Thursday news, notes

Mike Tomlin said today that long snapper Greg Warren has a meniscus injury that will require surgery and sideline him for at least four weeks.

That's troublesome for the Steelers since it will carry into the regular season.

Currently, Bryce Davis is the only other long snapper on the roster.

Tomlin said the team will look at its options at the spot, which could include something in-house or looking elsewhere. The Steelers signed Luke Ingram later in the day. He was with the team in training camp last year.

Warren is considered one of the best in the business and it's not something you think a lot about unless the long snapper is messing up.

@ Tomlin made another statement today that was somewhat surprising.

He finally called rookie Ryan Shazier's knee injury something other than a "boo-boo," characterizing it as a bruise.

Shazier, who hadn't practiced fully in nearly two weeks, did so on Thursday.

He showed off his impressive speed on one play, chasing down scrambling quarterback E.J. Manuel of Buffalo.

If the quarterbacks would have been live to hit, Shazier might have taken his head off before Manuel got out of bounds.

@ Jarvis Jones will also be questionable with his groin strain, though Tomlin said linebacker Vince Williams could be ready to return by then. Neither practiced Thursday, though.

@ Things got heated at times in this practice, mostly with the Buffalo defense and Pittsburgh offense.

Cody Wallace, subbing for Maurkice Pouncey, who sat out, got into a fight with defensive tackle Landon Cohen that had players from both teams running from the other field.

Antonio Brown also took a swing at 303-pound defensive tackle Kyle Williams during the scrum.

Later, Buffalo defensive end Jerry Hughes took offense at something said or done by Steelers left tackle Kelvin Beachum and spent the next 20 seconds yelling profanities at him as Hughes walked from the field.

Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount left his team's spot - behind the line of scrimmage - and did a beeline for Hughes before offensive coordinator Todd Haley yelled for him to get back where he belonged. Mike Tomlin then spent several moments talking to Blount, who I'm sure was just going over to ask Hughes where he learned such a vast array of curse words.

@ The two rookies from Clemson stole the show today. It's no wonder people were considering Tigers quarterback Taj Boyd a first-round pick based on his numbers, then he fell off all of the draft charts when they actually started investigating him.

Buffalo rookie Sammy Watkins and Steelers rookie Martavis Bryant, Clemson's starting receivers last year, were a handful for the defensive backs on both sides today.

Watkins' change of direction left some guys covering air as he shook free of coverage. Bryant, meanwhile, continually got deep on the Buffalo corners.

@ Defensive end Nick Williams was gimpy toward the end of practice today for the Steelers. It appeared that he did something to his left knee.