Mike Hilton out again, Alejandro Villanueva added to Steelers injury report

Three days after missing a game because of a shoulder injury, Pittsburgh Steelers slot cornerback Mike Hilton sat out practice Wednesday. Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva and tight end Eric Ebron were unexpected additions to the injury report for the first practice in advance of Sunday’s AFC North showdown at the Baltimore Ravens.

Villanueva and Ebron were listed as having elbow injuries. Neither ailment was mentioned by coach Mike Tomlin after Sunday’s win in Tennessee nor during Tuesday’s news conference.

Hilton missed a game for only the third time in his career Sunday. He did not practice last week but Tomlin said Tuesday that Hilton was “expected to practice.”

Cameron Sutton capably took Hilton’s place as the nickel cornerback during a 27-24 win against the Tennessee Titans, but with Devin Bush out for the season and the challenge of Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson looming, the Steelers would prefer to have Sutton available for his dime and hybrid roles.

The only other player to miss last week’s game, fullback/special-teamer Derek Watt, returned to practice as he attempts to avoid missing a third game in four weeks because of a hamstring injury.

Ebron and Villanueva were among the majority of the offensive starters to sit out practice, albeit all with what are expected to be minor injuries or none at all. Among those not participating were quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and guard David DeCastro (not injury related), receivers Diontae Johnson (toe) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and center Maurkice Pouncey (elbow).

Special-teamer Jordan Dangerfield (quadriceps) and defensive tackle Chris Wormley (knee) did not practice after Tomlin on Tuesday had alerted they likely would not.

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