The Steelers have placed injured kicker Shaun Suisham on injured reserve, ending his 2015 season.
Suisham was injured while attempting to cover the opening kickoff of the second half in Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game against the Minnesota Vikings. He suffered damage to his ACL and had surgery on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Steelers signed veteran free agent kicker Garrett Hartley to replace Suisham, but wanted to wait until after his surgery before officially ending his season.
The Steelers also placed rookie running back Cam Stingily on the waived/injured list. Stingily, an undrafted free agent from Northern Illinois, had 18 yards on 11 carries in the preseason opener before also suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
To replace Suisham and Stingily on the team’s roster, the Steelers singed wide receiver David Nelson and running back Braylon Heard.
Nelson, 28, spent the last two seasons with the New York Jets. He played in 18 games with the Jets, earning 11 starts. In 2013, he caught 60 passes for 423 yards and two touchdowns.
Before his time with the Jets, Nelson spent three seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He played 32 games with the Bills from 2010 to 2012, catching 94 passes for 1042 yards and eight touchdowns.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Nelson has been listed as a tight end and wide receiver in his career. He played collegiately at Flordia.
Heard, 23, is a 5-foot-11, 189-pound rookie running back from the University of Kentucky. He ran for 368 yards and four touchdowns on 73 carries for the Wildcats as junior in 2014, good for 5.0 yards per carry. He also caught 21 passes for 108 yards.
Heard decided to forgo his senior year to enter the NFL draft, but was not selected. Before his junior season at Kentucky, he had spent two years at Nebraska.
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