The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a few minor scratches in Sunday's victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team now has a few days to recover before they face the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, as they try to build consecutive wins for the first time this season. Head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the team's latest injuries in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
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As always, the practice status of these guys will be a telling factor in their trend toward playing this upcoming Sunday. Starting center Mason Cole continues to deal with a foot/ankle injury, as he actually left Sunday's game. It seemed as if Cole actually injured his other foot, so neither of his feet are at full health right now. James Daniels has an ankle injury as well, so the offensive line is a little bit banged up. Myles Jack is also dealing with an ankle injury, as he was seen limping around a ton in Week 6.
Larry Ogunjobi has a knee injury, and he enjoyed the best performance of his Steelers career this past weekend. Steven Sims was electric in the return game on Sunday, which included an 89-yard kick return to begin the second half. He has a hamstring injury, which may slow him down in the early portions of the week, Tomlin said. Tomlin expects these five guys to be available this week, a good indicator for the statuses this upcoming weekend.
Pat Freiermuth and Levi Wallace have yet to be officially cleared to return from their respective concussions, but Tomlin expects that to happen in the next day or two. The two starters will be full participants at practice on Wednesday. This is a good sign that they'll be able to play in Week 7 against the Dolphins. Speaking of concussions, Kenny Pickett will not be limited at practice this week. His status for the game all depends on if he can get cleared in time.
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It's important to note that Freiermuth was available in practice last week, but was ultimately not cleared for the game. A similar situation could happen with Pickett, as practice availability isn't exactly a determining factor when it comes to clearing concussion protocol. Freiermuth was dealing with his third concussion in two seasons as well, so it was a bit of a unique situation there. The team was likely just taking it cautious with the tight end of their future, particularly with how concussions have been handled around the league lately.
The statuses of three other secondary members is relatively unknown: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Sutton, and Ahkello Witherspoon. They were all ruled out for Week 6 by Friday, which tells you they weren't really close to playing. Tomlin didn't provide much of an update on them, simply suggesting to watch over their practice availability over the next few days. He did say that he expects these guys to practice in some form, whether it be on a limited basis or fully.
Overall, pretty positive news regarding the team's injuries. Tomlin didn't say as much as he usually does, particularly in the specifics of the injuries. We'll keep you updated on the practice reports as the week goes on, but the Steelers should be mostly healthy against the Dolphins.
What guy do the Steelers need to return to the lineup? Who can they not afford to sit out? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
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