Steelers running back Baron Batch, a 2011 draftee who never made it past the opening week of training camp due to season-ending ACL surgery, wasn't cleared to join 40 first-year players and rookies for a minicamp last weekend. Batch is considered a candidate to be in the mix to replace rusher Rashard Mendenhall at the beginning (and perhaps all of) the 2012 season. (Updated 05/08/2012)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is running as he works his way back from a torn ACL, but that he said he has no timetable for his return. He claims he feels good and is doing more than straight-line runs. Mendenhall tore his right ACL in early January; recovery time for such injuries is anywhere from nine months to a year. "I'll be back at some point," he said. "It's just a matter of what point that is." (Updated 05/24/2012)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Steelers NT Casey Hampton said he will have surgery Friday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, an injury he sustained in the season-ending playoff loss in Denver. It will be the third time Hampton has had ACL surgery, two of which came during his Steelers career. It is the second time he has had the surgery on his left knee. (Updated 01/26/2012)
