The Pittsburgh Steelers made quite a few transactions on Tuesday afternoon, and one of them included a player being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
According to the Steelers on Tuesday, wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. If McCloud winds up missing the Sunday game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the team might elevate wide receiver Steven Sims as his replacement to return kicks and punts in that contest.
The team also signed tight end Kevin Rader to the 53-man roster from the practice squad on Tuesday.
There were also practice squad moves made on Tuesday as well. The team announced that guard Rashaad Coward has been signed to the practice squad along with tight end Jace Sternberger. Quarterback James Morgan has been released from the practice squad to make room.
With Rader being added from the practice squad and Sternberger being added to take his place on the 16-man unit, it makes you wonder if tight end Eric Ebron might be sidelined for quite a while with his knee injury. Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Ebron is expected to miss extended time as he braces for potential knee surgery. The tight end is waiting on a second opinion, but a procedure is the likely approach as of now.
Coward being brought back is not too surprising with center/guard J.C. Hassenauer now dealing with a pectoral injury this week. Coward was with the Steelers all offseason.
In early November, the Washington Football Team released Sternberger, a former Green Bay Packers third-round selection, in an effort to clear roster space ahead of the return of tight end Logan Thomas from injured reserve. Washington signed Sternberger off the Seattle Seahawks practice squad Oct. 6, after Thomas suffered a right hamstring injury during the team’s win over the Atlanta Falcons. Sternberger, however, has yet to appear in a game this season.
On June 10, Sternberger was suspended without pay for the first two games of the 2021 regular season for violating the league’s Policy and Program on Substances of Abuse, according to a release from the league. At that time, Sternberger was announced as eligible to return to the team’s active roster on Sept. 21, following the Week 2 game against the Detroit Lions. Per the initial release of his suspension, Sternberger was eligible to participate in offseason and preseason practices and games. Once Sternberger’s suspension ended, the Packers waived him.
