Even through Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates dressed for the team’s Sunday home game against the Cleveland Browns the second-year Auburn product failed to play any snaps on offense or special teams. That’s probably not too surprising, however, being as Coates was limited all last week during practice due to a hamstring injury that he has been dealing with.
On Monday, Coates reportedly indicated that while his hamstring injury is “coming along”, his injured fingers won’t be 100 percent until after the season is over, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Coates, who suffered two broken fingers on the same hand in the Steelers Week 5 game against the New York Jets, has caught just two passes for 14 yards since sustaining those injuries. The wide receiver caught 19 passes for 421 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers first five games of the season with five of those resulting in gains of 41 yards or more.
As the Steelers prepare to host the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, you really have to wonder if Coates will even dress for that game being as veteran Darrius Heyward-Bey has now returned from his foot injury and rookie Demarcus Ayers has emerged and is contributing after being promoted from the team’s practice squad a few weeks ago. Coates’ only redeeming quality right now is the fact that he’s played well on special teams while dealing with his injured fingers.
By the sound of things, Coates might have to have his fingers surgically repaired after the season is over. In the meantime, while he can probably be counted on to contribute on special teams, it’s hard seeing him playing much, if any, on offense moving forward into the postseason if he ultimately is allowed to dress.
Needless to say it’s a been a very disappointing season when it comes to Coates and especially considering that it looked like he would be a legitimate deep threat five games into the 2016 schedule.
