Pittsburgh Steelers Preseason: Getting Ready To Ground The Eagles

It is a short work week for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they get ready for their third preseason game, this time across the state in Philadelphia on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against the Eagles.

Looking back one more time at the 19-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills, certainly one of the highlights from Saturday night was Markus Wheaton‘s 16-yard touchdown catch, where he got the job done by dragging his feet to stay in bounds

Veteran wide receiver Lance Moore told Teresa Varley of Steelers.com, “That one touchdown play was a great example of the things that he’s been doing and the things that he’s shown and is capable of doing. It was just a great route. The route was called and he had man to man coverage out there.

“He was able to win and score a big touchdown and the pro catch where you have to drag your toes up and stuff like that at the end. That’s what it’s all about right there.”

The Eagles secondary better get ready for more than just Antonio Brown coming up on Thursday.

There were a couple of roster moves on Monday afternoon as the Black and Gold added offensive lineman Graham Pocic and cornerback Dayonne Nunley to the squad.

Pocic was released by the Chicago Bears last week. The Fighting Illini product was originally signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted rookie free agent from the Miami University Redhawks in July 2013. He participated in the Steelers 2014 rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis.

To make room on the roster, the Steelers waived injured offensive lineman Bryant Browning and released wide receiver James Shaw from the Pittsburgh Power. Browning dislocated his shoulder in the Bills game.

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Scott Brown of ESPN.com reported that outside linebacker Jarvis Jones participated in practice on Monday. The fans might get to see the starting defense intact and on the field when the Steelers line up against the Eagles.

Brown also feels that it may come down to Jordan Zumwalt and Terence Garvin for the final inside linebacker spot on the roster. Both need to impress on Thursday evening.

Dale Grdnic of the Associated Press reported that running the no-huddle against Philadelphia should provide a new challenge for Ben Roethlisberger and company.

Big Ben told the AP, “We’ll see if we’ll do no-huddle on the road, which is usually a little different. Whether we do that or not, I don’t know, but that’s usually the good part about trying to get at least one series of no-huddle on the road, because the communication is a little tougher.”

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the National Football League is expected to approve a plan next week that will allow teams to retain as many as 10 players on their practice squad starting this season.

For several years, teams were been permitted to carry eight players on their practice squad. On a side note, the rosters need to be trimmed down to 75 players by 4 p.m. next Tuesday. The final roster cuts are set for Saturday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m.