Tag Archives: Markus Wheaton

Markus Wheaton

Markus Wheaton Doesn’t Expect To Be Limited On Sunday

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Steelers wide receiver Markus Wheaton has been limited in practice throughout the week due to a groin injury. The arrow appeared to be pointing down for Wheaton to be participating against the Jaguars this Sunday. According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Post Gazette, Wheaton expects to not be hampered by his groin on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/rayfitt1/status/518079857532862464

It’s not uncommon for players to be optimistic about an injury on Friday, so we’ll have to wait and see, but of course this is promising. Without the Steelers number 2 receiver, expect to see more of Darrius Heyward-Bey, Justin Brown, and Dri Archer. The absence of Wheaton could get Moore more reps in the slot.

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Polamalu, Taylor, And Zumwalt Present Today; One Rookie Absent

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The Steelers wrapped up day 1 of mandatory mini-camp today. The men who missed all or most of voluntary OTA’s were in attendance today as expected. S Troy Polamalu, CB Ike Taylor, and LB Jordan Zumwalt were all present and accounted for. There was one rookie however who wasn’t present- Martavis Bryant.

Martavis Bryant, the Steelers 4th round selection, was reportedly home sick today after coming down with a virus yesterday. Markus Wheaton missed some of the final OTA practices, but participated fully today. Dri Archer, however, was sidelined about halfway through today’s practice with a bag of ice on his knee.

Hopefully Bryant’s illness doesn’t sideline him for the entire mini-camp. Rookies need every minute they can get, and as Coach Haley said earlier today, “he’s got a long way to go”.

“[Bryant’s] another rookie, so we’re not anointing him. He’s got a long way to go, because at the receiver position, there are a lot of subtle things that go on, but he’s big and fast and what sets him apart and should give him a chance to succeed is that he gets to top speed fast for a guy that big,” Haley said in an interview earlier today.

Mini-camp continues tomorrow and concludes on Thursday. The team then breaks until training camp begins July 25th.

Markus Wheaton Had Surgery To Clean Up His Pinky Recently

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Kevin Colbert spoke about Markus Wheaton today at the NFL Scouting Combine, and revealed that Wheaton had a ‘clean up’ type surgery recently on his pinky. Wheaton broke his finger early in the season and missed several games, and ultimately required surgery to repair it.

About the most recent surgery, Colbert said, “It was just a follow-up procedure where he had further [work done] on the pinky. It was follow-up surgery to clean it up.” When asked if there was high expectations for him, the GM said, “Sure. You take a kid in the third round, you want him to produce, expect him to produce, and we hope that’s the case.”

I’m not sure who has higher expectations for the receiver, the Steelers front office or the fan base. Either way, his recent surgery must have been very recent, or was very minor, because he was out in California practicing with Moye, Brown, and Ben Roethlisberger just a couple weeks ago.

The Steelers have a great track record in recent drafts when it comes to hitting on mid round wide receivers. Hopefully Wheaton keeps that record going in 2014.

Ben Roethlisberger Getting Head Start On Chemistry With Moye, Wheaton

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Big Ben is already getting some early work in with his young receiving corps. Both Derek Moye and Markus Wheaton are getting reps with Ben out in Orange County, California. Specifically, I would imagine they’re in Irvine, CA, as that’s where Ben’s representation agency is located. Photographers and videographers are on site, and the workouts are in conjunction with Rep1Sports, so Irvine is a safe assumption, though other agencies have players there, so anywhere in Orange County is a possibility I suppose.

If you follow my Twitter account (@TheSteelersFans) or visit the site often, you’ll likely have seen these tweets from yesterday and today.

 

 

Nestler and other coaches were on the scene yesterday to participate in the workouts. Markus Wheaton, Derek Moye, and other draft prospects who are training for the combine were there as well. UCLA WR Shaq Evans is one receiver who I know to be signed with that agency, so perhaps he was there. Coincidentally, Blake Bortles who draws Big Ben comparisons, is represented by them, too. Who else might be there would just be a guess.

