The Pittsburgh Steelers have now released their first injury report of Week 12 ahead of their Sunday road game against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Wednesday offering doesn’t include good news regarding a few key offensive players.
Not practicing for the Steelers on Wednesday were running back James Conner (shoulder), wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee/concussion), inside linebacker Mark Barron (not injury related), center Maurkice Pouncey (not injury related), tight end Nick Vannett (illness) and tight end Vance McDonald (not injury related) all sat out Wednesday’s practice.
Earlier media reports on Wednesday stated that Smith-Schuster isn’t likely to play on Sunday against the Bengals. Additionally, Conner starts the week highly questionable to play against the Bengals as well, according to reports. Smith-Schuster, who remains in concussion protocol, also suffered a left knee injury during the play that he was concussed on Thursday night and is reportedly wearing a brace as a result of that hit.
Conner aggravated his shoulder injury Thursday night in the team’s Week 11 road loss to the Cleveland Browns. Conner, who had missed the two previous games prior to the Thursday night game against the Browns, said earlier this week that he’s unable to put any timetable on possible return to action and that his shoulder injury needs time to heal.
As for Adeniyi, like Smith-Schuster, he remains in concussion protocol so it will be interesting to see if he’s able to continue practicing starting on Thursday as he practiced fully on Wednesday. Other than Pouncey, who is currently scheduled to start serving a three-game suspension, the other players who sat out Wednesday’s practice, Barron, Vannett and McDonald, all should be fine to play come Sunday barring any surprises in the next few days.
Limited in practice on Wednesday for the Steelers were cornerback Artie Burns (knee) and outside linebacker Bud Dupree (arm). Burns left the Thursday night game with his knee injury that is not believed to be serious. As for Dupree, he finished out the Thursday night game so odds are good he’ll be able to play against the Bengals.
Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson (concussion) and running back Benny Snell Jr. (knee) both practiced fully on Wednesday and that’s great news at the start of the week.
Johnson, who remains in concussion protocol after getting knocked out of the Thursday night game against the Browns, will need to clear that process this week to play against the Bengals on Sunday. As for Snell, who has missed the Steelers last three games with a knee injury that needed a procedure performed on it, he’s on track to return to action on Sunday if he can remain a full practice participant the remainder of the week.
