The Pittsburgh Steelers are exiting Cincinnati with a win and, largely, a clean bill of health. In his postgame press conference, Mike Tomlin only mentioned two names with injury-related matters. Per Tomlin via the team website, Pickens had the wind knocked out of him while WR Calvin Austin III suffered an ankle injury late in the game.
“From an injury standpoint, I think George just got the wind knocked out,” Tomlin told reporters. “I’m talking about Pickens. Calvin maybe hurt his ankle there late, but I don’t know the extent of that.”
Pickens returned to the game after missing a handful of plays. He laid out and fell hard diving for a Kenny Pickett deep pass down the left sideline in the second half. He came back and finished out the contest. Pickens ended the game with three receptions for 58 yards, including a 43-yarder to help seal the Steelers’ win.
Tomlin said he did not know the extent of Austin’s ankle injury but didn’t seem to hint that it was serious. He finished the game with one catch for five yards, a third-down conversion, while returning three punts for two yards.
Healthy in this game, the Steelers will look to get back FS Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring) and NT Montravius Adams (ankle) for Week 13. Fitzpatrick injured his hamstring in Week Eight while Adams hurt his ankle in Week Nine. Adams practiced in limited fashion last week while Fitzpatrick has yet to practice since getting hurt.
Pittsburgh will be back at home and take on the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday at 1 PM/EST.
