Receiver Eli Rogers returns to Steelers practice

Steelers receiver Eli Rogers returned to practice Wednesday afternoon, and the team has 21 days to decide if he will be activated to the 53-man roster.

Rogers is on the physically-unable-to-perform list because he sustained a knee injury in the January playoff game against the Jaguars. If after 21 days the Steelers don’t activate him to the 53-man roster, Rogers will remain on PUP for the rest of the season.

Rogers has played in 27 games with 12 starts over the previous two seasons. He had 48 receptions for 594 yards and three touchdowns in 2016, but his production slipped last season, when he had 18 catches for 149 yards and one touchdown.

The Steelers don’t have an immediate need for Rogers now. JuJu Smith-Schuster plays in the slot, as does Ryan Switzer when he is in the game. Switzer played a season-high 52 snaps and caught six passes for 67 yards Sunday against the Broncos.

Full story: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2018/11/28/eli-rogers-injury-update-steelers-receivers/stories/201811280147

I don't think Eli will play this year. I would be surprised if we see him on the field at all. I think next year he'll compete for a spot but what we have now is working using JU JU in the slot.

Eli is a better WR than Washington.

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets activated to ride out the rest of the season as our #3.

stlrtruck wrote:

Eli is a better WR than Washington.

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets activated to ride out the rest of the season as our #3.

I'd be fine with that. Question is how long would it take to get in football shape. I always looked at Eli as AB lite.

Washington still going though those rookie growing pains guess the speed of the game hasn't fully slowed down for him quite yet.

I was thinking when they drafted Washington hope he comes in like JUJU did.

Eli Rogers could return for Patriots* game; James Conner questionable

The Steelers must decide by Tuesday whether to activate Eli Rogers to the active roster or keep on the physically-unable-to-perform list for the remainder of the season. Based on what his teammates were saying Friday, there is a strong possibility Rogers could make his return Sunday against the Patriots*.

“He’s excited to be back,” receiver Antonio Brown said. “He’s a great asset to the team. He’s been through a lot of adversity. I’m excited to see him get back out there.”

Rogers, who sustained a torn ACL in the playoff game against the Jaguars in January, could be activated to the 53-man roster Saturday. Slot receiver and punt returner Ryan Switzer injured his ankle during practice Friday. He returned to practice, but he’ll be evaluated Sunday before the game to see if he can play.

Rogers plays in the slot and returns punts, so it would be an easy switch for the Steelers.


“Eli is a shifty dude, very quick, very smart playing inside,” receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. “He’ll help out a lot, being able to move him in and out with Switz.”

Rogers took a lot of reps with the first-team offense this week even before Switzer was injured.

“Eli is an established inside-type receiver in this league,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “He’s played really a year and a half, two years now. He’s played a lot of football. So, there’s a lot of experience, a lot of quickness and inside stuff he’s capable of bringing to you. How much? How quickly? I don’t know the answer to that, but it is nice to see him getting some balls with Ben [Roethlisberger], starting to work to see where his situation might end up being.”

Rogers, who declined an interview request Friday, had 18 receptions for 149 yards and one touchdown last season.

Conner questionable

Running back James Conner, who missed the Raiders game because of a high ankle sprain, is questionable. He was listed as a limited participant Friday after not practicing at all Wednesday or Thursday.

Rookie Jaylen Samuels and veteran Stevan Ridley will split the running back duties if Conner does not play.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2018/12/14/james-conner-injury-update-eli-rogers-pup-list-steelers-news/stories/201812140123

LambertWardSteel wrote:

Eli Rogers could return for Patriots** game; James Conner questionable

The Steelers must decide by Tuesday whether to activate Eli Rogers to the active roster or keep on the physically-unable-to-perform list for the remainder of the season. Based on what his teammates were saying Friday, there is a strong possibility Rogers could make his return Sunday against the Patriots**.

“He’s excited to be back,” receiver Antonio Brown said. “He’s a great asset to the team. He’s been through a lot of adversity. I’m excited to see him get back out there.”

Rogers, who sustained a torn ACL in the playoff game against the Jaguars in January, could be activated to the 53-man roster Saturday. Slot receiver and punt returner Ryan Switzer injured his ankle during practice Friday. He returned to practice, but he’ll be evaluated Sunday before the game to see if he can play.

Rogers plays in the slot and returns punts, so it would be an easy switch for the Steelers.


“Eli is a shifty dude, very quick, very smart playing inside,” receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. “He’ll help out a lot, being able to move him in and out with Switz.”

Rogers took a lot of reps with the first-team offense this week even before Switzer was injured.

“Eli is an established inside-type receiver in this league,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “He’s played really a year and a half, two years now. He’s played a lot of football. So, there’s a lot of experience, a lot of quickness and inside stuff he’s capable of bringing to you. How much? How quickly? I don’t know the answer to that, but it is nice to see him getting some balls with Ben [Roethlisberger], starting to work to see where his situation might end up being.”

Rogers, who declined an interview request Friday, had 18 receptions for 149 yards and one touchdown last season.

Conner questionable

Running back James Conner, who missed the Raiders game because of a high ankle sprain, is questionable. He was listed as a limited participant Friday after not practicing at all Wednesday or Thursday.

Rookie Jaylen Samuels and veteran Stevan Ridley will split the running back duties if Conner does not play.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2018/12/14/james-conner-injury-update-eli-rogers-pup-list-steelers-news/stories/201812140123

I'm OK with Washington for the long term plan but I've always liked Eli. I just don't know if Eli's up to speed yet I feel like we won't need him to save the game. Just catch everything thrown to him.

