Though the two are currently in concussion protocol, Pittsburgh Steelers’ standout defensive lineman Cameron Heyward expects star outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith to play Saturday on the road against the Indianapolis Colts.
According to a tweet from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko, Heyward stated that he expects both to play in the Week 15 game and was surprised that Watt was in concussion protocol because he didn’t notice anything different with Watt during last Thursday’s game against the New England Patriots.
Highsmith left the loss to the Patriots in the second quarter with a neck injury after a New England run play and never returned. He went into concussion protocol shortly after that. Watt was a surprise though.
While Watt took a hellacious shot to the face from running back Ezekiel Elliott’s leg on the first play from scrimmage, he missed just a few snaps and returned to the game. Later in the game, he was sporting a dark tinted visor to help with light sensitivity, which raised some red flags.
After the game, Watt was unavailable to the media and then went into the concussion protocol on Saturday.
How Watt was handled led to some discussions over the weekend on whether the Steelers circumvented concussion protocol by keeping their star defender on the field. Head coach Mike Tomlin shot that down Monday during his weekly press conference with reporters, stating that he lets the medical teams handle those situations and that he got a report he was unavailable early in the game and then received a report that he was back shortly thereafter.
Watt and Highsmith now have the week to clear concussion protocol and return to the lineup. If neither can go Saturday on the road against the Colts, rookie Nick Herbig and veteran Markus Golden will likely be the starting outside linebacker duo, while practice squad guys Kyron Johnson and David Perales would likely be elevated to the 53-man roster. Johnson was elevated for last Thursday night while Golden was a healthy scratch.
Heyward expects both to clear concussion protocol and play on Saturday, which is great news. We’ll see if that plays out this week.
