Pittsburgh Steelers Injury Report: Who's Trending Towards Playing In Week 2

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have several starters limited to start the week of practice in preparation for Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football. Since the game is on Monday night, the team will have an extra day to prepare, which will allow players that have nagging injuries from the devastating Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers some extra time to recover. 

Steelers Players To Be Limited In Practice

Players that Head Coach Mike Tomlin said will be limited this week during his press conference include Pat Freiermuth, Chukwuma Okorafor, James Daniels, and Larry Ogunjobi. Freiermuth is suffering from a chest injury that occurred during the game against the 49ers. It likely came while trying to catch a ball in the end zone while being crushed between two 49ers defenders. Tomlin's comments in his press conference made it seem as though these four players will be available Monday night, but be limited throughout the week of practice.

"Other injuries associated with play that we are more optimistic about particularly because we have an additional day of prep: Chuks [Okorafor] is in the concussion protocol, Pat Freiermuth may be limited at the early portions of the week, James Daniels, Larry Ogunjobi, to name a few in terms of some bumps and bruises that may limit them at the early portions of the week. But again, we have an extra day of preparation, and we'll take it."

Obviously Okorafor is in the league's concussion protocol, and Daniels and Ogunjobi were both seen in walking boots, but are expected to be able to play after taking some time to recover during the week. Making sure Ogunjobi makes a full recovery and is ready to go Monday night could be monumental due to the groin injury suffered by Cam Heyward and him already being ruled out for the foreseeable future. 

Unfortunately, there are a few key Steelers players who will be missing some time, including Heyward. There is currently no time table for Heyward's return, as some reports say he could miss up to eight weeks and is likely headed to the injured reserve list due to his groin injury. There was thought he would require surgery, and Tomlin's comments during his press conference confirmed that theory. 

"As you guys know, Cam is out. I don't have a lot of details in terms of scheduling in terms of his surgery or what that might look like. I'll give you an update on the other side of the surgery when we get a complete totality of time and what it is and things of that nature."

Being without Heyward for an extended period of time is certainly a big blow to the Steelers defense, especially when it comes to stopping the run. Tomlin went on to speak about his confidence in the current defensive line room and how he feels about current players stepping up, but he also mentioned that he will not be turning a blind eye to any outside help.

The Steelers best receiver, Diontae Johnson, is expected to miss at least the team's Week 2 game against the Browns. He suffered a hamstring injury on a catch and run during Sunday's game against the 49ers. Tomlin sounded optimistic about Johnson just missing the Week 2 contest, but there is a definite possibility he is out for longer than that. While addressing Johnson's injury, Tomlin spoke about his confidence in the Steelers' wide receiver room and how he thinks many players will step up to fill his role. 

Those expected to step up include Calvin Austin III and Tomlin also specifically named Gunner Olszewski who was a healthy inactive for the Steelers Week 1 game. It seem's Olszewski will be active for Monday's game and be on the field quite a bit. He'll beand is expected to contribute. Both George Pickens and Allen Robinson II will be the team's top receivers until Johnson recovers from his injury. 

How concerned are you with the magnitude of injuries hitting the Steelers so early in the season? Let us know in the comments below!

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