Ed Bouchette reports today that the injuries suffered by Pittsburgh Steelers cornerbacks Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen yesterday against the Cleveland Browns are a hamstring and separated shoulder respectively. Lewis injured his hamstring some time in the second half and was replaced by cornerback Bryant McFadden when the Steelers used their nickel sub-package. Allen hurt his shoulder on a tackle during a punt return.
Both Lewis and Allen are key special teams players for the Steelers as gunners and it looks like one or both could be in jeopardy of missing the AFC wild card game on Sunday against the Denver Broncos as the Steelers will announce today or Tuesday that former defensive back and special teams ace Anthony Madison has been re-signed. The move to re-sign Madison also might indicate that head coach Mike Tomlin is already leaning towards not playing free safety Ryan Clark in the high altitude of Denver because of his blood disorder history linked to the sickle cell trait he carries.
To make room on the 53 man roster for Madison, it is speculated that running back Rashard Mendenhall will be placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered in the first half against the Browns. The Steelers may also consider signing a cornerback to the practice squad on Tuesday as well, but that is just speculation at this time.
Tomlin is expected to give a full injury update on Tuesday during his weekly press conference.
