Fourth-year pro Stevenson Sylvester was waived by the Steelers on Aug. 25 and re-signed on Oct. 9. He might be starting at inside linebacker on Sunday against Buffalo.
"That's the league, man, you just gotta be ready for whatever situation," Sylvester said after practice today.
Sylvester replaced rookie inside linebacker Vince Williams (concussion) in Sunday's 51-33 loss at New England. Williams didn't practice on Wednesday and was limited today as he continues to work his way through the concussion protocol for return to play.
"You never know until game time," Sylvester said. "They haven't given me the nod or anything like that. They just have me taking reps and just getting ready to play if it's necessary, which should be done every week so I'm just preparing like I do every week."
Sylvester has one career NFL start, on Oct. 30, 2011 against New England. He said he's getting more reps on defense in practice this week than usual.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, for the time being," Sylvester said. "But you never know until game day."
Cornerback Ike Taylor also left the New England game with a concussion, but he was a full participant in practice after sitting out on Wednesday.
"I'm ready," Taylor said. "That's up to 'Coach T' (head coach Mike Tomlin) and (head athletic trainer) John Norwig but I feel good."
Today's complete practice report:
LIMITED PARTICIPATION: OT Kelvin Beachum (knee), OT Marcus Gilbert (ankle), Williams (concussion).
FULL PARTICIPATION: G David DeCastro (ankle), DE Cam Heyward (knee), TE Heath Miller (not injury related), Taylor (concussion), C Fernando Velasco (thigh), WR Markus Wheaton (finger).
