As expected, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a few additional transactions on Wednesday ahead of their Week 12 home game against the Baltimore Ravens and it includes a running back and offensive lineman being elevated to the 53-man roster from the practice squad as COVID-19 replacements.
The Steelers announced on Wednesday that running back Wendell Smallwood and tackle Anthony Coyle, both of whom have been on the team’s practice squad all season, have now been elevated to the team’s 53-man roster ahead of the game against the Ravens. Additionally, the team officially announced that center Maurkice Pouncey has been placed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list.
Smallwood, who was originally signed by the Steelers in late July, played his college football at West Virginia. He was selected originally by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth-round of the 2016 NFL Draft and last season played for the Washington Redskins.
Since being drafted, Smallwood, who measured in at the 2016 scouting combine at 5104, 208-pounds, has rushed for 931 yards on 233 total carries. He’s also caught 56 passes for 452 yards and two touchdowns in the 52 total games he’s played in.
Smallwood also has some NFL special teams experience as he’s returned 16 kickoffs for 401 yards and a touchdown with a long of 86 yards. He’s also registered 8 special teams tackles since entering the NFL.
Smallwood’s elevation in Week 12 was necessitated by the team not having running backs James Conner and Jaylen Samuels this week. Conner is currently on the Steelers Reserve/COVID-19 list while Samuels was ruled out for the Week 12 game against the Ravens several days ago because of a quadricep injury he suffered a few games ago.
Coyle, who played collegiality at Fordham, was signed in 2018 as an undrafted free agent by the Houston Texans. He has since spent time on the practice squads of the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. At his 2018 pro day he measured in at 6043, 298-pounds and reportedly ran his 40-yard dash in 5.20-seconds. He was most recently with the New York Guardians of the XFL. The Steelers signed him originally in the middle of April. He was signed to the team’s practice squad ahead of the start of the 2020 regular season. He will dress on Wednesday against the Ravens.
