Pittsburgh Steelers Activate Rashard Mendenhall off PUP List

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has been activated from the physically unable to perform list, according to Bob Labriola of Steelers Digest.

Labriola tweeted on Friday:

"

RB Rashard Mendenhall and NT Casey Hampton have been activated from PUP. They won't be able to practice in pads until next week.

— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) August 17, 2012"

Mendenhall isn't expected to be ready for week one. His anticipated return comes as a shocker after he tore his ACL in Pittsburgh's final regular season game against the Cleveland Browns last season.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said less than two weeks ago that he would be "surprised" if Mendenhall didn't miss at least the first six weeks of the regular season, per CBS Pittsburgh. On the other hand, Mendenhall has been pushing hard to be ready for the start of the season.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted on Friday that it may have been an act of desperation by the Steelers, who are currently thin at running back because of injuries.

Mendenhall rushed for 928 yards and nine touchdowns last season, while adding 18 catches for 154 yards. His season was up-and-down. He had two games of more than 100 yards rushing, but he also had six games of under 50 yards rushing. He also had the fewest rush attempts (228) since his rookie season in 2008-2009.

Third-year running back Isaac Redman, who rushed for 479 yards and three touchdowns last season, has the edge over Mendenhall for the starting spot in the early goings. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry last season, adding 18 catches for 78 yards.

The Steelers ranked 14th in rushing yards last season, adding a middle-of-the-pack 13 touchdowns on the ground. Ben Roethlisberger threw a career-high 513 passes and averaged the most passing yards of his career (271.8).

One can only hope that the Steelers aren't rushing Mendenhall back too soon.