The news of Moye and Wheaton getting early reps with with Ben should come as a nice surprise. This extra time should pay dividends in the spring, summer, and hopefully the fall.

 

Steelers Appear To Have Dodged Serious Injury Bullet

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Coach Tomlin gave injury updates to the media during his press conference earlier, and the news sounded pretty promising.

Ramon Foster, who left the Raiders game with a concussion, has been cleared to practice. Coach Tomlin said, “We’ll let that practice participation dictate where we go with him. Obviously, with that concussion, we’ll do what’s appropriate like we always do.”

David DeCastro will be limited early in the week, maybe with an opportunity to play with his ankle injury.

Guy Whimper could be limited in the early portion of the week with his hyper-extended knee, but he’s expected to be available for the game and to practice at some point.

Steve McLendon was ill yesterday and was sent home.

Markus Wheaton’s finger fracture is being evaluated to see what his availability will be for the game this week, and for practice.

Lawrence Timmons continues to work through his hand injury, but it didn’t effect his availability during the Raiders game, and it’s not expected to for the Patriots game either.

 

Markus Wheaton Out Another Week And Other Injury News

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Mike Tomlin gave some injury updates to the media today. For starters, Markus Wheaton will be out again this week as he continues to recover from his finger surgery. Brett Keisel, who left the Jets game with what was initially described as a rib injury, is expected to be able to play on Sunday. Tomlin said his injury “is really kind of muscular in nature in that area”. He’ll probably experience some discomfort throughout the week, but we expect him to perk up and be ready to go. Lamarr Woodley has some inflamation in his right knee, that might limit him throughout the week, but should not limit him at all during the football game on Sunday.

Sean Spence will participate in a limited capacity this week, probably individual drills. Matt Spaeth is going to stay where he’s at for now. The team wants to see how Spence looks in drills on the field before determining how to proceed with his participation moving forward.

Report: Markus Wheaton To Miss Jets Game

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According to Ed Bouchette of the Post-Gazette, Markus Wheaton says he will miss the Jets game due to his broken pinky finger. Wheaton told reporters that he will not have his stitches removed until next Monday, and Coach Tomlin said recently that the team will wait until he gets his stitches out to determine the next step for him. With the absence of Wheaton this week, will the coaching staff give Derek Moye snaps for the first time since scoring a touchdown against the Bengals in week two?

Markus Wheaton Had Surgery On Broken Pinky

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Markus Wheaton had surgery on his broken pinky finger Tuesday, according to Coach Tomlin. The rookie wide receiver broke the pinky during the loss to the Vikings last Sunday. In regards to the surgery, Mike Tomlin said it “looks to be good”. Tomlin said that they’ll have to wait for the stitches to come out before they can determine his availability. “Of course, it will be a number of days before that’s able to transpire”.

Whether or not Wheaton will be able to participate in the Jets game on the 13th is up in the air. The team utilized him dramatically more last week than in the prior three weeks. He saw 45.6% of the snaps against the Vikings, versus 7.5%, 8.6%, and 12% of the snaps from the first three games.

Ryan Clark: ‘Wheaton Is Better Than Wallace’

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Ryan Clark was on The Fan earlier today discussing his desire to finish his career as a Steeler, the difference that Troy makes, how talented Shamarko Thomas is, and replacing James Harrison. In the middle of all that, he reveals his enthusiasm for Markus Wheaton and his optimism for this season.

“I’m going to say something here about the Mike Wallace thing…Markus Wheaton, and you can take this how you want…Markus Wheaton is better than Michael Wallace at everything but one thing. Speed. That’s it. He does everything else better…as far as route running, he’s more polished. I think he has better hands…I think he’s ready to step in and play.”, said Clark.

He goes on to say how getting the backs healthy and adding LaRod Stephens-Howling will compensate for losing Rashard Mendenhall. “We had Mendy, we didn’t have Mendenhall. We only had half a guy”, Clark said jokingly.

You can listen below:

 

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/08/17/clark-wants-to-remain-a-steeler/