The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Is TE Pat Freiermuth’s hamstring injury something to be concerned about?
Generally speaking, the most troubling practice pattern is when a player returning from injury goes from a higher level of participation to a lower one. While there could be other causes, it often means that there was a setback as a result of the exertion of practice after so much time of minimal use.
So should we be concerned about TE Pat Freiermuth’s status after he was a limited participant in yesterday’s practice? Is it “bad news“? He missed a game prior to the bye week due to a hamstring injury. Now, he was marked as a limited participant in practice due to a hamstring injury, having been a full participant a day earlier.
Soft tissue injuries do have a tendency to be tricky. WR Diontae Johnson landed on the Reserve/Injured List after suffering one in the season opener, and he is five weeks removed from that, only now set to return.
On the whole, Freiermuth has not been a major contributor so far this season. He has eight receptions for 53 yards, 41 of which came in one game. He does have two touchdown catches, which certainly cannot be ignored, but he is on pace to be targeted fewer times in 2023 than the number of passes he caught a year ago.
It is unclear why that is, exactly—those targets are not going to other tight ends and running backs, really—but missing more time due to a hamstring injury won’t help matters. The Steelers could really use a receiving threat at tight end in this offense, and so far, Darnell Washington hasn’t been offered that role.
Of note, the Rams have given up the third-most receiving yards to tight ends this season along with the fourth-most touchdowns, so this is a week in which the Steelers could really use Freiermuth. Friday’s practice, then, holds a lot of weight to see what his level of participation is.
