Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that it's likely his team will be without top wide receiver George Pickens on Sunday when it travels to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles.
But, unlike last Sunday's game against the Browns, when Pickens was a surprise scratch after the hamstring injury that sidelined him cropped up late in the week, the Steelers (10-3) can better prepare for the potential of not having him available against the Eagles (11-2).
"Certainly," said Tomlin, who noted Pickens is doubtful to play Sunday. "If he's limited, and he probably certainly will be limited at the early portions of the week, it'll give guys an opportunity to get extended an in-helmet perspective on their prep, if they are to get expanded roles again this week."
That would include veterans Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, Mike Williams, Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek.
All but Austin are players who are in their first season with the Steelers. And in the case of Williams, acquired at the trade deadline from the Jets, it's been a matter of being with the team for just over a month.
But that veteran knowledge of always being ready to show up when necessary was evident in Sunday's 27-14 win over the Browns.
Jefferson, who has started opposite Pickens all season, had a touchdown catch. Williams, seeing his first extended playing time since being acquired, had three receptions for 28 yards and had another 20-yard catch erased by a questionable offensive pass interference penalty. Miller, who only found out he was going to be active less than two hours before game time, had three receptions for 38 yards.
"I think that's why I'm just so high on the collective," Tomlin said. "Those guys might be new to us, but they're not new to the National Football League. They're pros. They behave that way, whether you're talking about Scotty Miller or Van Jefferson or Ben Skowronek, for that matter, (they're) all guys that have been in the NFL, and I just think you saw shades of that in their performance and the consistency of their performance last weekend."
They'll need to lean on that as the Steelers move forward, for at least the time being, without Pickens, whose 55 receptions for 850 yards lead the team in both categories.
In fact, Pickens' 55 receptions are two more than Jefferson, Austin, Williams, Miller and Skowronek have combined, while his yardage total is 53 more yards than that group has produced this season. The only area where they've bettered Pickens is in touchdowns. Pickens has three, while the rest of the team's wide receivers have produced seven.
But there is an expectation now that Williams, in particular, might be ready to contribute even more.
"Keep watching," Tomlin said.
A former two-time 1,000-yard receiver with the Chargers, Williams has been a high-volume producer in the past. With three games in 11 games starting Sunday with the Eagles, the Steelers might need Williams, acquired Nov. 5 in a trade with the Jets, to step into a bigger role.
"I view it only as a matter of time before his presence gets felt in a more consistent way in stadium," Tomlin said of Williams, who has four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown since his acquisition. "Practice has been like that for a number of weeks, and usually when you see people making plays in practice, it's a precursor to them making plays in stadium. And so with George, available or not, I expect the overall trajectory of his performance and inclusion in performance to be on the incline."
Tomlin explains the Pickens' timeline: There were conflicting reports on Sunday regarding Pickens' availability against the Browns.
Pickens had practiced Wednesday and Thursday before experiencing some tightness in his hamstring after practice on Thursday. The Steelers then held him to a limited practice on Friday, hoping the tightness would be better by game time on Sunday.
"(We) wanted to see what he looked like when he got to the stadium, and then make a determination of how many plays we thought would be appropriate to utilize him in," Tomlin said. "Obviously, if he wasn't going to be a full participant, we wanted to gear his participation toward weighty pass moments. But when we got to the stadium, it was evident that maybe the circumstance was a little bit more significant than we had hoped.
"And so we made the prudent decision in terms of shutting him down and not allowing a small problem to become a bigger one post-game. And we had an opportunity to get him an MRI. The injury did show up on MRI and is a little bit more significant than what we imagined."
Other injuries: The Steelers had a couple of in-game injury issues that could slow some key players down, at least early in the week in terms of practice.
Defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi left last Sunday's game in the first half with a groin injury. He returned briefly before being shut down for the remainder of the game.
Strong safety DeShon Elliott, who led the Steelers with 13 tackles, reported some soreness in his hamstring following the game, while cornerback Donte Jackson left the game briefly with back spasms before returning.
"We'll watch those guys, particularly at the early part of the week, and hopefully there's an uptick in their participation, in the quality of it, as we push forward toward game time," Tomlin said.
The Steelers also could activate nose tackle Montravius Adams for Sunday's game. Adams had his 21-day practice window opened for a return from the Reserve/Injured List on Nov. 27.
Adams has been out since an Oct. 20 win over the Jets with a sprained knee.
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Three games, 11 days: The Steelers open a portion of their schedule Sunday against the Eagles where they play three games in 11 days, two of them on the road – the other at Baltimore Dec. 21 – before coming home for a Christmas Day game against the Chiefs.
Those three teams have a combined record of 31-8.
Tomlin, however, isn't focused on what's ahead beyond the challenge of this week.
"I'm really just focused on Philadelphia. I don't care what's on the other side of it," Tomlin said.
But, as soon as Sunday's game is over, it will be full speed ahead. Tomlin has a plan mapped out in his head about how things might look coming out of that game in terms of practice and preparation, but acknowledged that those things have to be fluid.
"It may affect it on the other side of Philadelphia, but I have a seven-day cycle this week, and so I'm not going to make the simple complex," Tomlin said. "We've got a task this week. We've got a job to do. We've got a finite amount of time and materials and talent and manpower as do they. And so with that in mind, we're going to prepare and focus our energies on winning this game.
"There's so many variables that could affect the preparation process on the other side of this game, the attrition component and so forth, that is fruitless and almost a waste of time to get beyond the template component. Certainly, I have a calendar and a template, but that does not have my time or attention."
