The Washington Redskins have added to their centers group following Spencer Long's injury, trading with the Pittsburgh Steelers for rookie Lucas Crowley.

The Washington Redskins on Wednesday announced that they have traded cornerback Dashaun Phillips to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for center Lucas Crowley.

Crowley, 22, is in his rookie season in the NFL after spending his college career at the University of North Carolina. He originally entered the NFL as a college free agent signing with the Arizona Cardinals before joining the Steelers earlier this month.

In four seasons with the Tar Heels, the 6-foot-3, 290 pounder appeared in 46 games with 41 starts. He was also a two-time Rimington Award nominee, given annually to the top center in the country.

During his senior season, Crowley was named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week on three separate occasions. For the year, he was named a second-team All-ACC selection.

Crowley's addition comes on the heels of starting center Spencer Long undergoing minor knee surgery this week.

"You know what, he has been hobbling a little bit," said Redskins head coach Jay Gruden of Long. "It has been bothering him. He's been trying to fight through it. He does not like to miss a rep. He's a very competitive guy and unfortunately you could see it starting to bother him. After the game, he tried to fight through the whole first half against Green Bay and he just said he couldn't really go. We wanted to get it checked out and found out he had some meniscus issues and got it fixed up."

In his absence, sixth-round selection Chase Roullier took reps with the first-team offense during practices this week.

Phillips spent the last two seasons with the Redskins, appearing in 11 games with two starts.