Mike Tomlin took the podium this afternoon for his first press conference in a while. During the brief meeting, coach Tomlin revealed that safety Mike Mitchell and running back Alvester Alexander will start training camp on the PUP list. Both of the men have groin injuries, and neither of them seem to be serious.

“We’re looking at about a week or so there, but we’ll monitor him to day to day,” said Tomlin about Mitchell’s injury. Alexander’s time frame is similar according to coach Tomlin. “He’s really in a similar circumstance. We’ve been monitoring both situations, and it’s nothing new to us, but obviously it’s not the type of start those guys are looking for. When they’re healthy and ready to go obviously we’ll put them back in the mix with the rest of them.”

Mitchell injured his groin while training. There was no word on how Alexander injured his. Last year the team opened camp with 4 players on the Active/PUP list, at least two of them serious, so this is an improvement in that regard. While we definitely wish Mitchell was available to start immediately, I wouldn’t be too concerned about Mitchell’s groin just yet. Hopefully he’s ready for action soon, and the groin isn’t a lingering issue for him.