The Pittsburgh Steelers have now released their second injury report of Week 6 ahead of their Sunday night road game against the Los Angeles Chargers and the Thursday offering looks a little different than the one released on Wednesday.
Sitting out Thursday practice for the Steelers were running back Jaylen Samuels (knee), wide receiver James Washington (shoulder), fullback Roosevelt Nix (knee), inside linebacker Mark Barron (hamstring), tight end Vance McDonald (shoulder), and Ramon Foster (not injury related).
Foster was given Thursday off. Samuels, Washington and Nix are all not expected to play Sunday night against the Chargers and it’s not looking good for Barron to play, either, as the weekend gets closer. Barron injured his hamstring in the first half of the team’s Week 5 home loss this past Sunday while Samuels and Washington were both injured during the second half of that contest.
Limited on Thursday for the Steelers were quarterback Mason Rudolph (concussion), cornerback Steven Nelson (groin) and cornerback Mike Hilton (foot). Hilton was added to the injury report on Thursday so hopefully his foot injury is just minor in nature. Rudolph was reportedly the scout team quarterback again on Thursday.
If Rudolph can pass concussion protocol by Saturday evening, he might dress Sunday night. He might not start, however, but might be cleared to backup Devlin Hodges. We’ll find out for sure on Saturday as the Steelers will need to promote quarterback Paxton Lynch from their practice squad by 4 p.m. EST if they want him to be a backup Sunday night. Nelson claims he’ll play Sunday night.
Practicing fully on Thursday for the Steelers were cornerback Justin Layne (illness), and center Maurkice Pouncey (not injury related) and outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo (foot). Layne and Pouncey should obviously be good to go by Sunday night and it looks like Chickillo might return against the Chargers after being sidelined the last three games with his foot injury.
