The Steelers began their preparation for Saturday's game against the Baltimore Ravens, working on a short week where health can always be a concern.
But Coach Mike Tomlin gave an optimistic view of the injuries during his weekly press conference, although the majority of the injured players didn't practice on Tuesday, with the exception of Larry Ogunjobi who was limited.
"From a health perspective, we had some guys carrying some injury going into last week and don't have a lot of new information on those guys," said Tomlin. "Just in general, we'll formulate a plan for having increased participation from those guys over the course of the week and we'll let the amount of that participation and the quality of that participation be our guide in terms of potentially including them.
"Those people are George Pickens with his hamstring, DeShon Elliott with his hamstring, and Larry Ogunjobi with his groin.
"There were some guys that went down in game that are going to be evaluated and the door's ajar for those guys. T.J. Watt, I saw him walking around rather comfortably, but again, he's questionable with his ankle. We'll see where the road leads us. Donte Jackson with his back and Justin Fields with the abdominal injury that he sustained in play.
"But none of these six guys could be characterized as out as I sit here (Monday). We'll probably start with partial participation with them and increase that and make decisions as the week goes on."
The Steelers have a lot on the line this week, as a win would secure the AFC North Championship for them. Tomlin said with what is on the line, anyone who is healthy will play and not be rested because of another short week approaching.
"I think specifically regarding injury, it has nothing to do with the six-or-seven-day cycle," said Tomlin. "It's probably just a general mindset that you have regarding injury at the early portions of the season relative to now. At the early portions of the season, you always have a big picture mentality where small problems, you don't want to become a big problem because of the totality of the games that lie ahead. When you get to this portion of the season, when the sand is running through the hourglass, that's not a component of decision making generally regarding people.
"If they're healthy and available, they go. And that's generally the mindset that we're in. This is a big game. We have an opportunity to solidify the division this week, and so rest assured that healthy people are going to play in this game.
"Those that are capable of playing, are going to play in this game and we're not going to look ahead to potentially what happens on the other side of it. We've got definitive, tangible things to pursue this week. Divisional championship. I think that merits all hands on deck.
"We're playing for a division title this week. Those that are healthy will play."
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Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 16
Tuesday, December 17
No. 2 QB Justin Fields (Abdominal) - DNP
No. 6 LB Patrick Queen (NIR - Resting Vet) - DNP
No. 14 WR George Pickens (Hamstring) - DNP
No. 25 S DeShon Elliott (Hamstring) - DNP
No. 26 CB Donte Jackson (Back) - DNP
No. 90 LB T.J. Watt (Ankle) - DNP
No. 97 DT Cameron Heyward (NIR - Resting Vet) - DNP
No. 99 DT Larry Ogunjobi (Groin) - Limited
Pittsburgh held a walkthrough on Tuesday
Baltimore Ravens Participation/Injury Report, Week 16
Tuesday, December 17
No. 5 CB Jalyn Armour-Davis (Hamstring) - DNP
No. 15 WR Nelson Agholor (Concussion) - DNP
No. 50 OLB Adisa Isaac (Hamstring) - Limited
No. 18 WR Diontae Johnson (NIR - Personal) - DNP
No. 28 S Sanoussi Kane (Hamstring) - Limited
** No. 27 CB T.J. Tampa (Ankle) - Full
No. 29 S Ar'Darius Washington (Ankle) - Limited
Baltimore held a walkthrough on Tuesday
** Injured Reserve/Designated for Return to Practice
