An initial report on Calvin Austin III’s shoulder injury indicated that he could be out for several weeks. Maybe that won’t be the case as fellow WR Ben Skowronek gave an update Tuesday afternoon.
“From what I hear he won’t be out too long,” Skowronek said via P-G’s Ray Fittipaldo.
The play Austin was injured on looked relatively routine, but he was slow to get up and was eventually spotted leaving the stadium in a sling via an ambulance. After the Steelers’ 24-21 win over the Vikings, Mike Tomlin announced he was being evaluated in a local hospital.
Austin took to X a couple hours later announcing he was “all good.” That left room for interpretation, and Gerry Dulac reported a grim outlook with “at least several weeks” as far as Austin and Jalen Ramsey being sidelined.
Skowronek seems to think his teammate won’t be out long term, though it certainly remains possible that he could take a trip to IR. Since IR requires at least four missed games, there is no benefit to the Steelers making that move this week, and they could just as easily wait until the team reconvenes after the bye week.
The timing works out in Austin’s favor with an extra week to get back to full health. If it isn’t a long-term injury, maybe he could return after missing just a game or two. Unless a coach directly addresses Austin’s status, we likely won’t get an update until next Tuesday when Tomlin does his next game-week press conference. The Steelers won’t be required to list the specifics of his injury or his practice participation until Wednesday of next week.
Austin has solidified himself as the clear No. 2 receiver in this offense. It’s great news for the team if he’s able to return in relatively short order. If not, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller, Skowronek, and possibly Isaiah Hodgins off the practice squad are the next men up.
