1) It’s always tough to lose your top pick before the season even starts. With rookie David DeCastro out for the season, how will this affect what the Steelers are trying to do on offense? Someone has to step in. Who will fill his shoes?

CG: The Steelers are pretty used to having to cobble together an offensive line. It’s frustrating for fans and for the team, but they have always ‘dealt.’ It’s certainly disappointing that DeCastro is out. But, it’s not devastating. Maybe morally, but the team will get by. Ramon Foster will be the likely replacement and is a role he is familiar with.

2) With the injury to Rashard Mendenhall, how are things shaping up in the backfield as he heals? I hear mixed reviews on Isaac Redman, but is he or anyone else making noise there?

CG: The only noise being made by the running back roster is ‘owwww.’ {hilarious – ed.note} Out of the five competing – only ONE has really made it through (thus far) without an injury. So in a way, it’s been a little difficult in assessing who is ‘making noise’ – at least the kind we want to hear. Redman has been ok thus far but has been hampered by injury at times. Chris Rainey has been the one to make a pretty good impression thus far. Is he the featured back? Not yet and he may never be. I think that it will be shared time by Redman and Jonathan Dwyer by Week 1 of the regular season. Where the team goes from there will be based on performance in the first couple of weeks.

3) There’s more history with rookie Mike Adams than most people know – the failed drug test thing before the draft and that whole process. Now that he’s been in camp a while, how is he looking?

CG: Pretty vanilla. He had very impressive OTA’s according to coaches and reported by the media. However, his camp progress has been slow and his game time has been not so stellar. Slow off the snap and then overcompensating has resulted in a bunch of sacks. The potential is there, but he still needs some time for NFL speed and skill.

4) Starting even last year, so many people think that the Steelers’ defense is “aging, but not too old yet” to get the job done. That’s a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one, but there is some truth behind it. A good, veteran defense is sometimes tough for a young guy to get noticed in. What young players/new faces on the Pittsburgh defense should we keep an eye on for bigger things coming soon?

CG: LB Chris Carter, LB Sean Spence, and CB Cortez Allen. Allen is in his second season and is already starting as the nickel corner. Eventually, I strongly feel he will bump Keenan Lewis for the number two spot and will eventually become the successor to Ike Taylor. He’s fast, good presence on the field, and has pretty good hands for a corner. Sean Spence has been promising all camp. It takes time for the young’ins to learn LeBeau’s complex defense, and the Steelers don’t rush defensemen onto the field. Chris Carter has been amazing all camp filling in for James Harrison while he’s been out with a couple of injuries. Expect very good things from this guy. The worries of an abrupt or early exit by Harrison in the seasons to come are quelled due to Carter.

5) Should we expect to see much of Mike Wallace in the Carolina game so soon after ending his holdout? Has his absence allowed anyone else to really stand out?

CG: Officially Wallace can’t play because of the ‘when’ of signing his tender and NFL rules. He’s held out of practice this week and the game. Folks won’t see him until Week 1 against the Broncos. Antonio Brown got a huge raise (deservedly so) and has stepped up nicely as the #1 receiver. The trick will be if Haley will allow Wallace to step onto that side of the field. I think Wallace needs to earn it back, but we’ll see. So far, due to the heavy focus on the run game thus far this season, we haven’t seen much of how the receiving core has progressed.

So much for the rumblings of the fans about his inaccuracy and/or looking lost. I’m certain he still has a lot to learn and that the plays he ran were scripted/inserted because they’re the ones he knows best at this point, but the future in Washington looks bright if his performance last night is any indication.

The Redskins won the contest against the Buffalo Bills, 7-6.

August 9, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) throws a pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

In other games, the Philadelphia Eagles stormed back after a lethargic first half to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-23. With the death of Head Coach Andy Reid’s son fresh in their minds, Eagles’ players had some extra fight in them in their first preseason game – at least, after what probably was a good dressing-down at halftime by that same coach because of their play in the first half. All 24 points came after intermission.

After going 4/6 for a whopping 6 yards, Vick went to the sidelines in obvious pain after his last pass attempt of the contest. His throwing motion and Eagles center Jason Kelce converged as Kelce was slide-blocking a defender across Vick’s path and Vick’s follow-though wound up thumping his hand on the back of Kelce’s helmet. It was a case of “nobody’s fault – it happens” but when you consider Vick’s importance to the team, it sure put a scare into their fans, players, and coaches alike.

