The Pittsburgh Steelers must keep an eye on a number of ailments ahead of their game against the Rams on Sunday, even though they just had their bye week. The most noteworthy injury update for the club concerns outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who was unable to participate in practice on Thursday due to a heel ailment.
Watt worked out on Wednesday but did not practice on Thursday. Concerns are raised by the fact that Nick Her big, a rookie outside linebacker and Alex High smith’s backup, was restricted on Thursday due to a quad issue. That means that the only healthy outside linebackers for Pittsburgh are High smith and backup Markus Golden.
The Steelers would suffer a big loss if Watt didn’t play against the Rams since his absence has made their record noticeably worse. When Watt, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, hasn’t played, they really have a 1-10 record. Pittsburgh had an 8-2 record while Watt was in the lineup last season, but they lost the games he missed, going 1-6 overall.
As one of the most important defensive players in the NFL, Watt’s influence on the field is evident. In 2020 and 2021, the five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro led the NFL in sacks. After six weeks, he has the most sacks in the league (8). Watt, 29, has a stellar career stat line that includes six interceptions, 25 forced fumbles, and ten fumble recoveries. In Week 2’s victory over the Browns, Pittsburgh’s first win of the season included touchdowns from both him and High smith.
In addition to Watt, two more prominent players on Pittsburgh’s injury report from Thursday were tight end Pat Freiermuth and left tackle Dan Moore Jr. Moore played the whole game after missing the Steelers’ Week 5 victory over Baltimore because of a knee ailment. In addition to being sidelined against the Ravens, Freiermuth was limited in Thursday’s practice due to his ongoing hamstring issue.
Dion tae Johnson, a former wide receiver in the Pro Bowl, is anticipated to return for the Steelers’ game against the Rams on Sunday. Despite being fully involved in practice for the last two days, Johnson has not appeared in any games since suffering a hamstring injury during the Steelers’ season-opening defeat to the 49ers.
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