PITTSBURGH — A hamstring injury that the Pittsburgh Steelers initially believed would only limit George Pickens in practice is likely to prevent him from playing this week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“There’s a potential for this week, but it’s an outside chance,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “If you press me, I’d probably say he’s out or could be characterized as doubtful as we sit here.”
During his Tuesday news conference, Tomlin detailed how the injury is worse than originally anticipated. According to Tomlin, the Steelers’ star receiver experienced some “hamstring discomfort” after practice Thursday. He was listed as a limited participant on the Friday practice report and was questionable on the official injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
However, 90 minutes before kickoff, when the inactive were announced, Pickens was ruled out. The change took many off guard, including receiver Scotty Miller who was in street clothes and not preparing to play.
“I wanted to see what (Pickens) 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 passing game moments, if you will.
“But when we got to the stadium, it was evident that maybe the circumstance was a little bit more significant than we had hoped. We made the prudent decision in terms of shutting him down and not allowing a small problem to become a bigger one.”
Tomlin said that after the game that Pickens got an MRI and the injury showed up on the imaging. Typically, a hamstring injury needs to be at least a partial tear or involve a significant fiber disruption to be visible on an MRI. Injuries of this severity are typically considered Grade 2 strains.
“It is a little bit more significant than than what we imagined,” Tomlin said. “We’re just in the mindset now of just getting him healthy as quickly as we possibly can.”
Pickens’ ridiculous catch radius and ability to stretch the field vertically has made him the favorite target for Russell Wilson’s moon ball. In 12 games, the third-year receiver has been targeted 90 times and made 55 receptions for 850 yards. That’s more than double the next most-productive wide receiver, Calvin Austin III, who has made 23 catches for 387 yards.
Should Pickens miss another game, it’s likely to open to door for Miller, who was inactive in three of the previous four weeks. He was targeted four times and made three catches for 38 yards. Others in the receiving room like Van Jefferson and Austin III could also see a larger target share.
The other player to keep an eye on is Mike Williams, as the 6-foot-4 receiver with a history of stretching the field vertically may be the closest comp to Pickens, another big-bodied deep threat. Acquired at the trade deadline, the former New York Jets receiver made the game-winning catch Week 10 in Washington just days after joining his new team. However, over the next three weeks, he ran 38 routes and was not targeted a single time.
On Sunday with Pickens sidelined, Williams ran 13 routes and was targeted four times. He made three catches for 36 yards.
“I view it only as a matter of time before (Williams) presence gets felt in a more consistent way in stadium,” Tomlin said. “Practice has been like that for a number of weeks, and usually when you see people making plays in practices, it’s a precursor to them making plays in stadium. George available or not, I expect the overall trajectory of his performance and inclusion in performance to be on on the incline.”
The 10-3 Steelers, who will play three games in 11 days beginning Sunday in Philadelphia, currently sit in third place in the AFC standings and are atop the AFC North with a two-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens. After this week’s game against the Eagles, the Steelers go on the road to Baltimore for a critical game against the Ravens. If Pittsburgh wins, they will claim the AFC North, no matter how the rest of the games unfold for both divisional foes.
Time will tell if Pickens is available.
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
