The Steelers began their preparation for Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders and there were a lot of familiar faces missing on the field.
During his weekly press conference, Coach Mike Tomlin indicated that defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal (neck), outside linebackers Alex Highsmith (groin) and Nick Herbig (hamstring), and running back Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle) are considered out this week.
All four of them were in fact spectators on Wednesday.
With the team missing three outside rushers in Highsmith, Herbig and Leal, look for T.J. Watt to get help on the opposite side via a combination of players.
Outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon was activated from the Reserve/Injured List to the 53-man roster the day before the Cowboys game, seeing his first action in a Steelers uniform.
In addition, defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk can also move to the outside to provide help.
"We've done that in the past, and we will moving forward," said Coach Mike Tomlin of Loudermilk. "He's just a versatile guy. He, and Leal, are defensive linemen that are participants in special teams, both guys are on kickoff. I think that speaks to their unique skillsets and allows them the position flexibility to slide outside and give us some big man presence when lines get short."
The outlook isn't exactly great for several others, who Tomlin tabbed as doubtful for Sunday. But they are making progress.
Tight end MyCole Pruitt is still dealing with a knee injury that has kept him sidelined for the last three games. And running back is still a thin position with Jaylen Warren hampered by a knee injury that has kept him out the last two weeks, coupled with Patterson's ankle injury. Both Pruitt and Warren did work in practice on a limited basis.
Safety Damontae Kazee's availability is also in question this week. Kazee was injured pregame against the Cowboys, but still managed to play after rolling his ankle. He is also considered doubtful and didn't practice on Wednesday.
"Kazee rolled his ankle in pregame," said Tomlin. "He was able to function in game, but obviously on the other side of the game it really swelled and he's not in a good spot.
"We had some other bumps and bruises associated with play. We'll manage those at the beginning of the week and expect those guys to pick up in terms of participation as we push through the week.
"Included in that is Isaac Seumalo, who played in his first game. We'll manage him at the beginning of the week but no negative consequence for performance there from the health perspective for him."
The question of the week, as it has been for the last five weeks, is the health of quarterback Russell Wilson and where he is with his calf injury.
And according to Tomlin, he is in a different spot than he has been all season.
"We're in a little bit of a different place with Russ this week than we have been in recent weeks," said Tomlin. "Met with him and the training staff in preparation for (Wednesday). (This) will be the first Wednesday that he'll be a scheduled full participant. We'll see where that leads us.
"First, we'll see if he's able to obviously pull it off and get through the through the session. And if he does, what does the quality of that work look like. His ability to protect himself, etc., are some of the conversations that we've been having, but just in a hypothetical way.
"He's at the point of health now where we can work on a Wednesday without restriction and so we'll do so. He'll get reps with the second unit as to not disrupt Justin's (Fields) preparation and then we'll see where all of that leads us as we push through the week."
Wilson was a full participant in practice on Wednesday.
As far as the potential of Wilson playing this week, Tomlin said it's all hypothetical because they don't know yet how he will respond in practice and the plan right now is to move forward with Fields at quarterback.
"Until Russ gets to a point where we're comfortable with what we're looking at, he's able to execute all schematics, he's able to put together back to back consecutive days and so forth, I just think that's a hypothetical conversation," said Tomlin. "We're going to continue to push forward with Justin until those things are legitimate and then we'll make decisions accordingly."
Wilson has been listed as the third quarterback on game day and only able to play if both Fields and Kyle Allen were injured in game. Tomlin was asked if Wilson could even be the No. 2 quarterback this week with him returning to practice.
"I think the fact that he's a full participant is a door that's ajar," said Tomlin. "But to say any more than that is to speculate because he's got to get through the day. He's got to show up on Thursday and see where the roads lead us in terms of that.
"Like in all circumstances, I know I kind of see it in a blanket sort of way, but it legitimately is our approach to business. The limited participation guys we let the amount of participation and the quality of the participation be our guide in terms of whether or not we include them and how much we include them as we push forward to our game time. And it remains the same at that position."
The full injury report is below
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Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 6
Wednesday, October 9
No. 3 QB Russell Wilson (Calf) - Full
No. 22 RB Najee Harris (NIR - Resting) - DNP
No. 23 S Damontae Kazee (Ankle) - DNP
No. 30 RB Jaylen Warren (Knee) - Limited
No. 39 S Minkah Fitzpatrick (NIR - Resting) - Limited
No. 51 LB Nick Herbig (Hamstring) - DNP
No. 56 LB Alex Highsmith (Groin) - DNP
No. 73 G Isaac Seumalo (NIR - Resting) - DNP
No. 81 TE MyCole Pruitt (Knee) - Limited
No. 84 RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson (Ankle) - DNP
No. 90 T.J. Watt (NIR - Resting) - DNP
No. 97 DT Cameron Heyward (NIR - Resting) - DNP
No. 98 DE DeMarvin Leal (Neck) - DNP
No. 99 DT Larry Ogunjobi (NIR - Resting) - DNP
Las Vegas Raiders Participation/Injury Report, Week 6
Wednesday, October 9
No. 17 WR Davante Adams (Hamstring) - DNP
No. 98 DE Maxx Crosby (Ankle) - DNP
No. 5 LB Divine Deablo (Oblique) - Full
No. 45 LB Tommy Eichenberg (Hamstring) - Limited
No. 87 TE Michael Mayer (NIR - Personal) - DNP
No. 32 WR Tyrek McAllister (Shoulder) - Limited
No. 16 WR Jakobi Meyers (Ankle) - DNP
No. 74 T Kolton Miller (Knee/Shoulder) - DNP
No. 7 S Tre'von Moehrig (Knee) - Full
No. 77 T Thayer Munford Jr. (Knee/Ankle) - Limited
No. 66 G Dylan Parham (Achilles) - Limited
No. 58 G Jackson Powers-Johnson (Knee) - DNP
No. 25 CB Decamerion Richardson (Hamstring) - Limited
No. 19 WR DJ Turner (Hamstring) - Limited
No. 3 RB Zamir White (Groin) - DNP
No. 37 S Trey Taylor (Knee) - Limited
