The Pittsburgh Steelers have now released their first injury report of Week 6 ahead of their Sunday night road game against the Los Angeles Chargers and the Wednesday offering shows that seven players sat out practice earlier in the day and that three more were limited during the session.
Sitting out Wednesday’s 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), cornerback Justin Layne (illness), and center Maurkice Pouncey (not injury related).
Samuels has already been ruled out for the Sunday night game against the Chargers and a Wednesday morning report indicated that Washington, who was also injured during the team’s Sunday loss, will also wind up missing that contest as well. Barron was injured in the first half of Sunday’s game and did not return so it will be interesting to see if he can practice any the remainder of the week. Nix has been sidelined with his knee injury since Week 1.
Limited on Wednesday for the Steelers were quarterback Mason Rudolph (concussion), outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo (foot) and cornerback Steven Nelson (groin).
Rudolph only worked on the scout team on Wednesday and he is still in concussion protocol following him being knocked out cold in the third quarter of Sunday’s game, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Nelson was deemed questionable for the Chargers game on Tuesday by head coach Mike Tomlin while Chickillo is trying to return from a foot injury that he sustained in Week 2. Nelson said Wednesday he expects to play Sunday night against the Chargers, however.
Early speculation on Rudolph is that he might be ultimately be cleared out of protocol by the weekend. If that happens, it will be interesting to see if he winds up starting against the Chargers, or at the very least, dressing as the backup quarterback.
Should the Steelers not promote quarterback Paxton Lynch from their practice squad by Saturday evening, it will be a sign that Rudolph will at least dress for the Sunday night game.
