Former Steelers guard Simmons became former Patriots guard

After being inactive for six of his seven games with the New England Patriots, guard Kendall Simmons, who sued to play with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was released by the Patriots on Friday.

For this season, the only game he played for the Patriots was Oct. 18’s 59-0 win over the Tennessee Titans and he was playing on special teams in that game.

At the age of 30, Simmons decided to continue playing football after being waived by the Steelers and he signed with the Patriots on Sept. 6. Not sure if both side had the feeling of making the decision.

But things were different when Simmons entered into NFL in 2002. Being picked with the 30th pick of the first round in 2002, Simmons started all 80 games he played during the seven seasons he played wearing Steelers jersey. But injuries came to bother from time to time: a right knee injury caused him to miss the entire 2004 season and a right Achilles’ tendon injury limited him to only four games last year.

Steelers RB Parker skipped Wednesday practice with toe injury unhealed

After missing the 38-28 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker also missed the team’s practice Wednesday because of the injured left big toe. And the injury may keep him out of a second game, which will be held in Detroit this Sunday.

“I’m a competitor and I want to compete and show the world what I’ve got but, at the same time, I’ve got to be smart about it,” said Parker, who ran for at least 1,200 yards every season from 2005-07. “Right now, I’m not where I need to be.”

The last time when Parker played in Detroit, he made a 75-yard touchdown run and helped the Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in the Super Bowl in February 2006. It would be a pity if he would not play this Sunday’s game at Detroit. But it would also be a good chance for Rashard Mendenhall, who started last Sunday’s game against the Chargers and ran for 65 yards and two touchdowns in his place.

Steelers did not respond to QB Roethlisberger’s WWE appearance

As the schedule goes, the Pittsburgh Steelers will play against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday and hold a team meeting next Monday. Therefore, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be kind of pressed of time as he will appear at the televised WWE Raw show Monday, less than 24 hours after Sunday’s game, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The Big Ben’s schedule clashes with the team’s routine, which allows players to make such appearances during a season only during a bye week. But Roethlisberger’s WWE Raw show would be followed by a Sunday game against the Lions at Detroit. He will also take his offensive linemen with him but did not tell the coaches in advance about what he is going to do.

But it seemed that Roethlisberger got the team’s acquiesce to do what he likes when he is not wearing steelers jersey. Neither the team nor coach Mike Tomlin gave any comment about Roethlisberger serving as the guest host at the Show. Wednesday is usually the day Roethlisberger speaks to reporters; however he just declined to talk yesterday.