The Pittsburgh Steelers have a tough challenge on Sunday afternoon as they will be playing the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 12. Ahead of that big divisional game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin updated the overall health of the team.
“From an injury standpoint, we had two guys that went down in the game that required further evaluation,” Tomlin said. “They’re still in the process of being evaluated. That is [Eric] Ebron and J.C. [Hassenauer}. I don’t have a detailed update on them as I sit here, but I would characterize their availability as questionable at the least at this point, I’ll have more information that will be displayed through practice participation as we go through the week.”
So, tight end Eric Ebron (knee) and J.C. Hassenauer (pectoral) will both start the week as questionable, per Tomlin. Ebron did, however, have a questionable Instagram post on Tuesday morning, for whatever that’s worth. Both players were injured during the team’s Sunday night loss.
As for the the four players that missed Sunday’s game with injuries, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (COVID-19), outside linebacker T.J. Watt (knee/hip), cornerback Joe Haden (foot) and defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk (groin), Tomlin sounded optimistic that all four players could be back on Sunday against the Bengals.
“Guys that we’re have a level of anticipation for return are Minkah and T.J. and Joe Haden and Loudermilk,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “And so, obviously we could utilize assistance of those guys. We’ll let their first availability happen and then the quality of their practice and prep and things relative to their return be in consideration to how much you see them, and things of that nature.”
The Steelers have yet to remove Fitzpatrick from the Reserve/COVID-19 as of the time of this post.
The Steelers first official injury report of Week 12 will be released after Wednesday’s practice has been completed.
