While the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t suffer any significant injuries in their Sunday road win over the Baltimore Ravens, a few players did suffer some few bumps and bruises during that contest that could ultimately effect their practice participation level during the team’s shortened week.
During his Monday afternoon press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin discussed the health of his team as the group prepares to play the Carolina Panthers at home Thursday night.
“From an injury standpoint, not a lot of information as we sit here,” Tomlin said on Monday. “First, let me say there’s not a lot of significant injuries. If there were, we would have clarity, but there are bumps and bruises associated with play. James Washington got his knee banged, it’s being looked at. Daniel McCullers an ankle, Ryan Switzer an ankle. Of course, Ben got the wind knocked out of him in-game.
“All of those and others will continue to be monitored. It may affect practice availability in some form of fashion, it may not. I’m just giving you a list of potential things. It’s just we hadn’t had our feet on the ground long enough to give you any real information, so I wouldn’t read too much into that. What you should read into is practice participation. That’s always our guide in terms of availability and it will be particularly on a week that’s as short as this one.”
It will now be interesting to see if James Washington, Ryan Switzer and Daniel McCullers will all be able to practice fully come Tuesday. If one of the two young wide receivers isn’t able to practice fully this week, we might could see veteran Justin Hunter back in uniform come Thursday night against the Panthers. As for McCullers and his status, fellow defensive lineman L.T. Walton is healthy and would likely dress Thursday night if the big Tennessee product is unable to go fully.
Tomlin didn’t mention starting rift tackle Marcus Gilbert during his initial Monday injury rundown but was later asked to comment on his potential status for Thursday night later during his press conference.
“I don’t know,” Tomlin said when asked if he knows yet if Gilbert will practice on Tuesday. “We’ll see where it goes tomorrow. I’m open to it, I know he’s open to it.”
Gilbert has missed the Steelers last two games with a knee injury and that has resulted in backup offensive lineman Matt Feiler starting in his place.
