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Although the Pittsburgh Steelers saw six players sit out practice on Wednesday, it should be reassuring to know that only three of those names were forced to miss training due to injury. While Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Haden and Maurkice Pouncey were merely the recipients of a veteran day off, the status of Marcus Gilbert, Matt Feiler and Stephon Tuitt remains a concern after all three were unable to participate in the Steelers first practice session of the week.
Not practicing for Steelers on Wed were: Roethlisberger, Haden and Pouncey (all coach's decision), Feiler (pectoral), Gilbert (knee) and Tuitt (elbow). LB Anthony Chickillo (ankle) was a full participant
— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) November 21, 2018
The continued absence of Gilbert will be even more acutely felt in Week 12 if Feiler is also unable to play and rookie Chukwuma Okorafor will be the next man up if both players are sidelined on Sunday.
Despite hopes that he would recover in time to play against the Denver Broncos when talking to reporters on Tuesday, missing the first day of training does not bode well for Tuitt. His loss in Week 11 was somewhat mitigated by the performance of Javon Hargrave and the coaching staff will be looking for more of the same from The Gravedigger if Tuitt is forced to miss his second game of the season.
In more positive news, it was encouraging to note that an ankle injury did not prevent Anthony Chickillo from practicing fully on Wednesday. He was joined by Ola Adeniyi for the first time since the start of the regular season after he was finally placed on injured reserve/designated to return. Should Chickillo’s ankle issue flares up as the week progresses, Adeniyi may yet see his first game action of the year in Week 12.