Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin gave an injury update ahead of the Steelers’ Week 15 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the big news is that they don’t expect WR George Pickens to be available against the Eagles. Tomlin said Pickens felt something in his hamstring after practice on Thursday, and while he felt better on Friday, and the team planned to test him pre-game to see how many snaps he would be able to play, but things changed as the injury looked worse than the Steelers hoped.
“When we got to the stadium, it was evident that maybe the circumstance was a little more significant than we had hoped, and so we made the prudent decision in terms of shutting him down and not allowing a small problem to become a bigger one,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
After the game, they took an MRI and saw the injury, which Tomlin was said was more significant than the Steelers thought.
“We had an opportunity to get him an MRI, the injury did show up on MRI, it was a little bit more significant than what we imagined,” he said.
Per Gerry Dulac, the injury is a Grade 2 hamstring strain, although Tomlin didn’t specify the nature of the injury.
Tomlin listed Pickens as doubtful for Sunday.
“There’s a potential for this week, but it’s an outside chance. If you press me, I’d probably say he’s out or could be categorized as doubtful as we sit here,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin said that Larry Ogunjobi is dealing with a groin injury that he suffered in-game on Sunday and DeShon Elliott is dealing with a hamstring issue, but both should be fine for Sunday. Tomlin said they’ll monitor their participation early in the week.
“Some guys that are probably in a little bit of a better standpoint from a participation standpoint, Larry Ogunjobi with his groin and DeShon Elliott with some hamstring tightness,” Tomlin said. “We’ll watch those guys, particularly in the early part of the week and, again, hopefully there’s some uptick in their participation and the quality of it as we push forward toward game time.”
Donte Jackson also briefly left the game on Sunday, but Tomlin said that was due to an illness. He added that Jackson shouldn’t be limited this week.
The potential loss of Pickens is a big one, but the Steelers proved they could win without him. While the Eagles are a step above the Browns, the Steelers will have a full week to work without Pickens in practice if he is unable to go, and they will try to avoid the slow start they had against Cleveland.
The good news on the injury front for the Steelers is that Ogunjobi’s injury doesn’t appear to be too serious. He left the game and returned briefly before being ruled out, the Steelers finishing Week 14 with just three healthy defensive linemen. Losing Ogunjobi ahead of the Eagles game with their stout rushing attack would hurt, but it sounds like he should be good to go.
