Pittsburgh Steelers WR George Pickens, who has missed the team’s last two games due to a hamstring injury, got some work in off to the side at Steelers practice on Tuesday. 93.7 The Fan posted a video of Pickens doing ladder drills and jogging on the sidelines.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor noted that Pickens was off to the side while wide receivers were doing individual drills and posted a video of him jogging around the practice field.
With the Steelers looking to clinch a division title on Saturday with a win over the Baltimore Ravens, Mike Tomlin was adamant in his weekly press conference Monday that everyone healthy will play, even with the Steelers already having a playoff berth clinched. The offense hasn’t looked the same without Pickens, the team’s bona fide No.1 receiver, and if he’s able to return for Saturday, it’ll be a big boost for the Steelers.
In the two games Pickens has missed, the Steelers have thrown for just 286 yards, including 128 yards in their Week 15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The team doesn’t have a downfield threat as talented as Pickens, nor someone it can rely on to consistently produce on a weekly basis, although TE Pat Freiermuth has been emerging as of late. Still, for the Steelers to be a contender, they’re going to need a healthy Pickens, and depending on how this week goes, he could be back as soon as Saturday.
Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has expressed doubt that Pickens will be ready to go for this week, but he doesn’t look to be impeded all that much by the injury in the admittedly short videos posted by Pryor and 93.7 The Fan. The rest of the week will be telling for his availability on Saturday.
We’ll see whether Pickens is listed as a limited participant at practice when the injury report comes out later today, and if he’s able to expand his workload throughout the week and get a full practice in, his odds should be good for playing on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
So far this season, Pickens has 55 receptions for 850 yards and three touchdowns. He hasn’t had less than 48 yards in a game since Russell Wilson took over as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback in Week 7, and in that span he has 487 yards and all three of his touchdowns.
