Varley: DeCastro, Whimper, and Foster Not Ruled ‘Out’ for Steelers

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Steelers had three offensive linemen exit their game on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Many, including this writer, speculated that one, two, or even three of the injured players (David DeCastro [ankle], Guy Whimper [knee], and Ramon Foster [concussion]) would be ruled out for this weekend’s game in Foxborough.

Thankfully, some good news came out of Pittsburgh earlier today courtesy of Teresa Varley of Steelers.com. According to Varley’s report and head coach Mike Tomlin, DeCastro, Whimper, and Foster will all practice this week and have not been ruled out for the upcoming game against the New England Patriots.

The Steelers need all of the healthy offensive linemen as they can get at this point. Maurkice Pouncey and Levi Brown are already sidelined for the duration of the 2013 regular season, and the team had to insert Cody Wallace, who had not played all year, into the game after DeCastro’s injury last weekend.

I am sure that Pittsburgh’s coaching staff would probably like to avoid promoting the inexperienced Joe Long and Chris Hubbard from their practice squad right now, and the front office probably would like to avoid finding more free agent stopgaps as well.

Keeping tabs on these three linemen will be something to watch for this week, and I hope for Ben Roethlisberger’s sake that all three are healthy enough to play.

Stats & Contract Info. Provided By: ESPN.com, Steelers.com , Spotrac, and Pro Football Reference

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