News

Coach Mike Tomlin opened his press conference with a laundry list of injuries, but didn’t rule anyone out for Sunday’s game in Houston.

Rookie tackle Marcus Gilbert, who left the Colts game with a shoulder injury but returned after the injury to Jonathan Scott, is expected to get work in practice this week with the hope of him being available to play against the Texans.

“Marcus Gilbert looks like he s going to be okay from his shoulder injury,” said Tomlin. “We anticipate him practicing and playing.”

As far as Scott, who suffered a sprained ankle, and guard Doug Legursky, who injured his shoulder, the verdict is still out.

“Doug Legursky can be categorized as questionable with his shoulder,” said Tomlin. “The same thing can be said about Jonathan Scott with his left ankle sprain. Again their availability will be determined by their ability to practice this week.”

Tomlin said the team hasn’t ruled out bringing in an offensive lineman for practice purposes, not necessarily to step in and start for one of the injured linemen.

“In regards to some of the offensive line things we are open to looking at bringing someone in,” said Tomlin. “We haven’t had any definitive plans yet. We are going to let the participation of these men dictate what we do in that area.”

Defensive end Brett Keisel sat out the Colts game with a sprained PCL and like the others his ability to play this week will be determined by whether or not he can go in practice.

“He is working hard,” said Tomlin. “We’ll see if he is able to practice. If he is we will gauge whether or not we will allow him to participate.”

One thing Tomlin is hoping will help with the injuries is switching things around in practice this week.

“I am swapping our padded practices up this week,” said Tomlin. “We will go in helmets only on Wednesday and we’ll carry our shoulder pads on Thursday. We believe that approach will help us deal with some of these injuries and be inclusive in terms of practice and give some guys an opportunity to practice on Wednesday and give them another day to participate on Thursday.”

In other injury news wide receiver Mike Wallace suffered a cartilage injury against the Colts, but Tomlin doesn’t think it will keep him from playing this week. Wide receiver Arnaz Battle left the Colts game with swelling in his right knee and his participation will also be practice based. Linebacker Chris Carter returned to action for the first time against the Colts, but will be reevaluated this week after experiencing soreness in his hamstring.

Tomlin also indicated that both wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery and cornerback Bryant McFadden could both be ready to go this week.