Despite being listed as questionable and being expected to play in Week 14 against the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens was inactive after testing his hamstring ahead of the game, and an MRI after the game reportedly revealed a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Pickens has now missed three games after being inactive on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens, and while he may return against the Kansas City Chiefs, Mike Tomlin didn’t expect Pickens to be out as long as he has.
“I did not,” Tomlin replied via the team’s YouTube channel when asked if he anticipated Pickens missing as much as he has.
The original injury didn’t seem to be something that would knock Pickens out for an extended period of time. Despite injuring the hamstring doing post-practice work on Thursday, he still logged a limited practice on Friday and the expectation was that he’d play Sunday, even if it came on a snap count. There was some hope he’d be able to return against Baltimore after getting work in off to the side early last week, but he was never able to log any practice time, listed as DNP all week and missed the game.
Not having their No. 1 receiver has been a blow to the Steelers, as they’ve scored less than 20 points in their two losses in the three games without him. He’s a player teams need to game plan against, and without him, teams can focus more of their attention to someone like Pat Freiermuth in the passing game and also stack the box more in the run game. Pittsburgh’s ground game has struggled a bit the last two weeks, and not having Pickens is a factor as teams are less worried about Pittsburgh’s downfield passing game.
If he can return Wednesday against the Chiefs, it would be big boost to the offense, and one that’s sorely needed. Without a reliable No. 2 receiver, the big question was how the offense would look if Pickens did get hurt, and the answer is not very good. While the Steelers were doomed by two turnovers yesterday, including one inside the Baltimore 5-yard line, not having Pickens has clearly been an issue the last two games and his return can change the dynamic of the entire offense.
It’s surely frustrating that he’s had to miss three games, but the key for the Steelers is having Pickens as healthy as possible for the postseason as they look to make a run. With the extra time off, hopefully, Pickens can return healthy and refreshed and make an impact for the Steelers down the stretch.
