The odds were never great but now it appears almost certain James Conner will not play tomorrow against the New England Patriots. The Pittsburgh Steelers have downgraded him from questionable to doubtful, the team announced minutes ago.
Conner suffered a high ankle sprain in the second half of Week 13’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Without him, the Steelers run game nose dived in last week’s loss to the Oakland Raiders, averaging two yards per carry.
The team had Conner practice on a limited basis yesterday but beat writers in attendance said Conner didn’t participate much. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, he is expected to play next week against New Orleans.
Jaylen Samuels will earn the second start of his career. Stevan Ridley will serve as the backup with Trey Edmunds acting as the #3. He didn’t play an offensive snap last week. The Patriots enter the game with one of the league’s poorest run defenses, 29th in the league at 4.9 yards per carry. The Miami Dolphins racked up 189 yards in their wild win Sunday.
