The Pittsburgh Steelers have activated WR Eli Rogers from the PUP List today, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who sent out this tweet moments ago.
Rogers has been on PUP since the start of the year, recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in January’s playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rogers had reportedly received first-team work during the week.
Though the Steelers could’ve waited until after this weekend to make a decision on him, an ankle injury to Ryan Switzer may have sped up the timetable. He was limited Friday and officially questionable for tomorrow. Rogers’ activation may signal Switzer will sit out.
If that’s the case, Rogers could see considerable snaps out of the slot in addition to returning punts. It’s unclear who will be the team’s starting kick returner, a job Switzer has also held the entire season. It may go back to JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was used there throughout his rookie season with moderate success.
Pittsburgh will need to make a roster move to get Rogers onto their 53 man roster. We’ll update that when the move is announced by 4 PM, today.
UPDATE: 4:02 PM: To get Rogers on the roster, Marcus Gilbert has been placed on injured reserve.