Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (back), defensive end Brett Keisel (ankle), running back Isaac Redman (ankle) and linebacker Stevenson Sylvester (knee) all did not practice for a second straight day. Keisel suffered a mild high ankle sprain in the game Saturday against the Buffalo Bills and he is not expected to suit up Thursday night in the Steelers preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers. Tomlin said the ankle injury that Redman suffered doesn't appear to be serious and that he definitely doesn't anticipate it keeping him Read more [...]

Season 3, Episode 9 of The Terrible Podcast is up and co-host David Todd and start by talking about the recent Pittsburgh Steelers news and that of course means that we have to talk about the knee injury suffered by David DeCastro, the first round of cuts, the Mike Wallace arrival and other hot talking point topics. Is Charlie Batch safe should the Steelers decide to carry an injured DeCastro on the 53 man roster? Also we talk about what signs to look for in the upcoming game against the Carolina Panthers that might shed some light on that. We talk more about the linebacker situation and how Read more [...]

As it looks right now, the Pittsburgh Steelers intend on carrying injured rookie right guard David DeCastro on the 53 man roster to start the season. Of course this could change prior to Friday when the final roster decisions need to be made depending on what the doctors find during the knee surgery. If indeed all goes as planned, DeCastro would be yet another player not ready to contribute when the season starts. Rashard Mendenhall and Stevenson Sylvester are surely not going to play in the opener at Denver. James Harrison and Jason Worilds remain on the PUP list, and of the two, you would Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace is now in house and has signed his one-year, $2.74 million restricted tender. With that course of action now over, negotiations can now reopen and the two sides can continue to try to get a long term-deal hammered out prior to the season opener a week from this coming Sunday in Denver. As I have pointed out several times this offseason, there is plenty of cap space for the Steelers to get a deal done with Wallace. That deal, if reached, figures to be of the 5-year variety and possibly total out between $45-55 million. The biggest sticking point Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison was the first player to grab and interview with wide receiver Mike Wallace just after his arrival today to the team facility. Harrison first asked Wallace how it feels to be back. "It feels great, man," said Wallace. "Back with my brothers and my teammates. You know, one goal and one goal only, trying to get like you - we're out here trying to win a Super Bowl. Just trying to do my part, that's all." Harrison next asked Wallace if he was going to have any problems catching up with the offense. "You know me, I'm a work hard guy, replied Wallace. Read more [...]

He's finally arrived. Several members of the Pittsburgh media are reporting that Pittsburgh Steelers restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace has arrived Tuesday morning at the teams practice facility. Wallace is expected to sign his one-year, $2.74 million restricted tender today, but likely will not be allowed to practice with the team until after the Thursday night preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers. Wallace has remained very quiet this offseason in regard to his contract situation. Instead, he let his actions speak louder than words by not signing his tender and thus Read more [...]

Below are my offensive line grades and breakdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-7 preseason game win Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills. I always like to disclaimer that not knowing the exact play call and assignments on each play makes it tough, especially with the normal TV angles. The All-22 look is not available until the regular season begins and that will make grading the offensive line and every other position much easier at that point. Each lineman on each and every play is watched 5 times at least and sometimes more. Overall I thought it was another good night for the offensive Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has updated his report from earlier on Monday that stated the Pittsburgh Steelers do not intend on placing rookie right guard David DeCastro on the season ending injured reserve list. Monday after practice head coach Mike Tomlin announced that DeCastro would have surgery on his injured right knee on Wednesday. The first-round draft pick reportedly suffered a torn medial collateral ligament, a dislocated knee cap and damage to his patellar tendon during the Steelers second offensive series of Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Kaboly Read more [...]

I have received about 20 so questions from readers today asking if Pittsburgh Steelers rookie right guard David DeCastro can be placed on the PUP list to start the season instead of injured reserve. I have posted about the rules of the PUP list several times before, but now is as good of time as any to recap them. In order for a player to be eligible for what is called the in-season Reserve PUP list, a player must start training camp on what is called the Active PUP list. There is no exception to this rule. Even if a player is injured during the first practice of training camp, he is no Read more [...]

New Pittsburgh Steelers special teams coach Amos Jones will be getting some special assistance from head coach Mike Tomlin this week as the team looks to improve both their punt and kickoff units before the team faces the Denver Broncos in the season opener. Through the first three preseason games the Steelers are averaging 3.2 yards per punt return and 18.6 yards per kickoff return. Those numbers have them ranked 28th and 31st in the league respectively thus far in the games that don't count. The other side of the ball is not much better as they have allowed 10.2 yards per punt return and 26.9 Read more [...]

