The Steelers got back to business on Sunday after their 16-7 loss Friday night to the Redskins as they held a morning and afternoon practice on Sunday.
Here some notes leading up to practice today.
I have both the offensive and defensive participation charts up from Friday night as well as the offensive line and blocking report from the game. I also totaled up the coverages from the game as well.
Former Steelers special teams ace Anthony Madison has signed with the Lions.
Chris Kemoeatu was activated from the active PUP today and that leaves only tight end Eugene Bright on the list.
The signing of former Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery is now official and to make room for him on the 90 man roster the Steelers waived defensive end Sunny Harris injured.
Before you read any farther, please make sure to listen to my Sunday post practice interview with Mark Kaboly from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review as we talk about what went on today and Friday night against the Redskins. Make sure you read his new blog called the The Steel Mill and follow him on Twitter at @MarkKaboly_Trib.
[audio:https://steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/day-18-mark-kaboly-training-camp.mp3]
Direct Download here: Mark Kaboly Sunday Aug. 14th Training Camp Update
Tony Hills looks to be getting the opportunity to be the starting right guard according to reports and will indeed start Thursday there against the Eagles. Chris Scott had a rough go of it against the Redskins while Hills looked much improved at both left tackle and right guard when he hit the field. Hills reportedly looked good again today in the offensive linemen versus defensive linemen drills as he battled nicely against Ziggy Hood at one point. The starting line today was left to right: Jonathan Scott, Doug Legursky, Maurkice Pouncey, Hills and Willie Colon. The second team line left to right was: Marcus Gilbert, Keith Williams, Legursky, Ramon Foster and C. Scott.
Cotchery was working with the second team offense today in his first practice in the black and gold. He reportedly is being force fed the playbook and seems to be fitting in nicely. Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Tyler Grisham were the top four receivers during the Sunday third-down drill. Arnaz Battle was sidelined with a knee injury suffered Friday night. Brown has yet to cool off as he had another nice practice today. He hauled in several long passes from Ben Roethlisberger and beat cornerback Keenan Lewis badly on one of them. Emmanuel Sanders reportedly was in shoulder pads and a helmet today and was running patterns and catching balls at a little more than half speed. He still hopes to play in the final preseason game against the Panthers. Limas Sweed was back on the field and had a solid practice by many accounts.
Defensive ends Aaron Smith (knee) and Brett Keisel (ankle) had the day off today, so Hood and rookie Cameron Heyward took the first team ends reps in practice. Heyward got into it with J. Scott today and Pouncey was the third man in. Mike Tomlin would not comment on the scrap after practice. Kicker Shaun Suisham was out today with an illness. Wes Lyons (concussion) and Crezdon Butler (quad) were also reportedly sidelined Sunday. Will Allen (undisclosed) was back on the field today after sitting out against the Redskins.
Other injured players are working back as Kemoeatu (knee), Bryant McFadden (hamstring), Curtis Brown (hamstring) and Cortez Allen (hamstring) all worked in position drills only. Linebacker Mario Harvey worked today as well. Ike Taylor will have thumb surgery on Tuesday while Baron Batch will have his ACL surgery on Wednesday.
Undrafted defensive end Miguel Chavis was being worked at tight end today. Punter Daniel Sepulveda was getting off some booming punts today, but Mewelde Moore had a rough day fielding punts.
Here is the post practice Q & A with Tomlin.
Credit today to Kaboly, Scott Brown, Mike Prisuta, Gerry Dulac and Rich Walsh for the updates via Twitter. Brown should be checking in with me on Monday for another great post practice interview.
