The Pittsburgh Steelers lost RB Cordarrelle Patterson to an ankle injury in the first half of their Week 4 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and while Patterson hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday’s Week 5 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, he’s in a walking boot ahead of the game. That news comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who said on 93.7 The Fan Morning Show that Patterson was wearing a boot yesterday morning.
“That doesn’t mean he’s really severely injured, but that was notable to me,” Fittipaldo said.
Fittipaldo added that he does believe that Patterson and RB Jaylen Warren, who missed Week 4 with a knee issue, are truly questionable for the game on Sunday and that their practice participation today and tomorrow will be a guide to whether they’ll see the field on Sunday. If they don’t, he believes that Jonathan Ward will be elevated from the practice squad to make his Steelers debut.
Patterson not playing would be a blow to the offense, as he was running well before exiting the game against Indianapolis with the injury. The Steelers were struggling to get much of anything on the ground, but Patterson came in and ran six times for 43 yards and broke off a few first-down runs before exiting. His loss was especially felt without Warren. Aaron Shampklin was Pittsburgh’s only healthy back besides Najee Harris, and Patterson had outperformed Harris before leaving the game.
Pittsburgh’s wanted to lean on its run game, and while there have been some flashes and positive moments, it’s been slow to get going at times. In Week 3 against the Chargers, it didn’t really take off until the fourth quarter while it failed to really ever kick into gear against the Colts. Being down two of their top three backs will make it difficult to get it back on the tracks against the Cowboys if Patterson and Warren are indeed out for the Sunday night game.
As Fittipaldo said, Patterson wearing the boot might not be indicative of anything serious. It could just be for precaution and to keep his ankle as healthy as possible, especially on a day when the team didn’t practice. But it’s something worth monitoring, and we’ll see if Patterson is able to practice and how much he’s able to go with the Steelers’ first practice of the week later today.
