The Pittsburgh Steelers were back practicing again on Tuesday and their fourteenth training camp session took place at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., once again. After practice, head coach Mike Tomlin provided a brief health update on a few players.
“We are getting more participation from some of those guys who missed time: [Keeanu] Benton, [Joey] Porter [Jr.], the two safeties, [Damontae] Kazee and [Keanu] Neal and so it’s reasonable to expect those things to continue,” Tomlin said. “And as we get closer to game time, we’ll look closer then at how we divide the labor up and who plays and how much they play.”
Our very own Alex Kozora also passed along some post-practice information on players and their Tuesday participation levels. He noted that defensive tackle Cameron Heyward (illness) back and Neal (undisclosed) were working on Tuesday. Heyward missed the Sunday practice with an illness. As for Neal, it’s good to see him back working fully now.
Limited on Tuesday was defensive tackle Keeanu Benton (ankle), according to Kozora. Meanwhile, Joey Porter Jr. returned to practice as a full participant, though his reps were managed a bit during the team period. He didn’t take his usual number of snaps in those sessions. Porter missed the first preseason game and hopes to play in the second one on Saturday night against the visiting Buffalo Bills. As for Benton, he sustained a minor ankle injury Friday night so the hope is he’ll be ready for the second preseason game.
Not practicing on Tuesday, according to Kozora, were defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (foot), inside linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (shoulder), safety Tre Norwood (leg), outside linebacker Markus Golden (undisclosed), and guard Nate Herbig (shoulder).
Ogunjobi and Norwood both sat out the preseason opener last Friday night. Tomlin was asked about the former on Tuesday and he indicated the veteran is “moving closer.” As for Golden, Tomlin implied on Tuesday that he was given a vet day off.
Kwiatkoski was injured Friday night, and he has yet to practice since then. Herbig, on the other hand, sustained his shoulder injury during Sunday’s practice.
The Steelers’ next training camp practice will take place on Wednesday.