Eli made a couple of good plays but I could also see he wasn't ready for game speed.

stlrtruck wrote:

Eli made a couple of good plays but I could also see he wasn't ready for game speed.

I was concerned that he wouldn't be but he did good. I'm glad Washington had a good game too. I have a feeling he will be a pretty good compliment to what we already have. Can't cover them all, right?

solardave wrote:

stlrtruck wrote:

Eli made a couple of good plays but I could also see he wasn't ready for game speed.

I was concerned that he wouldn't be but he did good. I'm glad Washington had a good game too. I have a feeling he will be a pretty good compliment to what we already have. Can't cover them all, right?

who would of known Eli was the missing piece of the Steelers offense?

I'm glad Washington is comming in, with Samuels and JUJU the Steelers have 3 receivers that are 200lbs+, all 3 are very strong pulling the ball in for the catch when covered.

I wonder if Eli playing might have taken some pressure off Washington. I thought he looked good and he seemed almost relaxed.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

I wonder if Eli playing might have taken some pressure off Washington. I thought he looked good and he seemed almost relaxed.

I'd say so Washington now has a practice buddy in Eli 2 players that are in the same boat one from injury the other a rookie trying to win starting spot in the offense. should be some good healthy competition for the 2 and for the Steelers.

Having Eli back is a boost though I'm pretty sure he ran the wrong route on the play where AB was hit, the ball popped out, and it was intercepted by Harmon. Brown probably would've caught that cleaner there had they not ran into each other.

We need all the weapons we can get. Washington has looked a lot better over the past few weeks as well. The more the merrier.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Having Eli back is a boost though I'm pretty sure he ran the wrong route on the play where AB was hit, the ball popped out, and it was intercepted by Harmon. Brown probably would've caught that cleaner there had they not ran into each other.

We need all the weapons we can get. Washington has looked a lot better over the past few weeks as well. The more the merrier.

It looked to me like he ran the wrong route too. Chock it up to rust. All in all I like the way our offense is playing. We have the talent to be a DC's nightmare.

washington showed why the steelers drafted him. he goes after the ball instead of waiting for the ball to come to him.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

washington showed why the steelers drafted him. he goes after the ball instead of waiting for the ball to come to him.

Now he just needs to be more consistent. Him and Ben need to work on their chemistry.

for some reason i don't share the fondness of eli rodgers than most here do. i mean has he ever caught a pass over ten yards past the line of scrimmage ? sure he's caught some critical 3rd and short passes, but can someone remind me of a big time play he has made ? 50 yd catch ? 30 yard td ? 25 yards ? hell i can;'t even remember him making a 20 yard catch...

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

for some reason i don't share the fondness of eli rodgers than most here do. i mean has he ever caught a pass over ten yards past the line of scrimmage ? sure he's caught some critical 3rd and short passes, but can someone remind me of a big time play he has made ? 50 yd catch ? 30 yard td ? 25 yards ? hell i can;'t even remember him making a 20 yard catch...

I think he's more of a chain moving kind of guy versus a big play kind of guy. While he's not a gamebreaker, he did have quite a few clutch first down catches that helped move the chains to the best of my memory. Sometimes you just need a guy like that even if he's a guy that plays on a snap count.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

for some reason i don't share the fondness of eli rodgers than most here do. i mean has he ever caught a pass over ten yards past the line of scrimmage ? sure he's caught some critical 3rd and short passes, but can someone remind me of a big time play he has made ? 50 yd catch ? 30 yard td ? 25 yards ? hell i can;'t even remember him making a 20 yard catch...

I think he's more of a chain moving kind of guy versus a big play kind of guy. While he's not a gamebreaker, he did have quite a few clutch first down catches that helped move the chains to the best of my memory. Sometimes you just need a guy like that even if he's a guy that plays on a snap count.

I think it's more the thing Iowa says here. Another experienced receiver. I think things have been going a little slow with Washington, so it's good to have a reliable set of hands. Maybe just coincidence, but maybe the added competition, or maybe just a little less pressure on James, but he had his best game as a pro last weekend.

so nobody can think of a 20 yd pass play. i mean c'mon , jessie james even has some descent long catches + tds. eli gets pretty much ZERO YDS after a catch...and i can't recall him ever making a tackler miss or breaking free for a few extra yds. he makes a catch 6 yds from the line of scrimmage and down he goes for a total of 6 yds. he is NEVER wide open for a catch like other receivers often are. that tells me he lacks the moves or speed and gets the bare minimum of separation.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

so nobody can think of a 20 yd pass play. i mean c'mon , jessie james even has some descent long catches + tds.  eli gets pretty much ZERO YDS after a catch...and i can't recall him ever making a tackler miss or breaking free for a few extra yds.  he makes a catch 6 yds from the line of scrimmage and down he goes for a total of 6 yds. he is NEVER wide open for a catch like other receivers often are. that tells me he lacks the moves or speed and gets the bare minimum of separation.

In 2016 he had 11 catches over 20 yards. His career average is 10.9 YPC. That's an average of a first down per catch. You're right he's not wide open but that makes his catches combative and he wins more than a few of them.We can definitely improve there. I said I want to see Washington work his way into the slot but if Eli provides the incentive for JW to get better while moving the chains IMO he earns his keep. I'd take him over say Hunter all day long.

Steelers picking a WR in the 5th or 6th round in 2019 draft who will be bigger and stronger then Rogers.