With the preseason now over, the Steelers will get down to the business of finalizing their roster ahead of the September 8th regular season opener at Atlanta. That will include cuts of players on the team now and possible additions through trade or free agents brought in after other teams make their cuts.
Coach Mike Tomlin says it’s time to ramp up for real football.
The Steelers will practice today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, and then the NFL will put in place a four-day mandatory break where no football activities can take place.
Tomlin says he will wait until the end of the work week before naming his starting quarterback. Russell Wilson remains the favorite over Justin Fields.
Tomlin was impressed by second-year linebacker Nick Herbig in the preseason. He had two sacks in Saturday’s loss to Detroit. Even though Herbig’s path to a starting job on the outside is blocked by stars TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith, he’ll have plenty of work in games.
The Steelers have until 4 o’clock Tuesday afternoon to cut their roster from 91 players to 53. The reportedly have already released wide receiver T.J. Luther.
A decision will have to be made regarding reserve offensive lineman Dylan Cook, who injured a foot on Saturday. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Cook will be out “several weeks”. Also on Saturday, cornerback Corey Trice suffered a groin injury.
NFL
Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris has died at age 70. D’Alessandris had been in the hospital the last two weeks with an illness that was going to require treatment for a lengthy period of time. He had been in the position with the Ravens since 2017.
