Rashard Mendenhall

With the regular season approaching and the opportunity of a lifetime within his reach, Steelers running back Isaac Redman is hoping the nagging pain in his hip is gone for good. But he acknowledged that the troublesome injury that has prevented him from practicing much of the past two weeks might be a season-long issue.

"I'm a downhill runner and take a lot of pounding," Redman said. "I'm not really sure how the hip is going to hold up or if it's going to hurt at all, or if I'm going to be fine. I'm just going to go day to day and see how it feels.

"It's pretty much a pain-tolerance thing. It might nag me throughout the year. I'm just going to have to fight through the pain."

Last week, Redman had an MRI, which did not reveal a significant injury. He tried to practice, but the hip didn't cooperate. He returned to practice Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised Wednesday morning when he woke up without pain.

Redman's stock has taken a dip with the injury and the news that Rashard Mendenhall wouldn't be starting the season on PUP.