The Steelers were back at practice on Tuesday after having Monday off and second-year wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders was even able to get some light work in as well. Sanders reported via Twitter that he had a light practice today and that it felt good to be back out there with the fellas.
Sanders has been sidelined since the beginning of training camp after he needed an injection of calcium and bone marrow in his left foot to speed up the healing process following one of his two offseason surgeries. The initial time table was three weeks after the procedure was done and Sanders was initially hopeful he would be ready to play in the Steelers third preseason game against the Falcons that will take place this Saturday at Heinz Field.
With Sanders just now starting to hit the field, it is hard to imagine that he will play this week. The Steelers final preseason game against the Panthers is a week from Thursday, so Sanders would likely still be considered iffy to be able to play in that game as well. The recent signing of free agent Jerricho Cotchery buys the Steelers some time to not have to rush back Sanders at this point and have him suffer a setback. They likely will target him returning back to fully participating in practice during the week leading up to the first regular season game against the Ravens.
Mike Tomlin will likely be asked about Sanders during his pregame press conference this week, but I doubt he will shed much as far useful information about the recovery of Sanders.
