The Pittsburgh Steelers have issued their first injury report ahead of Sunday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Per the team’s report, only three players had any practice limitations on Wednesday: C Zach Frazier (calf), DL Cam Heyward (rest) and EDGE T.J. Watt (rest). Every other player worked in full, including ILB Malik Harrison (knee), QB Will Howard (hand), and WR Calvin Austin III (shoulder).
Steelers’ Week 8 Wednesday Injury Report
DNP
DL Cam Heyward (rest)
EDGE T.J. Watt (rest)
Limited
C Zach Frazier (calf)
Full
QB Will Howard (hand – remains on IR)
WR Calvin Austin III (shoulder)
ILB Malik Harrison (knee – remains on IR)
Earlier Wednesday, the team opened the 21-day window on Howard, allowing him to return to practice. He suffered a broken bone in his throwing hand during training camp and was placed on injured reserve one day after cutdowns.
During his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin expressed optimism about Austin’s return and said he would practice this week. Injured in Week 4, Austin missed the past two games while dealing with his shoulder injury. Wednesday’s practice marked his first action since getting hurt. Getting Austin back would return their No. 2 receiver.
Austin has recorded 10 receptions for 139 yards and two touchdowns on the season. In his absence, Pittsburgh received little production from its other wide receivers, though Roman Wilson made plays that didn’t show up in the stat sheet during Thursday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Generally, Pittsburgh is healthy and exited the Bengals game without significant injuries. Frazier’s inclusion in today’s report wasn’t expected, but Tomlin did not mention Frazier as being at-risk of missing this weekend. Still, his status will be worth checking up on throughout the rest of the week. Pittsburgh’s had the same starting five o-line combination start every game this season. Veteran Ryan McCollum is his primary backup.
Like Howard, Harrison remains on injured reserve but resumed practicing last week as part of his 21-day designation to return. To play Week 8, he must be activated to the 53-man roster by Saturday at 4 PM/EST. The same applies to Howard, though Pittsburgh is more likely to utilize all 21 days with him.
The Steelers and Packers kick off Sunday at 8:20 PM/EST.
