When the Pittsburgh Steelers put out their Thursday injury report, two names jumped out to most: OLB T.J. Watt and TE Pat Freiermuth. Watt did not practice Thursday due to an issue with his heel, while Freiermuth was limited after fully practicing Wednesday as he continues to recover from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the Week Five win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Not long after the team released the injury report, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo joined The PM Team on 93.7 The Fan to talk about all things Steelers. He was asked about both Watt and Freiermuth, and he seemed quite confident that Watt would be fine.
He was less comfortable with Freiermuth’s situation.
“That’s the one to be concerned about,” Fittipaldo said. “When we talked to Pat on Monday, he was enthusiastic, ‘Yeah, I’m back, I’m definitely playing,’ full participant yesterday. For him to be limited today, obviously it seems like something happened there with the hamstring. That’s the issue with soft tissue injuries. You can think you’re over them and then they pop back up. I’m sure they’ll be hoping that it isn’t serious, but I think it’s probably bad news that that happened today. So we’ll see what happens there.”
With the Steelers’ offensive struggles through the first five weeks of the season, the bye week was seen as a time for the offense to get healthy and at least make improvements. While WR Diontae Johnson, who hasn’t played since suffering a hamstring injury in Week One, still appears to be ready to make his return against the Los Angeles Rams, Freiermuth’s setback looks more problematic.
Freiermuth hasn’t exactly been a world-beater at tight end this season, but he’s still shown an ability to be a difference-maker in his young career. As a rookie, he had seven touchdown receptions. Then in 2022, he averaged 11.6 yards per reception on 63 catches, good for 732 yards while chipping in two touchdowns. He was reliable and could move the chains with 34 first downs as a rookie and 37 in 2022.
However, Freiermuth’s numbers, like almost everyone’s on the Steelers offense in 2023, have not been good. He only has eight receptions for 53 yards, 6.6 yards per catch, and two touchdowns. Half of his receptions have led to a first down, but overall, it has been a bad season for him so far.
If Freiermuth is unavailable on Sunday, it only further hamstrings (excuse the pun) the offense. If the offense is to get back on track in any way, shape, or form, the Steelers need as many healthy quality players as possible. Fittipaldo seems to feel like they will be missing their top tight end this weekend, though.
