Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in his post game press conference following their 17-16 preseason win over the Carolina Panthers that rookie linebacker Sean Spence is currently in the hospital after suffering what he called a "significant" knee injury. Spence injured the left knee late in the 3rd quarter while chasing Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen out of the pocket. The left foot of Spence appeared to get caught in the loose turf of Heinz Field. The 3rd round pick out of Miami will most likely be lost for the season as the early reports via PFT are that Spence suffered a Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie linebacker Sean Spence has been carted off with what looks like a serious left leg or knee injury late in the third quarter of the preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. Spence stayed on the ground in pain after his leg caught in the torn up turf of Heinz Field. The team doctors put an air cast on his leg prior to him being carted off. The injury did not look good on replay. Spence was attempting to chase Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who had just left the pocket to his right, when he suffered the injury. Head coach Mike Tomlin will update the status Read more [...]

Bob Labriola reports via Twitter that the Wednesday surgery performed on the right knee of rookie right guard David DeCastro turned out OK, and that the first round draft pick will be the beneficiary of the new 8-week injured reserve rule just passed Thursday by the NFL and the NFLPA. Mike Prisuta tweeted that early prognosis on DeCastro is approximately a 2-and-a-half month recovery time. DeCastro injured his knee last Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills and he reportedly tore his MCL, dislocated his knee cap and suffered damage to his patellar tendon. Expect head coach Mike Tomlin Read more [...]

Judging by the comments made by Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in a recent interview, the punt returner job has already been given to rookie running back Chris Rainey. Tomlin was asked in the interview if he was comfortable with the decision making of Rainey as a punter returner and the coach let the unsurprised cat out of the proverbial bag. "I’ll let you know in a couple of months," said Tomlin. "That’s life in the National Football League. A few years ago, I wasn’t real comfortable with a guy named Antonio Brown, who was unproven. Over the course of a couple of months, Read more [...]

Now that the NFL Management Council and NFL Players Association have agreed to adopt the 2012 Bylaw Proposals No. 2 and No. 6A, that relate the new 8 week injured reserve for one player and the moving back of the trade deadline, the misinformation regarding both has been running rampant. I have now received the memo from the league that clarifies both of these new rules and below is how they are currently written in the memo. Bylaw proposal No. 2 moves the trading deadline from Tuesday, October 16 – the Tuesday after Week 6 of the regular season – to Tuesday, October 30, the Tuesday Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Carolina Panthers Thursday night at Heinz Field, and judging by my calculations, 46 players are locks to make the Friday night 53 man roster right now. That leaves 7 spots theoretically up for grabs and 17 players with a shot at filling those spots. Some of course have better shots than others based on the position that they play. Below is a breakdown of the 17 players that have a chance of filling those 7 remaining roster spots. RB Baron Batch - Batch is as close of lock on this list as there is as he has been active on special teams throughout the preseason. Read more [...]

With both the NFL and the NFLPA agreeing to pass the new 8 week injured reserve rule, it presents yet another new look now at the Pittsburgh Steelers final 53 man roster. The cut down to 53 players must be done by Friday evening and rookie right guard David DeCastro must now be on that final roster so that he can be moved to the injured reserve list after 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday. Now that we know that DeCastro will certainly be on the final 53 after the Friday cuts, it looks more and more likely that quarterback Charlie Batch could be released on Friday. With that said, it could be a quick turnaround Read more [...]

Some good news on Thursday as Adam Schefter reports via Twitter that the NFL and the NFLPA have come to an agreement on a new 8 week injured reserve rule that can be used on one player in 2012. It was looking like this new rule change wasn't going to get approved by the NFLPA, but in passing it, it will allow the Pittsburgh Steelers to place rookie right guard David DeCastro on injured reserve, where he will stay for eight weeks. DeCastro injured his right knee in the Steelers third preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and was scheduled to have surgery Wednesday to reportedly repair a Read more [...]

What: Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Carolina Panthers Time: 7 p.m. ET Date: Aug. 30, 2012 Location: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA TV Schedule: KDKA in Pittsburgh & Streaming Live On NFL.com Radio stream: WDVE-FM Weather at Game Time: 79 degrees, winds S at 4 mph Series History: Series began in 1996 Overall: Pittsburgh leads 4-1 At Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh leads 3-0 At Carolina: Series tied 1-1 Neutral Sites: N/A Last Regular-Season Meeting: Dec. 23, 2010 (in Pittsburgh) Pittsburgh 27, Carolina 3 Last Preseason Meeting: Sept. 1, 2011 (in Carolina) Pittsburgh 33, Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Carolina Panthers Thursday night in their fourth and final preseason game of the 2012 season and below is a pregame look at the Steelers injury report heading into the game. OUT: OLB James Harrison (knee) - Harrison was removed from the PUP list earlier this week and cant begin practicing until Monday due to the new acclimation period in the CBA. Next week is a huge week for him and hopefully his left knee does not swell once he starts back working. OLB Jason Worilds (wrist) - Like Harrison, Worilds was removed from the PUP list and can't practice Read more [...]

