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The Pittsburgh Steelers, along with many other NFL organizations currently, are a banged up team. They have suffered multiple injuries at key positions, and it has fans wondering if there is any hope on the horizon.
While some of the Steelers’ injury news isn’t the good variety, there could be help on the horizon for some key members of the team, as they prepare for the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15 on Monday Night Football.
During Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference, he gave a recap of the team’s injury situation heading into the next AFC North divisional game, one where the team can clinch a division crown with a win in Cincinnati.
Several players left the Steelers’ Week 14 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football with injury and Mike Tomlin updated the status of those players, and then some.
Monday, guard Matt Feiler was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) with a pectoral injury, but the news on rookie Kevin Dotson was better. Tomlin stated Doston’s injury was a shoulder, not a pectoral injury as he said after the game, and he was hopeful Dotson could return to the team on Monday night.
Joining Dotson on the updated injuries were fellow lineman Chukwuma Okorafor, who suffered an ankle injury, Terrell Edmunds who is dealing with a shoulder injury and James Conner with a quadriceps injury.
Tomlin acknowledged the extra day off will be welcome as the team looks to get back on the winning track this week against the Bengals. However, he was honest enough to say how the players’ overall availability in practice, or lack thereof, will dictate whether they can play on Monday Night Football or not.
On top of the laundry list of injuries from this past week was the news of Joe Haden hopefully returning to the team this week. Haden missed the Week 14 loss with a concussion will continue to work through the NFL’s strict concussion protocol and hopefully return to the secondary to help clinch an AFC North crown.
Since the Steelers don’t play until Monday, the first reported practice won’t happen until Thursday. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black and gold as they continue down the home stretch of the 2020 regular season.
For a complete run down of Mike Tomlin’s Press Conference, check out the Press Conference Recap Podcast below: