FOXBORO — The Patriots should have Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour and his seven sacks on the field tomorrow, a boon for a defense that may load up against the run and force Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to beat them.

Seymour had missed practice all week with a knee injury, and had been hampered last week by a toe injury. But he practiced yesterday, after missing who two workouts this week. He was listed as questionable on the Patriots’ injury report but said he expected to play.

“Absolutely,” Seymour said. “Hopefully that’s the game plan. This time of year, everybody’s banged up and not feeling 100 percent, but you try to go out and give it your best shot.”

If that knee and toe aren’t healthy, Seymour is in for a long day.

Roethlisberger is mobile, and at 6-foot-5 and 246 pounds, hard to bring down. He often uses his size and mobility to break tackles, and leaves defensive linemen chasing him around the field — which could be tough for the banged-up Seymour.

“Roethlisberger does a good job of ad-libbing, making plays with his legs. He’s a strong, tough guy, tough to bring down in the pocket. He can take a broken play and turn it into a touchdown,” Seymour said.

By the end of the game, the advantage can go to a big, quick quarterback, with the defense winded from chasing him around all day.

“I just think that, a lot of quarterbacks, early in the game you can get to them and sack them; he’s a guy that weighs on you at the end of the game, where sometimes you see defensive linemen not able to bring him down — he’s able to shrug those guys off,” Seymour said.

Injury list

Seymour was officially listed as “questionable” on the Pats’ participation and injury report. Also listed as questionable are linebacker Tedy Bruschi (knee), cornerback Ellis Hobbs (shoulder), running back Lamont Jordan (calf) and defensive tackle Ty Warren (groin). All were listed as having limited participation in yesterday’s practice.

Listed as probable — and all participated fully in practice — were center Dan Koppen (elbow), cornerback Mike Richardson (concussion) and defensive tackle Le Kevin Smith (shoulder). Wide receiver Kelley Washington (thigh) is doubtful and linebacker Adalius Thomas (broken forearm) is out. Neither participated in practice yesterday.

For the Steelers, defensive end Brett Keisel (knee) and offensive tackle Marvel Smith (back) are out. Cornerback Bryant McFadden (forearm), running back Willie Parker (knee) and cornerback Deshea Townsend (hamstring) are listed as questionable, even though all three participated fully in Pittsburgh’s practice yesterday.

Redd portrayed Porter

After a week of jawing at the Patriots in the media, Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter, he of the 13.5 sacks and trash talker extraordinaire, was surprisingly quiet as a player on Sunday, recording only one tackle — his 14.5th sack — in the Dolphins 48-28 loss.

His mouth, however, was still in overdrive; he received an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty that set up New England’s last touchdown.

The Patriots offense got all the credit for shutting down Porter, but the real hero may actually be unheralded rookie linebacker Vince Redd.

Redd, who was promoted from the practice squad to the team’s roster last week, played the role of Porter in practice leading up to the Dolphins game, and did it so well that coach Bill Belichick awarded him with the black jersey representing the best defensive scout-team player last week.

“Oh yeah — that means I gave them a good look all week,” Redd said of his special jersey status.

Redd played his part like a Broadway actor — even talking a little trash to get the offense riled up, and get under the skin of his teammates.

“I probably didn’t talk as much as he does. I guess in some ways they don’t like me just like they don’t like him –– but that’s just the way it goes; you’ve got to work hard in practice,” Redd said.

Belichick loved it.

“He kicked some dirt, yeah,” Belichick laughed. “He did a real good job in it…. I think [because of Redd] we were well prepared to play [Porter].”

dbarbari@projo.com