Pittsburgh Steelers fourth-year linebacker Stevenson Sylvester had his playing time cut short Saturday night in the preseason opener against the New York Giants due to an ankle injury, but according to Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider, he is due to practice Thursday.
Sylvester had just completed making a tackle on punt coverage early in the second quarter Saturday night when rookie wide receiver Markus Wheaton flew into his legs just as he was coming up from making the play. Sylvester managed to get off the field under his own power, but was taken to the locker-room and did not return to action.
“I am fine, just a little tweak,” said Sylvester via steelers.com. “I got lucky.”
Sylvester is looking to be the Steelers primary backup to starters Larry Foote and Lawrence Timmons in 2013, but needs to prove that he can keep himself healthy in order to do so. Last season, Sylvester missed the final three preseason game as well as the first few regular season games because of a knee injury sufferered in practice while the team was wrapping up their training camp practices at Latrobe.
Since he was drafted in the fifth-round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Sylvester has yet to play 100 snaps on defense. He was a restricted free agent this past offseason, but did not receive a tender from the Steelers. He ultimately was re-signed to a one-year contract for the minimum.
