The Pittsburgh Steelers have now identified their protected practice squad players for Week 9, and this week’s list includes a tight end.
Protected by the Steelers on their practice squad for Week 9 were defensive back Karl Joseph, wide receiver Anthony Miller and tight end Kevin Rader. The Steelers did not list a fourth protected practice squad player this week.
As for Joseph, this makes the seventh consecutive week that he has been chosen as a protected practice squad player. Joseph was elevated to the Steelers Active/Inactive gameday roster ahead of the team’s Week 5 game and ultimately played a few defensive snaps in that contest.
This is the third time that the Steelers have had Miller as a protected practice squad since signing him in the middle of October. He has yet to be elevated to the active/inactive roster ahead of a game, however.
As for Rader being protected this week, this makes the third time this season he’s been on the list. He was also one of four protected practice squad players back in Week 1 and Week 2. The Steelers currently have tight end Eric Ebron dealing with a hamstring injury so that’s likely one reason why they chose to protect Rader this week.
The Steelers will play the Chicago Bears on Monday night so any practice squad elevations ahead of that game, if there are any, would likely take place on Monday afternoon.