The final preseason game for the Pittsburgh Steelers is here as they take on the Carolina Panthers Thursday night at Heinz Field. While a good amount of the starters won't see much, if any, playing time in the game, there are still roster spots up for grabs and plenty of things to watch for to keep this game interesting. Below are my 10 things to watch for Thursday night. Woods Bryant IV? - This battle has lived up to the billing I gave it prior to training camp starting and in my eyes there really has been no clear cut winner as of yet. Both Al Woods and Corbin Bryant have looked good Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers activated linebacker James Harrison from the PUP list on Tuesday and all signs point to him being able to start practicing as soon as Monday. It is unknown how much work that the veteran linebacker will do initially, but his left knee will be monitored closely for any swelling as the week progresses. As Gerry Dulac points out today via Twitter, should Harrison’s knee swell this time around when he he returns to practice next week, it will not be surprising if he doesn't play for a long time. Harrison had a minor surgically procedure done on his knee two weeks ago, Read more [...]

On Tuesday the Pittsburgh Steelers activated linebackers James Harrison and Jason Worilds from the PUP list, and while we pretty much knew what the hold up with Harrison was, we didn't so much with Worilds. Worilds had offseason surgery to repair a wrist injury that suffered last season. While it wasn't a huge shock that he started training camp on the PUP list, it was pretty surprising that he stayed on it throughout training camp and three preseason games. Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review even reported that Worilds was a bit miffed as to what was taking so long for him to return Read more [...]

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that Pittsburgh Steelers second-year tight end Weslye Saunders had his second appeal denied by the NFL last week. Saunders was suspended by the league for four weeks back in early February because he violated the leagues performance enhancing drugs policy. The terms of the suspension did allow Saunders to take part in all of the Steelers practices and preseason games leading up to the final cut down this coming Friday. On Friday Saunders will be placed on the Steelers Reserve/Suspended list and will not count against the 53 man roster or Read more [...]

The Mike Wallace saga is now over and once again Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert showed why he is the best in the business. Throughout the entire process Colbert stayed true to his word. He handled the situation with class and dignity and never disrespected Wallace or his agent Bus Cook throughout the entire process. Colbert has said since the very beginning that they wanted Wallace back in Pittsburgh. He knew the risk of only placing a first round tender on the restricted free agent as opposed to the franchise tag and made it clear that by doing so, the Steelers still had the Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers third preseason game is now in the books and once again it is time to take another stab at a 53 man roster prediction. Before you just jump straight to the comments, make sure to read my reasoning so you know where am I coming from on this prediction. This morning on The Terrible Podcast I was thinking one way and since the news about James Harrison and Jason Worilds being removed from the PUP surfaced, I have once again switched course from what I stated in the Tuesday show. We all await the final word on David DeCastro after his surgery that is scheduled for Wednesday. Here Read more [...]

I already posted by first half thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-7 win against the Buffalo Bills this past Saturday, but forgot to post my second half notes which you can read below. Both Steve McLendon and Ziggy Hood had easy pressures on the first interception of Vince Young and the pass was poorly floated to Dorin Dickerson and thus picked off easily by Troy Polamalu. On the second touchdown pass to Brown, Jonathan Dwyer had a nice cut block on a free rusher and Mike Adams made sure his man stayed wide. Byron Leftwich put a pretty pass right in the hands of Brown over the top of two Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace met the media on Tuesday for the first time since signing his one-year, $2.74 million restricted tender and he was asked about the possibilities of him signing a new long-term deal prior to the start of the season. "I'm not really worried about a contract, Wallace said. "I'm just really here to play football. I'm not really worried about no contracts, or nothing like that. That's in the past. That's the business side. I'm not really worried about that, I'm just here to play football, that's it." Wallace was later asked if he thought he would Read more [...]

Besides activating linebackers James Harrison and Jason Worilds from the Active PUP list on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers also waived running back Jason Ford, who was signed just prior to the second preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. Ford carried 8 times for 42 yards in that game, but also apparently suffered a hamstring injury that forced him to be unable to play this past Saturday against the Buffalo Bills. With wide receiver Mike Wallace signing his tender on Tuesday, the Steelers had to make a corresponding move, so Ford was more than likely waived injured with some sort of Read more [...]

Albert Breer is reporting Tuesday afternoon via Twitter the linebackers James Harrison and Jason Worilds have both been removed from the Active PUP list. Harrison has not practiced since the Steelers first OTA session after having problems with his left knee. The veteran linebacker had a procedure done almost two weeks ago that was rumored to have involved a bone spur being removed from behind his knee cap. Harrison said in an interview on Tuesday that he is feeling a lot better now, but still termed himself as day-to-day. Worilds missed the entire offseason program and training camp after having Read more [...]