Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth is expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams after aggravating his hamstring injury, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The report goes on to say that Freiermuth will likely be sidelined longer due to the injury.
As he notes, Freiermuth is having an MRI today.
Freiermuth suffered the hamstring injury in Week Four’s loss to the Houston Texans. He missed the following game against the Baltimore Ravens but was expected to return after the team’s Week Six bye. He practiced in full Wednesday before being limited Thursday, a concerning sign that he aggravated the injury. Now, it’s uncertain when he’ll return.
Freiermuth has caught only eight passes this year, though two have found the end zone. Without him, rookie TE Darnell Washington will continue to see the bulk of the reps.
Even before suffering the injury, Freiermuth was having a quiet season. The third-year tight end had his best game of the season in Week Three against the Las Vegas Raiders with three receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown. Outside of that, he has been used very little in the passing game and has had issues as a blocker as well.
Through the first five games of the season in 152 snaps Freiermuth has graded out as a 54.0 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a 56.4 as a receiver and a 52.1 as a run blocker, all of which are on pace to be career lows.
Expected to take a big step forward in his third season and second year with quarterback Kenny Pickett, Freiermuth has struggled to carve out a role in the Steelers’ offense, which has been one of the league’s worst early in the season. Week Seven was shaping up to be a potentially big week for Freiermuth as the Los Angeles Rams really struggle against tight ends. Now with him re-aggravating his hamstring he’s going to miss the game, which could give guys like Washington and second-year tight end Connor Heyward more opportunities in the passing game.
We’ll see what transpires from Freiermuth’s MRI in the coming days. Chances are though, Freiermuth will miss extended time.
