Steelers injury report: 3 players ruled out, Donte Jackson questionable for Week 18

The Pittsburgh Steelers are days out from a rematch with the Cincinnati Bengals — this time on home turf and with momentum swinging in a less-than-favorable direction for the black and gold. What should fans expect from an injury perspective heading into the regular season finale?

With the final practice of the week in the books, here’s a full breakdown of Steelers' final injury designations, as well as their participation report for their final practice ahead of Week 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Steelers injury designations for Week 18

Questionable: CB Donte Jackson

Out: *WR Roman Wilson (hamstring), *LB Cole Holcomb (knee), *DL Logan Lee (calf)

Full practice report breakdown

Full: CB Joey Porter Jr. (knee), QB Justin Fields (abdomen), *WR Roman Wilson (hamstring), WR Ben Skowronek (hip), RB Jaylen Warren (ribs)

Limited: *LB Cole Holcomb (knee), *DL Logan Lee (calf), CB Donte Jackson (back)

*Note: Italics indicate a change from yesterday’s practice report, asterisk indicates a player in their 21-day practice window returning from the IR or PUP list

The Steelers are largely in a good place from an injury perspective, with most of their players with an injury designation having logged a full practice ahead of Saturday’s matchup. That includes CB Joey Porter Jr., who’s logged a full week of practices after missing Week 17 with a knee injury and looks primed to return to the lineup. It’s good timing, too, as Donte Jackson was added back to the injury report with a back injury that’s been nagging over the past several weeks. It’s not a new injury, having suffered it back in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles and subsequently missed Week 16. He returned to a full workload last week, playing 94% of defensive snaps. Cory Trice Jr. took over the bulk of Porter’s snaps when out, so one would assume he’d probably do the same should Jackson miss this contest.

Steelers fans will have to wait at least another week for the return of rookie WR Roman Wilson and season-debuts of LB Cole Holcomb and DL Logan Lee. Lee and Wilson had their 21-day practice window activated from injured reserve on Tuesday, while Holcomb had his 21-day practice window activated from the PUP list following a season-ending knee injury last year. Luckily, none of these three players have been counted on to this point in the season, so their absence isn’t unexpected, nor is it a deal-breaker heading into the season finale. Wilson in particular seems like a bit of a lost season. He’s been a healthy scratch on several occasions this year, likely a fair bit behind in terms of his overall development after missing time in training camp with an ankle injury, as well as time in the regular season.


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