This is the second time this season that Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth has returned to practice from a hamstring injury. And it’s the same injury, or at least an aggravation of the original injury. Anticipated to keep him out just a short time, the first time he returned to practice, he ended up having a setback and landing on the Reserve/Injured List.
He’s had several weeks off now, however, so is he finally going to be available for the tight end-starved Steelers offense? “We’ll see how this week of practice goes”, he said, via the team’s website. “No issues, felt great, felt very comfortable out there doing my normal stuff, and I’m very excited”.
There is always a risk of injury when you’re working your way back, of course. Every time you do something that you haven’t done in a while, your body could respond in unaccounted for ways. Did he just not rest it enough the first time? He called the reinjury a freak thing.
Yet I can’t help but wonder if Freiermuth let slip a little more information than he was supposed to after initially offering up a “We’ll see” about his Sunday availability against the Cleveland Browns. “We’re a very good football team at 6-3, so I’m happy that I can come back in a big division game and be with the guys and get back into the swing of things”, he said.
So, did he unintentionally let us know that he is going to be activated this week, or at least is under that impression? Or was he only referring to making his way back to his teammates on the practice field in preparation for a divisional game, the rest to be determined? And there’s another divisional game the week after this, against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Either way, the Steelers need his contributions. The other tight ends combined, Connor Heyward and Darnell Washington, have only produced 131 receiving yards on 17 receptions since Freiermuth went down in the fourth game of the year.
And it’s not like that production was really going elsewhere. Since WR Diontae Johnson returned to the lineup, Calvin Austin III and Allen Robinson II have nearly disappeared. If Johnson or George Pickens are not catching the ball, it’s either going to the running backs or to nobody, for the most part.
Still, Freiermuth himself was only responsible for 53 yards in the four games in which he played, on just eight receptions. But two of them were touchdowns, and that’s still good for the second-most receiving scores on the team behind Pickens’ three.
The middle of the field, particularly in the intermediate area, has been a virtual no-go zone for the Steelers’ offense. That is a key area in which Freiermuth can help take the passing game to another level when he returns—whether it’s this week for the big divisional game, or perhaps the next big divisional game immediately to follow.
