough games under my belt."
Troy Edwards got his first start at wide receiver .... though not because it was earned.
Courtney Hawkins, the team's leading receiver in 1998, did not play against the Bills because of a heel injury. Edwards and Hines Ward lined up with the first-team offense.
The Steelers new offense features more pass routes for the tight end. But the routes might begin to diminish if the tight ends keep dropping the ball.
Mitch Lyons dropped a pass over the middle in the first quarter, then Mark Bruener did it on the following series.
The season may begin next Sunday in Cleveland, but it also marks the traditional end of contract talks for the Steelers.
The end, though, has already arrived.The Steelers have gotten nowhere in their negotiations with several players who have one year left on their contracts and expect to sign no one to extensions before the season.
Among those they tried to extend were defensive end Orpheus Roye and linebacker Carlos Emmons.
Teams don't normally have a game plan for their opponents in preseason games, but they do use preseason practices to get ready for their regular-season openers.
It's been no different for the Steelers, the foe for the Browns' return to the NFLnext Sunday night in Cleveland. They've used some practice sessions this summer to prepare against what they expect to see from the Browns.
Linebacker Levon Kirkland has played on teams favored to win the AFC, but hasn't played on one with so low expectations as this one since his rookie year in 1992.
"We have nothing to lose," said Kirkland. "Nobody's picking us anyway."
Kirkland said he likes the feeling, but he also liked the feeling when the Steelers were favored.
"I like the good pressure when you have to live up to a standard, and I also like it when people say 'Well you can't do it,' or 'They lost it,' and you have a lot to fight for. It's up to us."
Veteran Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith did not play last night so he could be with his ailing father, who is in a nursing home . . . Buffalo GM John Butler said the Bills had Troy Edwards rated as the second-best receiver available in the draft this year behind North Carolina State's Torry Holt and ahead of Ohio State's David Boston. The Steelers drafted Edwards, of Louisiana Tech, in the first round after Holt and Boston were gone. ...Former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, an East Brady native, stood on the Buffalo sideline during the game. ....Nolan Harrison started for the second game in a row at left defensive end and apparently has beaten out Kevin Henry. Orpheus Roye started at right end.
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Bettis doesn't play