Arguably the Pittsburgh Steelers’ best players on either side of the ball are at risk of missing the most important game of the season against the Baltimore Ravens. A win secures the AFC North crown, but it would be difficult without T.J. Watt or George Pickens.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided an update via Good Morning Football about their status with the game just a couple days away on Saturday.
“We’ll start with George Pickens, their star receiver, who has missed the last several games with a hamstring injury,” Rapoport said in a clip posted on X. “It seems like he is set to miss this game as well. Has not practiced yet this week with a short week. That would indicate George Pickens [is] unlikely to be out there. Though he was taking part in individual drills, so potentially, for a team that play on Christmas, potentially his return is coming.”
Pickens has missed the last two games and given the timing of the injury so late in the week ahead of Week 14, there was a fear that a reported Grade 2 hamstring strain could hold him out of the three-game gauntlet taking place over the span of 11 days. He already missed the first game of that stretch, and it doesn’t seem to be trending in the right direction for Week 16.
The Steelers’ offense has not looked great in his absence with no real threat in the passing game outside of TE Pat Freiermuth. Calvin Austin III has done the best he can, but he’s not a WR1. It’s a different offense with Pickens.
He sat out of practice for the second day in a row, though he was seen getting some work in on the side both days. Both practices were walkthroughs and thus had an estimated practice report. Today will tell the full story with likely a real practice followed by game-day designations assigned to each player.
As for Watt, Rapoport expressed a similar optimism that Mike Tomlin did at the top of the week.
“T.J. Watt has been dealing with a sprained ankle, low-ankle sprain, essentially. He rolled his ankle last week, left the game [late],” Rapoport said. “Didn’t practice for the first day of practice during the week, was able to be out there yesterday on a limited basis. I would say not definite, but there does seem to be some optimism that T.J. Watt could be out there this week.”
Historically the Steelers haven’t fared very well without Watt in the lineup. He has done particularly well over the years against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
The final injury report will tell a more complete story later this afternoon along with guys like S DeShon Elliott, CB Donte Jackson, DL Larry Ogunjobi, and QB Justin Fields.
