The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off of a horrific two-game stretch where they saw themselves lose to both the Arizona Cardinals and the New England Patriots. Both were two-win teams going into their games against Pittsburgh. The worst parts of these losses were the many injuries the Steelers suffered. Kenny Pickett went down with an ankle injury against Arizona, and both Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt are in the league's concussion protocol. Watt played the entire game against New England, which the Steelers are currently in hot water for.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' TJ Watt gets kneed in the head while making a tackle
Steelers Called Out For Mistreatment Of Watt's Injury By Analyst
On the Patriots first play from scrimmage in Week 14, Watt was making a routine play trying to tackle running back Ezekiel Elliot when he caught a knee to his chin. He was obviously bleeding following the play, and it seemed he sustained some kind of mouth injury which caused him to come out of the game for a handful of snaps.
It's unknown if this is the play that caused Watt to be placed into the league's concussion protocol on Friday, but regardless it is a bad look for Pittsburgh that he remained in the game and played the majority of the snaps. NFL analyst Warren Sharpe ripped the Steelers on X for their poor management of the injury.
The Dolphins were destroyed last year for allowing Tua [Tagovailoa] to play after sustaining his concussions. The Steelers didn't check Watt for a concussion until well after the obvious hit, midway through the game they even gave him a tinted visor to allow him to continue playing. Ridiculous."
Again, it's unknown whether or not the hit Watt took on the first play of the game was what caused him to be put into concussion protocol or not. It could have been a hit that happened on his last defensive snap of the game. Watt did put a tinted visor on his helmet in the second quarter and played the remainder of the game with it.
Sharpe seems to be insinuating that it was to help Watt fight through the concussion symptoms he may have been feeling, howeve,r it is more likely that the visor was used to protect his mouth and face because of the mouth injury he sustained when he was kneed in the head.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' TJ Watt comes off the edge in a loss to the Patriots
Watt always wears the tinted visor for pregame warm ups and then takes it off before the game begins, and usually he is visor-less completely for games. Visors can be helpful for players who have injuries to their face or to their eye because they don't allow opponents hand to through the face mask and cause more damage. It's more likely this was the reasoning for Watt wearing a visor for the rest of the game, rather than to aid his concussion symptoms.
Watt was put into the league's concussion protocol the day after the game after it was reported that he showed up to the team's facility and told the team's doctors that he was experiencing concussion symptoms. Since Watt didn't report these symptoms during the game on Thursday night, it is difficult to pin-point when exactly in the game Watt sustained a possible concussion.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Nick Herbig (51), Alex Highsmith (56), and TJ Watt (90) before a game against the Patriots
Watt joins his partner-in-crime, Highsmith, in concussion protocol. Highsmith also suffered his concussion in the game agains the Patriots, however he went down immediately and came out for the remainder of the game. In addition to the concussion, Highsmith is also dealing with a neck injury which was the initial reason he exited the game.
Both Watt and Highsmith will need to be cleared by independent neurologists before being able to return to the field. The Steelers play the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15, and missing both Watt and Highsmith would put them at a clear disadvantage.
What do you think of Sharpe's comments? Do you think the Steelers let Watt play while knowing he had a concussion? Let us know in the comments below!
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