The Pittsburgh Steelers have protected four players on their practice squad this week according to the NFL’s transaction report. Those four are: OG Derwin Gray, OLB Jayrone Elliott, RB Wendell Smallwood, and DL Henry Mondeaux.
Elliott, Mondeaux, and Smallwood were all protected last week. Gray is the new name on the list in part due to the several injuries suffered along the line and in part due to losing safety Curtis Riley to the Arizona Cardinals. Gray may be called up to the 53 man roster if David DeCastro and/or Stefen Wisniewski are unavailable for Sunday’s game against Denver. Pittsburgh has the ability to call players up to temporarily expand the roster from 53 to 55. Players may be called up twice in a year without being subject to waivers. A tackle at Maryland, he’s spent almost all his time in Pittsburgh playing guard.
Pittsburgh signed OT Jerald Hawkins today as Zach Banner was placed on IR with a knee injury.
With these four players protected, they can’t be poached by another team for the rest of the week. Teams have to protect players weekly, Tuesday at 4 PM for teams who played on Sunday, Wednesday at 4 PM for teams who played on Monday night.
