Steelers adapt to larger practice squad rules
The Philadelphia Eagles raised a few eyebrows around the league earlier this week when they signed 41year old quarterback Josh McCown to their practice squad. Not only did McCown become the oldest player in NFL history to be placed on a practice squad, but he’s being allowed to remain at his Texas home.
The only time the Eagles would call on McCown to actually show up for work is if there is an injury or a COVID- 19 outbreak among the team’s quarterbacks.
It’s one of the many weird things taking place this year due to the amended rules involving NFL practice squads.
The NFL gave each team six extra spots on their practice squads this year, which is allowing teams to keep four quarterbacks. Some teams have looked at keeping their fourth quarterback isolated from their top three out of concern for outbreaks.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin would not divulge the Steelers’ plans for Devlin Hodges, but he believes it is prudent to have a fourth quarterback on the team during these uncertain times.
“We just felt like it was important in this circumstance for us to have four quarterbacks in the program,” Tomlin said Tuesday, a day after Hodges cleared waivers and was added to the practice squad. “We have four quarterbacks in the program, guys that we have played ball. We believe that aids us.
“Duck, in the position he’s in being a practice squad guy, this is a guy that started games for us a year ago. We believe that’s an asset to us. In this COVID environment, you can’t insulate yourself enough with quality depth in all positions. That’s something we work extremely hard to do. The utilization of vested veterans on the practice squad is another avenue that we thoughtfully delved into all in an effort to insulate us and to fortify our depth in this uncertain environment.”
The six veterans will be paid $ 12,000 weekly and are the most likely candidates to receive call- ups on game days. Each team will be allowed to call up two players every week and those players don’t have to clear waivers.
The other 10 practice squad players are players with one or two accrued NFL seasons or rookies. They’ll make $ 8,400 a week.
The Steelers stocked their practice squad with veterans that have experience that could be useful on game days. Among the players with NFL experience are defensive lineman Daniel McCullers, a sixyear veteran; running back Trey Edmunds; safety Curtis Riley; and outside linebacker
Jayrone Elliott.
McCullers, for example, might be useful in a game against teams that have strong running attacks. Edmunds is nice to have in reserves because he knows the offense and was a solid contributor on special teams.
Exactly who is called up and for what purpose won’t be known until Sunday morning, but Tomlin made it known he plans to use the new rules to his advantage.
“I’m not going to give them back,” he said of the two game- day call- ups. “I’m definitely going to use them for many of the reasons that we’ve been talking about, this unusual environment in terms of what our guys are capable of. If we have available guys to us, we better use them. But also, just a lack of in- game play and the number of snaps or the limited number of snaps people may be prepared to play or how fatigue may set in on us.”