The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Kanas City Chiefs on the road in Week 16, and ahead of that Sunday afternoon contest at Arrowhead Stadium, head coach Mike Tomlin gave a health update on the team during his weekly Tuesday press conference.
“From a health standpoint, Freiermuth, Pat, is in the concussion protocol,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “As always, we’ll let the protocol be our guide as he works back to practice. And then the quality of that practice participation, coupled with the evaluations that come from our medical experts, will be our guide. [Chris] Wormley has a groin that didn’t allow him to finish the game. He’s being evaluated and being aggressive in treatment. It will be the same approach with him. His practice availability and the quality that work will be our guide. Buggs, Isaiah, is still dealing with an ankle.”
Tight end Pat Freiermuth being in the concussion protocol is not a bit surprising after he was knocked out of the Week 15 Sunday home game in the second half. This is now the second time that he has had to go through concussion protocol this season.
As for defensive end Chris Wormley, it looked like he suffered his groin injury late in the fourth quarter this past Sunday. Tomlin did mention after the Sunday game that Wormley was unable to finish.
Steelers defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs has missed the last several games with his ankle injury, so we’ll have to wait and see what this week holds for him.
Tomlin did not mention rookie inside linebacker Buddy Johnson on Tuesday. Johnson missed the Week 15 Sunday game with a foot injury.
As part of his Tuesday injury rundown, Tomlin did address the statuses of two currently sidelined offensive linemen, guard/center J.C. Hassenauer and guard Kevin Dotson.
“We’ve got several guys that have missed time that are working their way back, or attempting to work their way back,” Tomlin said. “Guys like Dotson and J.C. are in the practice component of working their way back now and so we’ll see what the quality of that practice work looks like in determining their availability.”
Tomlin did confirm on Tuesday that the team will open the 21-day practice window on Dotson this week as a designated-to-return player from the Reserve/Injured list. He has been sidelined several weeks with an ankle injury. As for Hassenauer, who had previously been sidelined with a pectoral injury, he resumed practice as a designated-to-return player from the Reserve/Injured list last week. He, however, has yet to activated from the Reserve/Injured list.
