The Pittsburgh Steelers have now wrapped up their Thursday practice and the team’s second injury report of Week 8 that was released following the session shows that three players failed to work earlier in the day.
Not practicing again on Thursday were tight end Vance McDonald (knee), defensive end Stephon Tuitt (back) and tackle Marcus Gilbert (hamstring).
Earlier Thursday Tuitt reportedly said that he’s been told he won’t play Sunday night against the Lions and if that turns out to be the case then fellow defensive end Tyson Alualu will once again start in his place. Tuitt reportedly suffered his back injury a week ago Monday while lifting and it resulted in him missing the team’s Week 7 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As for Gilbert, who has already missed four games this season with his hamstring injury, it’s now looking like he’ll sit out the Sunday night game against the Lions as well. Gilbert tried to return in Week 6 but re-injured his hamstring during the first half of that game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Chris Hubbard will start at right tackle Sunday night if Gilbert ultimately fails to play.
McDonald now looks like he’s in jeopardy of missing Sunday’s game as well. He suffered a bruised knee last Sunday against the Bengals and has failed to practice this week. The Steelers running game will miss him if he doesn’t play.
After sitting out Wednesday’s practice, guard David DeCastro (not injury related) practiced fully on Thursday. DeCastro was given Wednesday off for the birth of his daughter.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion), practiced fully again on Thursday and barring any kind of a setback, he should be able to play Sunday night against the Lions. Smith-Schuster reportedly had concussion-like symptoms on Monday and was immediately placed in protocol.
