The Pittsburgh Steelers are now starting to prepare the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night at Heinz Field, and Tuesday head coach Mike Tomlin provided an overall health update on the team ahead of Wednesday’s practice.
“Devin Bush had a groin injury, he’ll be evaluated and in his practice availability and the quality of that practice participation will be our guide in terms of his availability,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “And the same thing could be said for guys that have recently missed time but are probably in position to be under strong consideration for play. Cam Sutton, James Washington, Carlos Davis, all fall into that category. All will be working in some capacity I imagine tomorrow and then will progress hopefully in a positive way toward game time.”
Inside linebacker Devin Bush was injured during the game on Sunday against the Denver Broncos, and Tomlin would not say if his groin injury was a reaggravation of the one he had a few weeks again that resulted in him missing a game.
As for cornerback Cameron Sutton (groin), wide receiver James Washington (groin) and defensive tackle Carlos Davis (knee), it sounds like all three have a chance of returning Sunday night against the Seahawks. Sutton and Washington missed the team’s Week 5 game with their groin injuries while Davis has been out since Week 1 with his knee injury.
The Steelers have two players still on the Reserve/Injured list that have resumed practicing in tackle Zach Banner and running back Anthony McFarland Jr., and Tomlin talked briefly about both on Tuesday.
“Some of the IR guys that have been working, guys like Zach Banner, guys like Anthony McFarland, it’s good to have them back out there,” Tomlin said. “We’re still within that 21-day window on those guys and so we’ll evaluate the quality of their play and make a determination whether or not they can be positive contributors to our effort. If it’s appropriate, if there’s an opportunity there, then we’ll study those possibilities when we get into the week. but as we sit here right now, we’re really just focused on putting together a good plan, seeing who’s available for work tomorrow and making sure that we position ourselves for good play on Sunday night by having a good practice tomorrow.”
Tomlin did not say if defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who is also currently on the team’s Reserve/Injured list, will resume practicing on Wednesday as another designated-to-return player.
As for wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who suffered a serious shoulder injury this past Sunday against the Broncos, Tomlin said on Tuesday that he will have his surgery on Wednesday and then be placed on the Reserve/Injured list at some point.
