The Pittsburgh Steelers resumed training camp practices on Wednesday following their day off Tuesday and below is your nightly recap of all the nuggets floating around on the web as day thirteen is now in the books.
The Steelers made a few roster moves early on Wednesday as running back Curtis McNeal and defensive end Cordian Hagans were both waived while cornerback Devin Smith and running back Alvester Alexander were signed to take their spots on the roster. McNeal was waived injured, so he should revert back to the injured reserve list when he clears waivers.
Tight end Matt Spaeth is your newest injured player as he evidently had to be carted off after having his foot or ankle stepped on during a tight end versus linebacker drill. Mike Tomlin did not know his exact status after practice ended and would only say Spaeth needs to be evaluated. The early word is Spaeth suffered a foot injury as he had ice on that area. It is not believed to be serious, but we all know how that goes.
Several players were able to get back on the field Wednesday, however, as Jason Worilds, Troy Polamalu, Le\’Veon Bell and LaRod Stephens-Howling all reportedly worked in some capacity. Also back in action on Wednesday was Lawrence Timmons, who returned from a bereavement absence. Not working again on Wednesday were Cortez Allen, Curtis Brown, DeMarcus Van Dyke and Terry Hawthorne. Tomlin said after practice that he doesn\’t think the ankle injury suffered by Brown on Monday is serious.
Jarvis Jones reportedly batted down three passes during the 11-on-11 session and he did it in three different situations, according to Mike Prisuta of DVE Radio.
According to Dale Lolley of the Washington Observer, Jonathan Dwyer received some first-team reps on Wednesday. Lolley also reports that Antonio Brown is continuing to have a strong camp and it include two big plays Wednesday against Ike Taylor and William Gay.
Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says guard Justin Cheadle played a little center on Wednesday during team drills as he switched positions with John Malecki. As I mentioned previously, with Nik Embernate now out for the season, Cheadle has a great shot at making the practice squad if he doesn\’t manage to crack the 53 man roster. Kaboly also reports Mike Adams, Guy Whimper, Al Woods and David DeCastro as players that looked good during the run blocking drill portion of practice. It sounds like Adams is having a pretty good camp thus far.
According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Marcus Gilbert was planted twice by Woods during drills and to make matters worse, Joe Long fared well twice against Woods after that. Gilbert really has to start turning it up a few notches and it will be interesting to see how responds to the seemingly rough few weeks he has had Saturday night.
Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider reports that David Paulson is continuing to have a nice camp and that he very well could be a legitimate red zone threat. Being as there is a good chance Heath Miller will start the season on the Reserve PUP list, this news is certainly encouraging. Both Paulson and Spaeth figure to be counted on quite a bit early in the season if Miller is indeed out for the first six weeks.
Although he reportedly strung together a few good practices recently, Bob Labriola reported on Steelers Live that backup quarterback John Parker Wilson had a rough day on Wednesday. The former Alabama quarterback was reportedly picked off once by DaMon Cromartie-Smith and a few plays later he fumbled away the ball when flushed out of the pocket.
While there was a brief tackling session during practice on Wednesday, Labriola says Tomlin has now dialed practices way back as far as the hitting goes.
The Steelers will be back on the field Thursday and Tomlin is scheduled to have a morning press conference to discuss the upcoming preseason game against the New York Giants.
