Steelers Injury Report: JuJu Smith-Schuster takes a huge first step in returning to the lineup

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won six games in a row, but if they want to reach that No. 7, they’ll need to have all hands on deck when they travel to Cincinnati to play the Bengals on Monday Night Football in Week 13.

As the team got back to the practice field for their first “official” practice on Thursday, a day later due to the game being on Monday, there was a welcome face back on the field, and that was none other than rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Smith-Schuster, who missed the Packers game in Week 12 with a hamstring injury, was a full participant in practice. A good first-step towards his return to the lineup, but anyone who’s ever suffered a hamstring injury knows how tricky these injuries can be when it comes to truly testing the injury.

Friday’s practice will be a big one for Smith-Schuster, but also for Ryan Shazier, Mike Mitchell and Vance McDonald, all of whom missed practice on Thursday. If they can get some of those players back, it would go a long way towards helping the Steelers sweep the Bengals in division play this regular season.

In other news, as Joe Haden is again ruled out for this week’s game, Jeremy Fowler reported Haden will undergo an X-Ray sometime next week to help show how his fractured fibula is healing.

For the full injury report for both the Bengals and Steelers, check the official report below:

Injury Report

Pittsburgh

DID NOT PARTICIPATE
CB Joe Haden (Fibula)
S Mike Mitchell (Ankle)
LB Ryan Shazier (Ankle)
TE Vance McDonald (Ankle)
LB James Harrison (Knee)

FULL PARTICIPATION
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (Hamstring)

Cincinnati

DID NOT PARTICIPATE
LB Vincent Rey (Hamstring)
LB Nick Vigil (Ankle)
S Shawn Williams (Hamstring)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION
TE Tyler Kroft (Wrist)
OT Cedric Ogbuehi (Shoulder)