The good news was muted; potentially significant injuries to a player of Maurkice Pouncey's caliber are always going to have such an effect, especially in August.

But at least this time the Steelers weren't blindsided.

"That's huge, but then again that's part of the game," wide receiver Markus Wheaton maintained.

"Next man up and we gotta continue to play."

Pouncey suffered an ankle injury on Sunday afternoon against Green Bay that was serious enough that the solution to getting him right again is "probably going to be surgical," head coach Mike Tomlin said.

While holding their breath for more specifics and perhaps a relatively happy ending, the Steelers took solace in at least having been down this road before.

They lost Pouncey for the season on the first drive of the season in 2013, and it took weeks for the team to regain its equilibrium.

This time there are still two weeks left in the preseason and 18 days until the regular-season opener at New England.

"It's a big deal," guard Ramon Foster said. "I think everybody knows what he means to this team, what his play means, also.

"This time it's a little bit different, we have time to figure stuff out. Cody (Wallace) will be ready and we just have to roll with that."

Wallace isn't an All-Pro center. But he's been with the Steelers since that infamous 2013 season and he's a veteran of 33 career regular-season games and six career regular-season starts.

"He knows the system, he's a smart guy," Foster continued. "He's athletic enough to do some of the things that Maurkice does. Maurkice brings that different dynamic of his personality, the way he is with the team and just his relationship with the guys. But Cody Wallace will be fine."

Added Tomlin: "I expect the ball to keep rolling because that's the business we're in."