The Pittsburgh Steelers have now released their first official injury report of Week 13 ahead of their Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals and it shows that five players failed to practice on Thursday.
Sitting out the team’s Thursday session were cornerback Joe Haden (fibula), tight end Vance McDonald (ankle), safety Mike Mitchell (ankle), inside linebacker Ryan Shazier (ankle) and outside linebacker James Harrison (knee).
On Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin indicated during his weekly press conference that he believes Shazier and Mitchell will ultimately be able to play Monday night against the Bengals. Additionally, Tomlin said McDonald, who has missed the team’s last two games with an ankle injury, has a chance to play Monday night.
As for Haden and Harrison, the former has already been ruled out for Monday night while the latter was a healthy scratch this past Sunday.
Practicing fully on Thursday was wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring), who missed the team’s Sunday night game against the Green Bay Packers with his injury. Like McDonald, Tomlin said Tuesday that Smith-Schuster has a chance to play against the Bengals.
“Two guys that missed this week that definitely have a chance this week are Vance McDonald and JuJu Smith-Schuster,” Tomlin said. “Both guys missed the last game, both guys have an opportunity to play this week. As always, their practice participation and the quality of that participation will be our guide.”
The Steelers will release two more injury reports this week on Friday and Saturday.