So far today we have heard that Pittsburgh Steelers restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace will arrive today and Tuesday. Cornerback Keenan Lewis, a childhood friend of the Steelers wide receiver said that Wallace would be in today, while fellow wide receiver Antonio Brown said that Tuesday is the day when he will arrive. One thing to keep in mind is that with Tropical Storm Isaac quickly about to make landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast, Wallace might very well be having a hard time getting out of either New Orleans, Louisiana or Orlando, Florida. Wallace was training down in Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers have claimed running back DuJuan Harris off waivers today from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Harris was originally signed by the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2011 after playing his college football at Troy. Last year he played in five games as a rookie and had 9 carries for 42 yards. Harris also returned 14 kickoffs for 308 yards. At his pro day prior to the 2011 draft, Harris measured in at 5 foot, 7 inches and weighed 197 pounds. He reportedly ran a 4.44 time and did 27 reps on the bench. His vertical jump was 38 1/2 inches and broad jump measured in at an Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin met the media on Monday following practice and said that they are treating this week like a normal in-season work week. Not practicing on Monday were defensive end Brett Keisel (ankle), running back Isaac Redman (ankle), wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (back), linebacker LaMarr Woodley (back) and tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle). Tomlin did not give an update on punter Jeremy Kapinos (back), linebacker James Harrison (knee), linebackers Jason Worilds (wrist) and linebacker Stevenson Sylvester (knee) outside of saying that they are what they are as a Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports via Twitter that rookie right guard David DeCastro will not be placed on injured reserve and that the Steelers will carry him on the 53 man roster for the time being. DeCastro reportedly suffered extensive damage to his right knee early in the game against the Buffalo Bills this past Saturday night, but it appears that he at least did not tear his ACL. On Sunday it was reported that DeCastro suffered a torn MCL, a dislocated knee cap and damage to his patellar tendon. Mike Florio of PFT reports that DeCastro will have surgery later this week Read more [...]

The release of tight end/fullback Jamie McCoy on Monday is a good sign that rookie tight end David Paulson will make the initial 53 man roster. McCoy never impressed at the backup fullback position when given his opportunities after David Johnson was lost for the year after tearing his MCL in the first preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. While Paulson has not been worked at fullback in any of the preseason games, he does have good hands and has played pretty extensively so far on special teams. The Steelers will likely opt to keep him initially on the 53 man roster to serve as the Read more [...]

Despite Pittsburgh Steelers restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace not being spotted by the media this morning at the Steelers facilities, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports now via Twitter that cornerback Keenan Lewis said that his teammate and childhood friend will show up on Monday. http://twitter.com/EdBouchette/status/240127003385294848 There is speculation that Wallace will sign his tender either today or Tuesday, but due to the fact that Wallace can't practice until the end of the week due to the new practice acclimation rules in the CBA, it remains highly Read more [...]

The only real surprise on the list of 15 roster moves made on Monday by the Pittsburgh Steelers was that linebacker Mortty Ivy was waived injured. I posted during the Steelers Saturday night preseason game against the Buffalo Bills that it looked like Ivy was shot in the back of his left leg in the second half and I wondered if he had injured his hamstring. Turns out that I was right as Ivy confirmed to me on Monday via Twitter that he did indeed suffer a left hamstring injury and that was the reason for his waiving. Ivy did say that he expects to be back healthy soon, so one could assume he Read more [...]

It is Monday and still no sign of Pittsburgh Steelers restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace, who reportedly is going to show up and sign his one-year, $2.74 million tender this week. Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Monday morning that there is no sign yet of Wallace, but that the word is he will arrive on Tuesday. As Kaboly also points out, it really doesn't matter right now if it is just another day because Wallace won't be allowed to practice until Monday because of the new acclimation rules in the CBA. http://twitter.com/MarkKaboly_Trib/status/240101168112599040 Wallace, Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers undrafted kicker Danny Hrapmann put up a valiant fight during the preseason, but his release on Monday signals a vote of confidence by the organization in kicker Shaun Suisham. Both kickers combined to make all 8 field goal attempts through the first three preseason games with the lone hiccup being a blocked 22-yard attempt by Hrapmann against the Indianapolis Colts that still made it through the uprights. The Steelers gave Suisham a new four year deal prior to the start of the 2011 season, and while releasing him in favor of Hrapmann would have saved just over $1 million Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Maybe all is not lost. ESPN is currently reporting that doctors are waiting to see if rookie right guard David DeCastro tore the ACL Saturday night in his right knee in addition to suffering a tear of the MCL. Later today, a more conclusive report will be available as he will undergo an MRI at lunchtime. If the injury is solely an MCL tear, there is a chance that he could return this season, which would be a blessing. In a blowout victory in a meaningless game with several bright spots, the positives are mired in the potentially season-altering injury. Below are my initial Read more [...]