With three games remaining in the regular season and Christmas a week away, the Steelers will not find any Christmas joy on the injury report.
If the Steelers’ second straight loss to Buffalo on Sunday wasn’t bad enough, the injury report didn’t make things better. They had just gotten James Conner back from the COVID list in hopes the running game would improve, his return did not last long. Despite reports that Robert Spillane would return, the Steelers injury downgraded his injury. Any hopes of Spillane returning before the postseason are questionable at best. Maurkice Pouncy returned from the COVID list only for the Steelers to lose Matt Feiler for an unspecified length of time.
With an offense that’s struggling and not running the ball well, additional losses to the offense are not what they needed, especially when they have to face a tough Colts team and a Browns team that put up 42 points against the Ravens despite losing. The Steelers are not an offense that will put a lot of points on the board. The Steelers averaged 31.2 points per game in their first five games. That has dropped to 22.8 points per game in their last five games. The 15 points they scored against Buffalo is the lowest they have scored all season. The 26 points Buffalo scored is the second highest they have allowed all season.
Here are the latest Steelers injuries.
Robert Spillane LB: Out (Knee)
When Spillane injured his knee, initial reports said he might miss time but would return before the season ended. One day before the Buffalo game, the Steelers put him on the injured reserve list. Per NFL rules, that means he will miss at least two games. The earliest he can return now is the Cleveland game. Even that is questionable at this point.
While no one has specified his injury’s exact nature, we know he did not need surgery. It eliminates a tear to the ACL. More than likely, it was an MCL sprain. So we will have to wait and see what happens. To offset his placement on the injured reserve list, the Steelers have activated Ulysees Gilbert and promoted Tegray Scales.