The Steelers began their preparation today for Sunday's game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Tackle Troy Fautanu (ankle) and tight end Darnell Washington (personal reasons) did not practice, while receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) was limited.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. continues to work his way back onto the field and was limited on Wednesday, listed as not injury related/conditioning. Porter was inactive for Sunday's opener against the Atlanta Falcons, still dealing with a back injury that kept him sidelined through training camp and the preseason as well.
Coach Mike McCarthy said he hopes to have Porter do more work this week in practice, after he referenced the previous week as 'ramp up' time.
"Hopefully we'll have a good plan for him on Wednesday," said McCarthy during his weekly press conference on Monday. "Hopefully we'll do more. That's the outlook.
"Hopefully we move forward, more volume of work. That would be my anticipation."
On Wednesday, McCarthy was asked a follow-up on Porter.
"The plan is to go forward with Joey and see how much more he can do today," said McCarthy.
McCarthy said on Monday it was his decision to make Porter inactive for the Falcons game, ensuring he is fully ready to go when he hits the field.
"My concern for Joey obviously is to get him to a spot no different than everybody else in training camp," said McCarthy. "The first players that go through the first ramp-up period that aren't ready to go, they don't participate fully in the padded practice. So, I don't really see this any differently than that.
"As far as Joey's participation in practice, he's communicating with the trainer every day, he's communicating with the strength and conditioning coach, also his position coach Jason (Simmons), and Joe (Whitt Jr.) and Patrick (Graham).
"We'll get him out there when he's ready to go through a full practice."
For the Patriots, it's no secret they will be without explosive receiver A.J. Brown this week. Brown was placed on the Reserve/Injured List last week after suffering a high ankle sprain in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
"We're trying to install here and putting guys in spots that are best for them and best for us," said Patriots Coach Mike Vrabel. And so, I don't know how much we want to tweak things. We'll go through our game plan, and just like we did when A.J. was out there, sometimes he was the X, sometimes he was the F, the Z. We'll have to move guys around to different positions."
After Brown went down against Seattle, receiver Mack Hollins stepped up.
"Mack's always taking advantage of his opportunities," said Vrabel. "I think that the quarterback knows he's going to be in the right spot when he's supposed to be there. He's a competitive player, plays on special teams for us. He's just ready to go and ready to take advantage of the opportunities.
"And you kind of go in thinking, 'Here's the, the plan. I may play X amount of snaps.' Something happens, and then that all of a sudden gets changed.
"So, Mack's been through that a lot, and we're comfortable being able to move him around as well in those multiple positions."
Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 2
Wednesday, September 16
No. 11 WR Michael Pittman Jr. (Foot) - Limited
No. 24 CB Joey Porter Jr. (NIR/Conditioning) - Limited
No. 76 OT Troy Fautanu (Ankle) - DNP
No. 80 TE Darnell Washington (NIR/Personal) - DNP
New England Patriots Participation/Injury Report, Week 2
Wednesday, September 16
No. 5 LB Dre'Mont Jones (Foot) - Limited
No. 7 CB Carlton Davis III (Neck) - DNP
No. 14 LB Robert Spillane (Knee) - Limited
No. 32 RB TreVeyon Henderson (Ankle) - Full
No. 68 OT Dametrious Crownover (Knee) - DNP
No. 77 OL Ben Brown (Knee) - Limited
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