The Pittsburgh Steelers opened the practice window for OT Calvin Anderson, the team announced today. Anderson was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury on Dec. 14 and now has 21 days to be activated off IR or his season will be over.
Of course, with the Steelers heading to Baltimore for a Wild Card Round matchup with the Ravens on Saturday, there might not even be six days left in their season. But Anderson is now an option for further offensive line depth, and it will be interesting to see if he winds up being activated ahead of Saturday. The Steelers have eight offensive linemen on their 53-man roster and need to dress eight, but RG Mason McCormick is dealing with a broken hand. If McCormick can’t go and the team is confident Anderson can dress in a reserve role, he may be activated ahead of Saturday’s game.
If Anderson is activated off IR and dresses, he’ll be a backup offensive tackle. He’s played 11 offensive snaps and one special teams snap in four games for the Steelers this season. Pittsburgh signed Anderson after its Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Chargers when it became clear that OT Troy Fautanu had suffered a season-ending knee injury.
A fifth-year veteran, Anderson spent 2020-2022 with the Denver Broncos before playing for the New England Patriots last season. He has played in 50 career NFL games with 14 starts. Anderson suffered his groin injury in practice ahead of Pittsburgh’s Week 15 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. If McCormick can’t go on Saturday, it’ll either be Anderson activated or someone will need to be called up from the practice squad.
It’s good timing for Anderson to be back and potentially ready to go due to the circumstances with McCormick, and we’ll find out later this week if the Steelers will need Anderson against the Ravens.
