On top of the good news that is a Pittsburgh Steelers’ win, there isn’t much to discuss from an injury standpoint. Though we’ll wait until Tuesday for a further update from Mike Tomlin, he noted very little about the team’s health following their 20-10 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Speaking to reporters, he did acknowledge LB Myles Jack dressed but did not play due to a knee injury that limited him for most of the week.
“We had him ready to go, he was willing to go,” Tomlin said via the team website. “We were gonna be prudent about his usage. Just as the game unfolded, we liked the mix of the guys that we had in there. We were getting off on third down, and so conditioning and things of that nature didn’t become a factor and we were able to to, to keep him out of the mix, which was a good thing.”
Essentially, Tomlin is saying Jack would’ve been used had the Steelers’ defense been consistently on the field for long drives with starts Devin Bush or Robert Spillane needing breathers. But Pittsburgh’s defense got off the field while the Steelers’ suddenly strong ground game dominated time of possession. In total, the Saints ran just 45 plays and had the ball for barely more than 21 minutes. On the other side, the Steelers racked up nearly 80 plays in regulation and closed in on having the ball for 40 minutes.
Jack missed Wednesday and Thursday’s practices with a knee injury before working during Friday’s walk-through. But he clearly wasn’t at 100% and the Steelers have continued to express their confidence in Robert Spillane, who had a key 4th and 1 stuff on a sneaking Andy Dalton. Spillane finished the day with a team-high seven tackles.
QB Kenny Pickett briefly went to the medical tent to be checked for an ankle injury. But he did not miss a snap and told reporters his injured left ankle will be fine.
“It feels good. I’ll ice it and I’ll be good to go this week.”
RB Najee Harris was checked for a concussion after his first half 36-yard run but returned to the game. There were no other known injuries in this one though again, Tomlin will provide more information Tuesday. CB Ahkello Witherspoon and FS Minkah Fitzpatrick missed this game. Fitzpatrick had emergency surgery on his appendix and his status next week is unknown but currently in reasonable doubt.
The Steelers will host the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday at 4:25 PM/EST.
