Day 12 of Steelers training camp started with a transaction as it was announced that defensive end Ty Boyle had been released and defensive end Jarrett Crittenton was claimed off waivers from Seattle to take his spot on the roster. Boyle is the nephew of Penguins CEO and President David Morehouse and the Steelers might have done him a favor by inviting Boyle to camp.
Another move was made on Monday as receiver Hines Ward was activated from the active PUP this morning so he could participate in his first full practice today. Ward was still recovering from offseason thumb ligament surgery when he arrived to Latrobe. The move means that Chris Kemoeatu and Eugene Bright are the only two players left on the PUP list.
Peter King had a nice tidbit in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback segment on defensive end Aaron Smith as he looks to rebound from his biceps injury that sidelined him most of last season.
Mark Kaboly reports that Dennis Dixon said he never approached the Steelers about a trade and pawned of the comments made by his agent as frustration. Dixon makes it obvious though that he would welcome a change of scenery.
Free agent Jerricho Cotchery left Latrobe this morning without a contract and he looks poised to visit with a few other teams. The Ravens and the Chargers are believed to have limited interest in the former Jets receiver.
The Steelers take on the Redskins Friday night in their first preseason game and quarterback John Beck said Monday that he expects to be recovered from his recent groin injury to play in the game. The other Redskins quarterbacks are Rex Grossman and Kellen Clemens. What a mess. Perhaps we can trade the Dixon for a 6th round pick.
Kevin Colbert was on Trib Live Radio prior to practice and talked about several topics including the door still being open for the return of Flozell Adams or Max Starks. Colbert also said they will be very methodical moving forward with contract talks with Lawrence Timmons and Troy Polamalu.
Ed Bouchette let us know Monday afternoon that the Steelers are currently $3 million under the cap right now and that is a very believable number after the new LaMarr Woodley contract and the restructures of several contracts.
Tim Benz of 105 The X interviewed first round draft pick Cameron Heyward today as he talked about his progress thus far in training camp along with a few more topics.
The latest episode of The Terrible Podcast is up today as David Todd and I discuss Woodley, Cotchery, the offensive line, Jason Worilds and who think might be next to get their contract done.
It was reported late in the afternoon that free agent tight end Reggie Kelly will be in for a visit on Tuesday.
Before you read any farther, I was lucky enough to get two training camp reports today after practice as Scott Brown from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review chatted with me about several of the hot topics going on at Latrobe right now. Make sure to follow Scott on Twitter at @ScottBrown_Trib.
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My second interview is a first hand practice report from Jason Silbers, who was at practice this afternoon. Jason gives a great first hand account of the happenings today at practice. You can follow him on Twitter at @Silber_Bullet and we thank both he and Scott for their time and great contributions tonight. Please follow both on Twitter.
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As far as the Monday afternoon practice went, the starters reportedly received the bulk of the work today as the Stelers get ready to take on the Redskins Friday in their first preseason game of 2011. Marcus Gilbert was back in a limited capacity after missing several days with a hamstring injury. Starting left tackle Jonathan Scott tried to go with his injured ankle today, but did not make through the complete practice. Tony Hills replaced Scott at left tackle. Ramon Foster sat out as well after getting dinged up on Saturday. Center Maurkice Pouncey returned to practice after missing time with his ankle injury and seems ready to play Friday. Wide receiver Limas Sweed tried to go with his shoulder injury, but like Scott, he did not make it through the entire practice. Cornerback Crezdon Butler was back today working with the special teams unit, but rookies Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen still reportedly are limited along with left cornerback Bryant McFadden. Ward was back and looked like Hines according to Mike Tomlin. James Harrison was given another day off on Monday.
The Steelers worked on their redzone offense today where Ben Roethlisberger completed 3-of-5 passes, Byron Leftwich was 1-for-4, and Dennis Dixon was 1-for-3 with a sack. Tight ends Heath Miller and David Johnson reportedly had strong days today overall.
Dale Lolley reports that Chris Carter is picking things up and had a great effort against Johnson today in the tight ends on backers drill, but Worilds did not fair as well according to Lolley. Heyward had some nice battles with Gilbert today according to reports. Mewelde Moore and Arnaz Battle also had a good practice as well on Monday according to our call-in report. Wes Lyons had a few drops and a few touchdown catches today in drills and Weslye Saunders had a drop and a touchdown during the redzone session according to reports. Both of these players will likely get tons of work Thursday and my eyes will be on them.
