Thursday news, notes

Couple of updates on the injury front today:

First, safety Robert Golden got some good news. He doesn't have any structural damage in his knee, which was injured in practice on Wednesday.

Sources say it's an MCL sprain, which should sideline Golden a few weeks.

Linebacker Vince Williams was the latest to go down with an injury today. He suffered a hamstring injury and was limping noticeably.

The Steelers have a lot of guys sitting out practices right now. In fact, with Golden's injury, they have just one safety - veteran Will Allen - who was on the roster last season and is currently practicing. And Allen sat out the first week because head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to ease the veteran into play.

That went out the window with injuries to Ross Ventrone, Mike Mitchell and Shamako Thomas. Thomas, by the way, was at least in pads Thursday.

@ With a patchwork secondary out there, the offense had its way with the defense today.

The offense went 7-for-7 in Seven Shots to open practice with Ben Roethlisberger throwing TD passes to Le'Veon Bell, Heath Miller and Antonio Brown.

Then backup Landry Jones had a nice series, throwing a bullet to Jesse James over the middle, a nice throwback across his body to Cam Clear in the middle of the field and a fade to Devin Gardner.

Cameron Stingily finished things off with a tough run through Terrence Garvin and Gerod Holliman to get into the end zone.

Holliman had a tough day along with Jordan Sullen, who looked to be playing some corner since Cortez Allen and William Gay were given the day off as well.

He and Sullen were beaten deep by Darrius Heyward-Bey for a long TD in 11-on-11.

Then, in the two-minute drill to end practice, Sullen and Alden Darby both took bad angles and Gardner hauled in a skinny post and took it for a score on third-and-two on a pass from Tyler Murphy.

Jones and Murphy both ran the two-minute offenses today, with both resulting in touchdowns. Tomlin said he wanted to put both QBs in situations they might see in the game Sunday, which means Jones will likely finish the first half and Murphy the second.

Jones had a nice drive capped off with a TD to Clear.

@ With James and Clear continuing to look good, the Steelers placed Rob Blanchflower on the Waiver/Injured List. They signed another tight end, Ray Hamilton, claiming him off waivers from Dallas.

But it's clearly James and Clear battling for the No. 3 spot, with James holding a slight edge right now.

@ Speaking of edges, first-year linebacker Shayon Green continues to get playing time ahead of Howard Jones.

Green is obviously the more powerful of the two. He battled Kelvin Beachum hard and both Green and Jones had their way with Alejandro Villanueva, who seems to be better blocking defensive linemen than he is smaller, quicker linebackers.

That could be a height issue for Villanueva, who is 6-9.

Keep an eye on rookie Mike Thornton in the game Sunday. He's a 6-1, 296-pound nose tackle and he keeps showing an ability to really get under the offensive linemen and get a good bull rush up the field.