DL Chris Wormley activated to practice with Steelers
Veteran defensive lineman Chris Wormley returned to practice Wednesday but remains on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ injured reserve list.
Wormley suffered a knee injury during the Oct. 25 win at the Tennessee Titans and was placed on injured reserve later that week. Rules dictate a player on IR must miss three games before he can practice. Once a team triggers that option, it has 21 days to activate him to the 53-man active roster. If Wormley is not activated by Dec. 9, he cannot play the rest of the 2020 season.
Acquired via an exchange of draft picks as part of a spring trade with the Baltimore Ravens, Wormley was expected to help replace departed tackle Javon Hargrave. But Wormley played just 51 defensive snaps the first six games, never playing more than 11 in any one of them. Behind starters Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu, the Steelers have a trio of young players on the defensive line in Isaiah Buggs, Henry Mondeaux and Carlos Davis.
The NFL’s rules for IR in 2020 were modified, first via a new collective bargaining agreement with players and then by the coronavirus pandemic. The Steelers used the three-game/21-day arrangement on veteran offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski but released him before he could appear in a game.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Wormley has three tackles and two quarterback hits this season. A former third-round pick, he started 16 games over three seasons with Baltimore.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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