On a day when the heat index reached 98 degrees on the grass surface of Chuck Noll Field, the Pittsburgh Steelers saw an uptick on the number of players on coach Mike Tomlin’s injury report.
Offensive lineman Derwin Gray, the team’s seventh-round draft pick, was a casualty of the heat, leaving the two-and-a-half hour practice early because of fatigue.
In addition to Gray, wide receiver Ryan Switzer was “banged on the quad,” according to Tomlin, and cornerback Herb Waters, who spent time on the practice squad last year, left with a shoulder injury.
Tomlin downplayed the injuries, calling them “some of the bumps and bruises associated with this time of the year.”
Also sitting out practice was outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo, who had been practicing with the starters in the wake of T.J. Watt landing on the PUP list. Tomlin didn’t specify Chickillo’s injury but didn’t consider it “anything significant.”
With Chickillo out, Ola Adeniyi took over at left outside linebacker with the first-team defense.
Neither free safety Sean Davis (finger) nor wide receiver Donte Moncrief (finger) returned to practice. Davis has missed the past two practices, and Moncrief sat out for the first time since his injury.
“I’ll be all right,” Moncrief said. “I should be back either tomorrow or the next day at the latest. It should be good.”
Guard David DeCastro was given the day off. B.J. Finney replaced him with the first-team offense.
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