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Saturday, August 03, 2013

Saturday news, notes

The Steelers had a myriad of players sit out with injuries today, perhaps the result of full tackling drills all week long, perhaps the result of the team wanting to give a day off to some guys.

Linebackers Jason Worilds, Jarvis Jones and Adrian Robinson, running back Le'Veon Bell, tight end Matt Spaeth and defensive tackle Steve McLendon all watched from the sidelines.

Spaeth's injury might be the most serious. He had his knee drained on Friday.

Linebacker Lawrence Timmons was away due to a death in the family, while defensive end Brett Keisel was given a second consecutive veteran's day off.

Ben Roethlisberger also left a little early due to some knee discomfort, but again, it's nothing major. Just the everyday bumps and bruises of being at this all week.

Makes me wonder when head coach Mike Tomlin will dial things back before the team's first preseason game.

@ The Steelers placed guard Nik Embernate on the waived/injured list, signing veteran offensive tackle D'Anthony Batiste, who has spent time with six NFL teams, most recently Arizona.

The issue with the offensive line is that outside of the starters, John Malecki and Kelvin Beachum, there isn't a lot there right now.

I would expect the Steelers to continue to explore the waiver wire for some help, particularly at tackle.

The more I see, by the way, the more I'm convinced that the best five consists of Mike Adams at left tackle and Beachum on the right side, with Marcus Gilbert on the bench.

Gilbert will show flashes, but just isn't consistent.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gilbert and question marks seem to always go together.
Many thought Gilbert was drafted a round too early to begin with, but he did a passable job in his rookie year.
In his 2nd season he seemed to have faded a bit and spent to much time on the ground or the legs of other OL men. Also there were questions about his work ethic.
Now in his 3d season, slow start and inconsistency question

Anonymous said...

In 2nd season at RT in 4 games of snaps he gave up 0 sacks, not sure how that equates to fading.

Patrick said...

Jim Wexell treated something about John Parker Wilson having a great camp.

I assume Gradkowski isn't going anywhere. Good chance Landry Jones ends up on the PS?

I assume Wilson isn't PS eligible but I have no idea.

almost certain we have to play a game without Ben.

Patrick said...

Wexell tweeted something...

Dale Lolley said...

They're probably going to stick with the rookie unless Wilson clearly outperforms him in the games.
They won't put a QB on practice squad unless they're only keeping two on active roster.

Anonymous said...

No way in hell they drop the 4th rounder that they essentially spent a 3rd round pick on. They're going to have a hard enough time getting that to look good over the years without cutting him now.