Steelers notes: WR Adam Thielen joins team, Donte Kent practices - but suffers new injury

A day after he was claimed off waivers, Adam Thielen was with the Pittsburgh Steelers running routes at practice Wednesday.

To what extent will he be doing so during the Steelers’ next game on Sunday?

“I mean, he’s a very smart player,” fellow veteran receiver DK Metcalf said after Wednesday’s practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “This is Year (12) for him, so yeah, he’s caught up by the time he steps in the building.”

Thielen declined to speak with media Wednesday and plans to do so Thursday. But the 35-year-old walked into the Steelers’ locker room and immediately became its third-oldest member and with stated plans to retire after this season.

Thielen is a two-time Pro Bowl honoree who also has a second-team AP NFL All Pro designation on his resume.

But that came in 2017. Thielen has been limited to just eight catches for 69 yards and no touchdowns over 11 games with the Minnesota Vikings this season.

Still, can he be of help to a Steelers’ wide receivers corps that is coming off a game in which Metcalf (three catches, 32 yards) had the unit’s sole production.

“We’ll see how quickly he can get up to speed with the playbook,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers after noting he’d known Thielen for a long time. “And I was joking with him, he said this is the best his body has felt – because he hasn’t been playing a whole lot in Minnesota.

“So I think he’s got a lot left in the tank and a lot of impetus to go out there and put some good play on top of it.”

Kent cleared

Rookie defensive back and return man Donte Kent on Wednesday practiced with the Steelers for the first time since the regular season began. Kent, who suffered an ankle injury during the preseason, has been on injured reserve since final cutdown day.

That Kent was cleared to practice opens up a 21-day window during which he must be activated to the active 53-man roster or else he is lost for the season. The regular season ends in 4 ½ weeks.

Kent, though, was regarded as a limited practice participant and had an additional designation (“knee”) on the league-mandated injury report. That seems to indicate he suffered a new injury Wednesday.

Incidentally, another cornerback who opened up the season on IR — Cory Trice — suffered a new injury (a knee ailment to supplement his hamstring) during his first practice back. Trice never practiced again and is out for the season.

A Harrisburg native, Kent was a seventh-round pick out of Central Michigan.

Linebacker added

The Steelers signed Kana’i Mauga to the practice squad Wednesday, taking the spot of the promoted cornerback Asante Samuel.

Mauga, 25, is listed as an inside linebacker but most of the action he has seen in the NFL during regular-season games has come on special teams. Mauga has appeared in 17 games, all with the Las Vegas Raiders, and all in 2023-24. He lined up at fullback on offense some last season.

Steelers spawn player of the week

The Steelers’ pitiful offensive effort during Sunday’s defeat to the Buffalo Bills earned someone an award.

Bills cornerback Christian Benford was named the AFC defensive player of the week. It was an honor bestowed largely for being part of two takeaways over a span of 92 seconds early in the second half of Buffalo’s 26-7 win. Benford had a 17-yard fumble return for a touchdown and an interception of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.