By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

There was a welcome sight at Steelers practice on Monday as center Chukky Okobi returned to the field full-strength for the first-time since undergoing neck surgery during training camp.

"I didn't know how long I'd be out," said Okobi, "but I knew at some point I'd be back playing."

Okobi is actually hoping to play against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night in the team's final preseason game, but knows that the decision is one that is going to be made by head coach Bill Cowher, not by him.

"Hopefully he'll get a chance to play this week," said Cowher. "He's a little rusty, but the fact that he's been able to go in there, go live and hit some people, hopefully he'll be able to do that again Thursday. We'll work closely with the doctors to make sure we're not taking any unnecessary risks. I'm encouraged just talking with him about how he feels, particularly after going in the 9-on-7 today."

Okobi doesn't expect his teammates on the defensive line to go easy on him over the next few days because of the injury.

"They might be (going easy), but they'll see very quickly that's a mistake," said Okobi. "Chris (Hoke) and Casey (Hampton) and I came in together. They know what I'm going to do and I know exactly what they're going to do and we should just do what we've been doing since we got here."

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The Steelers released eight players on Monday, getting the roster down to 75 players. It will be the next cut, when the team has to get to 53 players, that will be the tough one.