Ahead of the Week 3 matchup on the road in Foxboro against the New England Patriots, a place they haven’t won since the 2008 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a couple of roster moves Saturday.
The Steelers announced they’ve elevated running back Trey Sermon off of the practice squad to the active/inactive roster, and placed veteran offensive lineman Max Scharping on season-ending Injured Reserve.
The move helps shore up running back entering the Week 3 game against the Patriots. Previously, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stated that rookie running back Kaleb Johnson would be removed from the kick return role after his blunder in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks led to a touchdown and ultimately played a significant factor in the loss.
With Johnson out of the kick return role and not having much of a role offensively, it might not make sense for him to have a hat in Week 3, leading to the elevation of Sermon. The veteran running back signed with the Steelers back in May following a tryout at rookie minicamp. and stuck with the Steelers throughout training camp and the preseason.
Though he was part of final cuts, the Steelers added Sermon to the practice squad quickly, keeping some experienced depth at the position.
In the preseason, Sermon played 38 offensive snaps and carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards and a touchdown. He also hauled in eight passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, making plays consistently throughout the summer. He had just one kick return in the preseason, and has one kick return in his career, coming last season with the Indianapolis Colts.
Scharping suffered the torn ACL in practice Wednesday, putting him on the shelf. He had yet to dress in either game so far this season, but was serviceable depth in the trenches at both guard and center, having picked up some center snaps during training camp and the preseason.
Re-signing with Pittsburgh to a one-year contract this offseason, Scharping handled second-string center duties the majority of training camp as Ryan McCollum battled nagging injuries. Scharping’s play was solid though not spectacular, earning a C-plus grade and following evaluation from our training camp notes.Â
“Scharping put in an honest day’s work each day this summer. Seeing elevated reps with injuries around him, he spent most of camp as the No. 2 center with Ryan McCollum battling injuries. Scharping, however, isn’t a natural center and is more comfortable playing guard. His snaps seemed acceptable in camp, but in the preseason opener, I counted six snaps off-line. None ended in disaster, but they were consistently high and to the right, messing with the timing of plays.
Scharping is a vet and functional all the way around. He’s functionally strong and athletic enough. It’s not special, but it gets the job done more often than not. He’s a backup through and through, but with his experience and versatility, he could hang around.”
Pittsburgh initially released Scharping at cutdowns to help set the initial roster. A vested veteran not subject to waivers, the Steelers signed him back to the 53-man roster after placing rookie QB Will Howard and CB Donte Kent on injured reserve. The Steelers may opt to carry just nine offensive lineman on the roster, though the team could look to add a third-string center to the practice squad as additional depth.
The Steelers did try out five offensive lineman Friday, so they could add one of those five names early next week ahead of the trip to Dublin to take on the Minnesota Vikings.
