STEELERS 101

As the effects of Hurricane Sandy continue to be felt along the Northern East Coast, the NFL will be monitoring the effects of the storm to ensure all safety measures are in place for Sunday’s match-up the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. At this point, it appears that all systems go for the game, but this is a fluid situation and one that must be monitored.

Fluid could also describe the Steelers running back situation moving forward this week. Running back Jonathan Dwyer, who has been impressive posting back-to-back 100-yard outings, will likely miss practice on Wednesday with a quad strain and enters the week questionable on the injury report. The injury, which appeared to happen late in the game, clouds his availability and may force the team to look a different direction in the backfield.

Fortunately, there was some good news for the running game as former starters Rashard Mendenhall (Achilles) and Isaac Redman (Ankle) appear ready to return to work on Wednesday and could be available Sunday. For Mendenhall, it will be his first full workouts and his return may be a stretch. However, Redman did practice last week and may be ready. If none of those three are available, Baron Batch and Chris Rainey would be forced to carry the load against the Giants.

The other injury news for the week may be just as disturbing, as safety Troy Polamalu (Calf) and tackle Marcus Gilbert (Foot) have already been ruled out and two defensive starters are questionable at this time. Safety Ryan Clark (Concussion) must still pass concussion tests to be cleared for action by the medical staff before he can return to the field and linebacker LaMarr Woodley (hamstring) will be limited this week, although he says this injury is nowhere near as serious as the one suffered earlier in the season.

Two more hamstring injuries cloud the linebacker corps as well. Linebacker Stevenson Sylvester looks to have the most severe injury of the bunch, with head coach Mike Tomlin classifying him as very questionable entering the week, while back-up linebacker Brandon Johnson, who has been out with a hamstring injury, looks to return to practice on Wednesday.

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Tags: Baron Batch, Chris Rainey, Football, Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer, LaMarr Woodley, Marcus Gilbert, New York Giants, NFL, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers, Rashard Mendenhall, Ryan Clark, Stevenson Sylvester, Troy Polamalu

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