We Speak NFL
Help Is Coming: Steelers’ Injured Reinforcements Nearing Return After the Bye
The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent the last month winning games with an incomplete roster. The cavalry is finally in sight.
Wide receiver Roman Wilson and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon are nearing the end of their required four-game stays on injured reserve, and Pittsburgh’s upcoming bye week falls at the perfect time to welcome them back. The Steelers play once more in Week 8 before the bye gives their returning players an extra week to get ready.
Pittsburgh has weathered the absences well, beating the teams it was supposed to beat, including the New Orleans Saints 16-10 in the NFL’s first game in Paris. But the holes have been real. At receiver, the Steelers lost Michael Pittman Jr. to injured reserve in Week 5 after he aggravated a foot injury, and Wilson went down with a finger injury in the second half of that same week and landed on IR as well. Rookie Germie Bernard has been asked to carry a bigger role behind DK Metcalf ever since.
Not every return is on schedule. Reports indicate there is a chance Pittman misses the rest of the season, and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day’s return timeline remains unknown. But Wilson and Harmon would restore two rotation pieces at positions where Pittsburgh has been stretching its depth for a month.
Head coach Mike McCarthy likes where his roster stands as the reinforcements approach.
“We’ve got the right guys,” McCarthy said during his weekly press conference. “We’ve got a really great mix of veterans and young guys, and you’re just seeing it come together.”
The Steelers built their record without some of their best young players. If Wilson and Harmon come off the bye at full strength, the team that takes the field for the second half of the season will be deeper than the one that survived the first half.
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The Detroit Lions came out of Sunday’s win over the Green Bay Packers with a hard-fought victory and one major concern: the health of Amon-Ra St. Brown.
St. Brown left the 20-17 win with a swollen ankle and is expected to miss practice on Wednesday. Head coach Dan Campbell, however, expects his top receiver to return to practice on Thursday and does not view the injury as a major issue.
Detroit will gladly take that news. St. Brown was the Lions’ best offensive player against Green Bay, catching nine passes for 153 yards. If he were limited in practice or on Sunday, more of the passing-game burden would fall on Jameson Williams, tight end Sam LaPorta and running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
The timing matters because of who is coming to Ford Field next. The Lions host the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings in a pivotal NFC North showdown, and Minnesota’s defense has been the league’s top unit, allowing an average of 12.3 points per game through six games. Facing a defense built to compress throwing windows and make offenses one-dimensional, Detroit needs its most reliable target operating at full capacity.
St. Brown’s availability will be the Lions’ biggest storyline of the week. The Packers game showed how thin the margin is for Detroit: the Lions left points on the field, including a Jahmyr Gibbs fumble inside the 5-yard line, and needed late-game clock management and a winning kick from Jake Bates to finish the job.
A healthy St. Brown does not guarantee anything against Minnesota, but his expected return to practice Thursday is the clearest sign yet that the Lions plan to have their full offense available for the biggest game of their season so far.
Help Is Coming: Steelers’ Injured Reinforcements Nearing Return After the ByeOllie Gordon II Has Taken Over the Dolphins’ BackfieldCowboys Waive Emari Demercado, D.J. Rogers as Injured Players Near ReturnC.J. Stroud Calls Out Texans’ Penalty Problem: “It’s Not Winning Football”Dream Season Meets Desperation: No. 20 Northwestern Walks Into Autzen Against Reeling OregonSurprise of the ACC: No. 14 Wake Forest Hosts Virginia With a Title-Game Path in SightNo. 12 Ole Miss Must Beat Auburn Without Its Star Running Back to Keep Playoff Hopes AlivePride Game in Tallahassee: Clemson and Florida State Meet on Halloween With Seasons on the Line-
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