The Pittsburgh Steelers will bring back some major pieces to their team in Week 16 against the Houston Texans.
For the first time in what seems like forever, the Pittsburgh Steelers will see two major players return to the field. Vance McDonald, who has missed a majority of the second half of the season with an ankle and shoulder injury, and Joe Haden, who’s recovering from a fractured fibula, both returned to practice this week.
Although these two would’ve been nice to have last week against the New England Patriots, the Steelers are just thankful they’re getting playing time prior to the playoffs. Against a subpar Houston Texans team, these two will get valuable playing time before a first round bye in the postseason.
However, Pittsburgh will be without their best offensive player, Antonio Brown, for the remainder of the regular season. With JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant, this team isn’t going to struggle too bad without their top wideout, but will need to make adjustments to stay as elite without No. 84.
Outside of that, the Steelers biggest worry will be guard, Ramon Foster. Dealing with a concussion, Foster’s status for Monday night is still unknown, but he could be looking at some missed time before he returns to the field. He’ll have to deal with the NFL’s concussion protocol before he’s able to return to action for Pittsburgh.
Injury Report
Pittsburgh
Did Not Participate
WR Antonio Brown (Calf)
G Ramon Foster (Concussion)
Full Participation
CB Joe Haden (Fibula)
LB Tyler Matakevich (Shoulder)
TE Vance McDonald (Shoulder)
Houston
Did Not Participate
Tom Savage (Concussion)
Jeleni Jenkins (Concussion)
Jeff Allen (Concussion)
Kendall Lamm (Concussion)
Brian Peters (Illness)
LaTroy Lewis (Shoulder)
Full Participation
Braxton Miller (Concussion)
Next: How the offense will work without AB
Both teams will luckily have an extra day to deal with injuries before facing off on Christmas Day. Pittsburgh’s sixth primetime event of the season should be a good one, as both teams are looking to bounce back from Week 15 losses.