Steelers Injury Report: Watt, Highsmith limited in practice Wednesday

The Pittsburgh Steelers came out of Week 3 of the 2021 NFL season both at the bottom of the AFC North and with continued injury concerns. As the Steelers take the practice field for their first day of preparation for the Green Bay Packers, eight names were on the list. In the first injury report of the week courtesy of the Steelers PR department, there were four players who did not participate while four players were limited.

Steelers PR Department

As expected, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not practice on Wednesday as it is his scheduled day off. Just like last week, rather than have him listed as a coaches decision, Roethlisberger is listed as having a pectoral injury.

After leaving Sunday’s game with a rib injury, JuJu Smith-Schuster did not practice on Wednesday. Mike Tomlin said he expects Smith-Schuster to practice at some point this week but believed his participation would be limited early on. As the week progresses, Smith-Schuster’s participation will ultimately determine his availability for Sunday.

The other two players who were not practicing on Wednesday were Carlos Davis with a knee injury and Chukwuma Okorafor with a concussion. Davis has missed the previous two games due to injury, so his lack of participation isn’t a big surprise. What may be the most surprising is the fact Davis did not land on the Reserve/Injured List if he is going to miss multiple weeks. As for Okorafor, the fact he could not practice the first day while in the concussion protocol does hamper his progression to being available this weekend.

As for the limited participants on Wednesday, T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith both participated in practice with their groin injuries. In order for either player to be available this weekend, it will be important to see their progression throughout the week.

Diontae Johnson also returned to practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday. After not being able to practice at all last week, Johnson starting off the week at least in a limited fashion is much more encouraging for Week 4.

The final player on the injury list was guard Rashaad Coward who was limited with an ankle injury. Since Coward was on the inactive list each week throughout the season, it is likely the injury occurred during practice which may have cost him some time.

As for the Packers’ injury report, you can see the names below courtesy of Steelers.com.

Green Bay Packers Participation/Injury Report, Week 4

Wednesday, September 29

LB Krys Barnes (Concussion) - DNP

G Elgton Jenkins (Ankle) - DNP

CB Kevin King (Concussion) - DNP

WR Marques Valdes-Scantling (Hamstring) - DNP

RB Aaron Jones (Ankle) - Limited

S Vernon Scott(Hamstring) - Limited

C/G Josh Myers (Finger) - Full

For more information on the Steelers and Packers injury report, check the BTSC Injury Report podcast below: