Steelers Blog

The Steeles inactive list was just released, and both Willie Parker and Deshea Townsend are absent. However cornerbacks Bryant McFadden and Fernando Bryant were deactivated for todays game.

Newly re-signed Najeh Davenport is also inactive for today's game as are Marvel Smith, Brett Keisel, Dennis Dixon (3rd QB), Bruce Davis, and Tony Hills.

Quick note. Since 1993, the Patriots are 23-3 in games when the temperature is 34 degrees or lower at kickoff. 2 of those wins came against the Steelers, last year's 34-13 Pats win at 34 degrees, and the 2005 AFC championship game with a gametime temp of 11 degrees.

As of 3pm, field temperature: 33 degrees.

The Steelers will be a bit banged up when they head to New England this weekend. It's a bit ironic (or just sad) that this was supposed to be the week the Steelers finally got healthy. Bryant McFadden and Deshea Townsend were expected to be back. That will only be half true. And Willie Parker was expected to be back at full health, and that is certainly not the case.

Parker, according to Mike Tomlin today, is listed as questionable. He's suffering from some inflammation in his injured knee, a flare-up suffered in the Cincy game.

Brett Keisel, meanwhile, has a sprain in his MCL, he's out for this week's game, and most likely several more, though officially he's listed as week-to-week.

McFadden practiced last week, and will do so this week, and the team hopes to have him Sunday, though he's officially listed as questionable. Townsend, out with hamstring issues, is listed as doubtful.

And Marvel Smith is "status quo" with his back issues, which means he will be out Sunday.

Oh, and by the way, I'm not sure if you caught MT's press conference, but you may have heard several different pronunciations of Patriots QB Matt Cassel. It's not Cassels, it's not Casells, it's just Cassel -- pronounced castle. Let's get it straight people.

As expected, the Steelers released punter Paul Ernster today, and re-signed Mitch Berger, who had been the Steelers punter until suffering hamstring issues. No surprise in this move. Ernster had to go after his pitiful performance Thursday night. And Berger's already on the payroll, and has experience with this team, can hold, and, when mostly healthy, can boot as well.

The Steelers enjoyed the day off today. They'll resume tomorrow on the South Side. We'll be there to let you know the latest.

The Steelers posted another important win last night over the Cincinnati Bengals to improve their overall record to 8-3, and their division record to 4-0. The defense once again was stifling, the offense did more than enough, and aspects of the special teams were on point as well.

However, Paul Ernster most likely played his last game in a Steelers unifom last night. The Steelers 3rd starting punter this season (training camp included) averaged just 28.4 yards per punt on 5 punts last night. He totaled 142 yards, a total that should be reached on 3 kicks.

I was told by a member of the team that there's a good chance Mitch Berger will be back on the squad. He initially won the starting job over Ernster in the preseason, this after original punter Daniel Sepulveda was lost to a knee injury. Berger averaged almost 42 yards per punt in 42 punts before suffering a hamstring injury and was subsequently released. With a week and a half now between games, it would be a perfect time to bring a new punter in and have them get ready and adjusted.

A first this season. Mike Tomlin had virtually nothing to say on injuries today. In fact, he didn't even have an injury report during his weekly press conference saying, "We're a team in relatively good health. We came out of sunday's game in good health. No one new was added to the list."

He did add that potentially, Heath Miller could be back for Thursday's game. Other than that, nothing new.

Bryant McFadden will remain out, though he looks to be coming back soon.

Darnell Stapleton, who left Sunday's game, is fine. Tomlin said he was "rolled up on" in that game, but suffered nothing serious.

Everything is "status quo" with Marvel Smith, who is still out with the back problems. It's pretty apparent this may be his last season in town.

And DeShea Townsend will be out once again this week.

Other than that, nothing much to report. Willie Parker should get some looks this week on goal line plays. Gary Russell had success, but Tomlin wasn't ready just yet to pronounce him the answer to the teams short yardage woes. And it's a short short turnaround. Tomlin said today was his Friday, so it was less looking back at Sunday's game, and more looking ahead to Thursdays.

Lewis (5-10, 190) was originally signed by the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent from the University of Washington but was waived after training camp. He then spent the first 10 weeks of the season on the Steelers’ practice squad.

The Steelers made room on their roster for Lewis by releasing wide receiver Dallas Baker. Baker, the Steelers’ seventh-round pick out of Florida in the 2007 NFL Draft, made the team’s active roster in 2008 after spending the 2007 season the team’s practice squad. This year, he played in eight games and had one catch for six yards.

Here's the latest on the health of the Steelers:

Willie Parker is scheduled to practice this week, and hopefully play against the Chargers. He suffered a shoulder subluxation, which was described by Mike Tomlin today as the shoulder popping out, and popping back in, and the same malady suffered by Ryan Clark a couple weeks back. Clark missed one week, and was able to play the next week with a shoulder harness stabilizing the joint, which is what is expected for Parker (depending on how he feels in practice.)

Ben Roethlisberger is still dealing with the right shoulder and left thumb injuries. The team is hoping he can practice all week, and Mike Tomlin stated that him missing a majority of practice is beginning to take its toll in terms of timing and cohesion. He'll likely play Sunday.

Marvel Smith, out for more than a month with back issues, worked out a bit today. He potentially could practice this week, though would need to show a lot of improvement in order to play.

Heath Miller remains questionable at best. He's out of his protective boot and most likely needs one more week of rehab.

Bryant McFadden is improving though is still out. The team is optimistic he'll make it back soon.

Deshea Townsend is out with a hamstring injury. He reportedly heard a pop Sunday against the Colts.

Lamar Woodley, who missed the last game with a calf injury worked out today. Tomlin said he looked good, and will be re-evaluated later this week, but is scheduled to practice no later than Thursday.

ALSO, the Steelers signed cornerback Fernando Bryant. He's a 10-year veteran whose presence was made necessary because of the injuries to McFadden and Townsend. He'll jump right into the mix and is expected to play this week. Donovan Woods was released to make room on the roster. Also, Ryan Mundy was signed to the practice squad and Grant Mason was released.

Woods (6-2, 230), who originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie free agent from Oklahoma State, made the team’s opening day 53-man roster and played in a total of four games. He missed two games (Weeks 3-4) with a hamstring injury but has a total of five special teams tackles. Woods was released on Oct. 25 and signed back to the Steelers’ practice squad on Nov. 1.

The Steelers made room on their roster for Woods by releasing running back Najeh Davenport. Davenport, who was re-signed by the team early last month, originally joined the Steelers as a veteran free agent in 2006, but was released by the team on June 28 of this year. In two-plus seasons with the Steelers, Davenport has rushed for 768 yards and seven touchdowns on 177 carries (4.3 avg.), and has caught 33 passes for 394 yards (11.9 avg.) and three scores. He has also returned 38 kickoffs for 788 yards (20.7 avg.) during his Steelers career.

Ben Roethlisberger was among a large handful of Steelers to miss practice today. Ben reinjured his right throwing shoulder on his touchdown run Sunday against the Redskins. He had an MRI Tuesday that showed no additional damage. The way Ben phrased it, all the progress he had made since initally suffering the injury in Week 1 has been erased, and he's back to where he was originally. So, seeing how he has yet to miss a start, it's likely he'll go this week against Indianapolis.

Among those who also skipped practice today: Hines Ward, Lamar Woodley, Casey Hampton, Heath Miller.

Also punter Mitch Berger was released by the team today. Berger was suffering from a pair of hamstring injuries, and struggled last week. Paul Ernster, who lost the training camp battle to Berger in August, was re-signed and will take over punting duties.

Mike Tomlin had another long list of injuries during his weekly address today. Here's the latest from MT:

Greg Warren had successful surgery on his torn ACL. He's been placed on the IR. Jared Retkofsky was signed today to be his replacement. (see earlier post)

Ryan Clark suffered a separated shoulder and is listed as doubtful for Monday's game, though Tomlin did say he's doing better than expected today. Tyrone Carter and Anthony Smith will battle this week to be his replacement.

Ben Roethlisberger, still dealing with the effects of the shoulder strain/separation, is listed as day-to-day, though you know he won't miss any game time. Tomlin said it was doing better last week because the Bengals never hit him. The Giants did, so it's sore once again.

Casey Hampton suffered turf-toe during Sunday's loss to the Giants. He's listed as day-to-day. He may miss practice tomorrow.

Marvel Smith, still battling those back spasms is listed as day-to-day as well. He's expected to make it back to practice tomorrow or Thursday, barring any setbacks.

Deshea Townsend is progressing, and according to Tomlin had his best week of practice last week.

Keyaron Fox is questionable with a hamstring injury.

Bryant McFadden is healing his broken arm, and remains on schedule.

And Mitch Berger is still dealing with a hamstring injury to his plant leg. He says it doesn't bother him punting, just the follow-through to punting, so getting the ball away isn't a problem. It's just running (or walking) afterwards. He's Canadian -- i.e. tough like a hockey player.

And Aaron Smith is still dealing with his family emergency. If he can play Monday it will be a bonus, but if he's unable to play, it will be understood by all in that locker room.