The Pittsburgh Steelers made several adjustments to their 53-man roster on Wednesday and those included three players being placed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list.
According to the team, defensive end Stephon Tuitt, tackle Zach Banner and running back Anthony McFarland Jr. have all been placed on the Reserve/Injured list. That means each player will need to miss at least the first three games of the 2021 season. The earliest any of those three players can return to the active 53-man roster is in Week 4 when the Steelers play the Green Bay Packers on the road.
To fill those three spots on the 53-man active roster, the Steelers signed back guard Rashaad Coward, guard B.J. Finney and cornerback Arthur Maulet on Wednesday Those three players had their contracts terminated by the team on Tuesday.
With Tuitt out a while longer, Chris Wormley is expected to start in his place opposite Cameron Heyward with Tyson Alualu manning the nose tackle position. Tuitt has been sidelined all offseason.
With Banner now out of action, the Steelers might just start rookie Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills. The team also has tackle Joe Haeg on their 53-man roster as well.
As for McFarland going to Reserve/Injured, he, like Banner, missed the team’s preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers due to being left behind in Pittsburgh to get treatment for an undisclosed injury. The Steelers kept three other running backs on their initial 53-man roster in the form of Benny Snell Jr., Kalen Ballage and rookie Najee Harris, the team’s new starter.
