Steelers injury report: George Pickens, T.J. Watt, several others miss practice Tuesday ahead of Week 16

The Pittsburgh Steelers are on a short turnaround this week, set to travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, December 21 at 4:30 p.m. ET. It’s a monumental game, as the Steelers have the opportunity to clinch their first AFC North title in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era with a win.

Unfortunately, health will be a big component in this matchup, however, with several starters looking uncertain for Week 16. Three starters missed last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and their absences were surely felt — particularly that of WR George Pickens. Then, there were the in-game losses of star OLB T.J. Watt with an ankle injury and CB Donte Jackson with a back.

With the first official team practice in the books, here’s a full breakdown of Steelers' injury report ahead of their second meeting with the Ravens in Week 16.

Steelers injury report: Tuesday, Week 16

DNP: WR George Pickens (hamstring), S DeShon Elliott (hamstring), CB Donte Jackson (back), LB T.J. Watt (ankle), QB Justin Fields (abdomen)

Limited: DT Larry Ogunjobi (groin)

Veteran rest day: DT Cam Heyward, LB Patrick Queen

The most positive update of the day was Larry Ogunjobi’s return to practice, having missed Week 15’s contest with a groin injury. He logged a limited session on Tuesday, a positive sign of his potential availability for Week 15. Dean Lowry saw 47% of defensive snaps last week in Ogunjobi’s absence after having been inactive the week prior, while DT Montravius Adams played 35% of snaps in his return from IR.

T.J. Watt also missed practice with his injury to open up the week, though HC Mike Tomlin sounded generally upbeat about his outlook against the Ravens, stating he’d seen him walking around the facility “quite comfortably”.

Though Pickens didn’t formally practice either, he was captured participating in a drill by Steelers beat reporter Alan Saunders — an encouraging sign of, at the very least, some progress, even if he isn’t available for Saturday:

HC Mike Tomlin noted in his weekly press conference that none of the six guys featured on the injury report to open up the week were considered “out” as of Monday but gave the usual, “We’ll let the amount of that participation and the quality of that participation be our guide in terms of potentially including them [in the game plan].”


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