Heading into Week Seven following the bye, it was assumed that TE Pat Freiermuth would be good to go as he worked back from his hamstring injury suffered in the third quarter of the team’s Week Four game against the Houston Texans. He said as much earlier in the week, and even went as far as telling ESPN’s Brooke Pryor that he would have played in Week Six if not for the bye.
Unfortunately, during Thursday’s afternoon practice he suffered a re-aggravation of that injury that will hold him out against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, and perhaps longer than that.
That opens up the door for Darnell Washington to continue growing in his role as a starting tight end. On Friday afternoon after practice, Washington spoke to members of the Pittsburgh media and was asked about his relationship with Pat Freiermuth, the veteran of the tight end room.
“He helped a lot,” Washington said via the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “Even when I first came here… even on draft night, he just called me. He was like, ‘Welcome to the team, welcome to the room’, and things like that. So, from camp until now, he still helps even when he’s out and down.”
The Steelers have long thrived on the next-man-up mantra and the expectation as a player is that you have to be ready at a moment’s notice to be relied on as a starter. Washington was drafted in the third round to help bolster the tight end group and provide a planet-theory type of athletic talent that the room was lacking. It is certainly helpful to have a veteran like Freiermuth share some of his experience as the rookie grows as a player.
Washington has gotten the start in four out of the five games he has played in. While the statistics aren’t gaudy by any means with just one catch on three targets for 10 yards, he is getting on the field more than any other rookie on the team. With 150 offensive snaps logged, he is on pace to lead all Steelers rookies in that category. The team has a tricky relationship with rookie playing time, as Mike Tomlin often refers to the difficulty of rookies hopping on the moving train, so to speak. If Freiermuth is out for any extended period of time, Washington should start to see more opportunities beyond just being the “sixth offensive lineman” that he has claimed himself to be.
