Now that hes served his four-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy, tackle Marcus Gilbert is back with the team as of Monday.
With Gilbert now back, the Pittsburgh Steelers asked for and received a roster spot exemption for him and that’s generally standard practice for situations such as this one. In short, the Steelers don’t have to make a corresponding move until Monday, Dec. 25 at 4 p.m.
The Steelers next game is a on the Dec. 25 so we can probably expect the team to make a corresponding roster move around that time. There are several candidates for possible removal from the roster to make room for Gilbert and they include tackle Matt Feiler and quite possibly even Coty Sensabaugh or defensive tackle Daniel McCullers.
Running back James Conner, who suffered an MCL injury Sunday against the New England Patriots, might be moved to the team’s Reserve/Injured list in the coming days as well if hes expected to miss several weeks. However, if Conner is ultimately placed on IR the team would likely promote running back Terrell Watson to fill his spot on the depth chart.
While Gilbert was suspended, tackle Chris Hubbard started in his place at right tackle and filled in admirably. Hubbard, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season ends, will likely go back to being used as an occasional extra blocker on offense with Gilbert now back in the fold.
In addition to missing four games to a suspension, Gilbert has also missed five other games due to a hamstring injury.
