Sports News

Pittsburgh opens up a roster spot and hosts a former draft darling ahead of Week 14.

The Steelers opened up a spot on their 53-man roster today, with the team waiving running back Jonathan Ward per an official announcement.

2024 has been a wild ride for Ward. He’s been part of over 10 roster moves since August, spending time on the 53-man roster, practice squad, and as a practice squad elevation. He’s played in four games this year, logging five rushes for 22 yards. He’s a likely candidate to circle back to the Pittsburgh practice squad.

The Steelers likely opened up the roster spot to make room for a player returning from injured reserve — likely cornerback Cory Trice Jr., who practiced in full on Wednesday and needs to return to the roster ahead of Week 14.

Also in Wednesday’s roster moves, the Steelers host defensive tackle Siaki Ika for a visit. Ika played college football at Baylor before being drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

At 6’3, 335 pounds, Ika was a popular draft prospect for teams in need of a gap-stuffing nose tackle. You can read his NFL.com draft profile from Lance Zierlein below:

Girthy interior force with heavy hands and a combative nature at the point of attack. Ika is made for gap control with his wide frame and ready anchor. While he has the potential to become a highly effective block-eater as an odd or even front nose tackle, he’s quick enough off the snap to penetrate and disrupt play design if teams try to block him one-on-one. While he’s unlikely to see passing downs, Ika does have enough athleticism and hand work to challenge the pocket from time to time. If he’s able to manage his weight, Ika could become an early starter and help improve a leaky run defense.

Ika’s NFL career has struggled to get going since he was drafted. He has yet to record an NFL tackle and was waived by the Browns ahead of the 2024 season. He has since spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Although still unsigned, Ika gives the Steelers another name to consider if their defensive line depth is tested later this season.

He’s working his way through concussion protocol

The Pittsburgh Steelers held their first official practice ahead of Week 14’s home game against the Cleveland Browns with plenty of updates on the injury report.

Here’s a full breakdown of Steelers injury report for Wednesday, December 4 ahead of this week’s meeting with the Browns.

Steelers injury report: Wednesday, Week 14

Limited: WR Calvin Austin III (concussion), LB Alex Highsmith (ankle), DT Montravius Adams (knee)

Full: CB Cory Trice Jr. (hamstring)

Veteran rest day: WR Mike Williams, RB Najee Harris, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, OG Isaac Seumalo, TE MyCole Pruitt, DT Cameron Heyward, DT Larry Ogunjobi, LB T.J. Watt (limited)

Wednesday’s injury report was just about as positive as one could expect coming off the team’s third consecutive AFC North matchup — notoriously physical matchups. Logging a full practice is cornerback Cory Trice Jr., who is up against a tough deadline approaching Week 14 in his return from a hamstring injury suffered in Week 3. His 21-day practice window was activated on November 14, which puts his deadline to be placed on the active 53-man roster Thursday, December 5. If he is not activated by that point, his season will be over. Though he’d logged mostly full practices since his return, it seemed as though he suffered a possible setback ahead of Week 13, having been downgraded to “limited” on Thursday and Friday, so seeing a full session to open the week is encouraging.

Among those who were limited was LB Alex Highsmith, who is expected to return from his ankle injury this week, which would mark the first time that he, Nick Herbig and T.J. Watt were all available and healthy in the same game since Week 3. HC Mike Tomlin stated in his Tuesday presser that he “fully expects” Highsmith to play in Week 14 — great news, so it seems we shouldn’t be concerned that he is yet to log a full practice.

WR Calvin Austin III was also limited Wednesday, currently in concussion protocol. The fact that he’s returned to a limited practice is an encouraging sign that he’s progressing, though he’ll have to be cleared by an independent neurological consultant in order to play in Week 14. His availability feels as important as ever, functionally slotting in right now as Pittsburgh’s WR2, having scored in three of the past five games.

Finally, DT Montravius Adams was limited Wednesday, currently on injured reserve but in his 21-day practice window, opened on November 27.