Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wire reports
pittsburgh
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and safety Troy Polamalu each attended a full practice Friday and are listed as probable for the regular-season finale in Cleveland on Sunday.
Roethlisberger practiced all week after missing last Saturday’s 27-0 win over the St. Louis Rams because of a high ankle sprain. The injury occurred three weeks ago in a home win against the Browns, but he played the following Monday in San Francisco and threw three interceptions in a 20-3 loss.
Polamalu (knee) did not practice until Friday but is expected to start Sunday. Center Maurkice Pouncey missed the past two games with a high ankle sprain but said he’s going to play.
Linebacker James Harrison (neck) and wide receivers Mike Wallace (ankle) and Emmanuel Sanders (foot) are listed as probable.
LaMarr Woodley (hamstring) is doubtful after not practicing Friday, and Jason Worilds likely will make his seventh start at outside linebacker.
The playoff-bound Steelers need a win and a Baltimore loss at Cincinnati to win the AFC North and earn a first-round bye.
Eagles
Of the Eagles with something to prove in 2012, Brandon Graham and Nate Allen are near the top of the list.
Graham was a first-round pick and Allen was taken in the second round of the 2010 draft. Each will have an asterisk on his 2011 campaign because each played after suffering serious knee injuries late last year. Neither has shown Pro Bowl form — Graham hardly played at all — but it’s hard to expect that level of performance after the surgeries each endured.
Their third seasons, though, will be key measuring sticks for them and for general manager Howie Roseman, who made Graham and Allen his first two picks.
Graham, a defensive end who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament Dec. 12, 2010, and needed microfracture knee surgery in the offseason, has absorbed most of the criticism.
Taken 13th overall and brought in to pressure quarterbacks, he constantly is compared to Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants end who was drafted two slots later and exploded this year with 15.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl nod.
Graham has not shown that kind of potential, but, to be fair, he had three sacks in 13 games as a rookie.
“I’m going to put all my money in the bank in the offseason, and it’s going to show next year,” Graham said.