X-rays on his throwing-hand thumb at halftime were negative, but x-rays alone do not easily show soft-tissue damage. Despite the good news that no breaks were seen, the situation bears keeping an eye on.

Weeden, the team’s second first-round draft pick this year, should greatly benefit from being on the field with their first first-round selection, Trent Richardson, selected at #3 overall.

Weeden’s abilities aside, Richardson’s presence would have helped McCoy or any other QB they put out there. Richardson has been touted, correctly I think, as the best RB prospect since Adrian Peterson. While that remains to be seen, it does mean that enemy defenses will be forced to honor the threat, and that translates into better opportunities for Weeden in the play-action passing game as well as helping to keep things balanced offensively in general. A young QB’s best friend is a great left tackle, and that’s the ONE thing the Browns already have in Joe Thomas. A strong running game is a close second.

Dec 24, 2011; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Mike Wallace (17) attempts to get away from St. Louis Rams safety James Butler (37) during the first quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory credit: Vincent Pugliese- US PRESSWIRE

In other news, Mike Wallace and the Pittsburgh Steelers remain at an impasse. The restricted free agent has yet to sign his tender, in the area of $2.75 million non-guaranteed for 2012, and wants a long-term guaranteed deal. Steelers’ GM Kevin Colbert said “Mike knows where things stand. The next step for him really is to report and to sign his tender, and until that happens, there won’t be anything else. And if that happens, nobody knows where it will go from there. So that’s where it is and has been, and hopefully it comes to an end sooner rather than later because it will be good for us, but it will also be good for Mike.”

The Steelers signed fellow WR Antonio Brown to a 5-year $42 million dollar contract but only about $8 million is guaranteed, so it’s not the chops-buster that many fans seem to think it is for Wallace. It’s no secret that Wallace is one of the league’s best downfield threats – if not the biggest of all these days. He just doesn’t get caught from behind and one would have to think Big Ben has been lobbying behind the scenes for somehow signing him, but if so, they’ve kept everything within the organization and private…just as it should be.

This looks similar in some ways to the now-resolved Chicago Bears/Matt Forte situation. Forte was an RFA as well, but knew at some point he would have to sign with his team. As an extreme measure, Wallace could possibly sit out until week 10, when he MUST report or lose a year of accrual towards becoming an unrestricted free agent. Vincent Jackson did that in 2010.

The Steelers have made it clear that they don’t wish to trade Wallace and have a first-round tender on him – meaning if another team signs him, the Steelers will receive a first-round pick in the 2013 draft from the signing team and league rules is where the $2.75 million figure comes from.

The Seattle Seahawks signed 38 year old shameless self-promoter Terrell Owens, which says a lot about how Pete Carroll feels about the wideouts he’s got now. All of them have some issues – Sidney Rice can’t stay healthy, Braylon Edwards is a career underachiever, and Mike Williams has shown flashes of the talent that made him a top-ten pick of the Detroit Lions during that run where the Lions were legally obligated to draft WRs with their top picks. Consistency is Williams’ Achilles Heel.

One notable remaining free agent is Plaxico Burress. It’s interesting that Carroll signed the 38 yr old Terrell Owens over 37 yr old Burress, but Plexiglass is reportedly asking for too much money…especially for someone who has been out of the league for several years. Owens himself couldn’t find a team last year and is the NFL’s second all-time receiver in most categories behind the apparently un-catchable records of a fellow from a small college in Mississippi named Jerry Rice. Fans sometimes mix up his college state with the name of the QB Rice used to hook up with TO school the rest of the NFL. Just remember “Joe Mississippi” is what you say only to delay yourself from rushing the passer in flag football. Montana was the man…Matt Flynn’s prowess has yet to be resolved. Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice were once teammates ages ago in San Francisco when Montana’s successor and a Hall of Famer himself, southpaw signal-caller Steve Young, was under center.

Lastly, there was a much-ballyhooed scrum at the Jets’ scrimmage yesterday afternoon. What wasn’t widely mentioned was that there were actually several. While fights break out in training camp between a couple of people pretty much every year with every team, the fact there was more than one on Monday doesn’t speak well for Rex Ryan’s control over his team. One fight is going to make a coach angry, and Ryan let them know of his disapproval. Therefore, others decided to fight.

Rex screamed at the team: “Save it for Cincy – WE’RE ALL WE’VE GOT!” The Jets and Bengals play Friday night.