Minor injuries mount

The Pittsburgh Steelers got lucky with the rain for their preseason opener Sunday, but weren’t as fortunate Tuesday afternoon as they returned to practice here at Saint Vincent College.

A storm rolled through the area, forcing head coach Mike Tomlin to cut his practice a half-hour short Tuesday afternoon.

The big news of the day was that a number of players weren’t practicing due to minor injuries suffered in Sunday night’s win over New Orleans – inlcuding guard Alan Faneca and linebacker Larry Foote. Tomlin also made a switch in the starting lineup at right tackle, inserting Willie Colon in place of Max Starks.

Foote sat out with a sore ankle. He was replaced inside by Rian Wallace.

Faneca has a sore shoulder and was replaced at left guard by Chris Kemoeatu.

Could that have been an early look at next year’s offensive line as both Starks and Faneca are free agents? Perhaps.

Other new injuries included third-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre (thumb) and rookie defensive end Derrick Jones, who has some kind of minor leg injury.

Willie Parker, James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons were also still out of action – the same as last week.

Center Sean Mahan, meanwhile, still hasn’t returned from his excused absence, though Tomlin said he expects Mahan to return tonight or Wednesday.

As he did in Sunday’s game, Starks worked with the second team at left tackle. Trai Essex was at left guard, Marvin Philip at center and Cameron Stephenson at right guard.