This isn't the news Pittsburgh Steelers fans wanted to wake up to. While fans were counting down the minutes until the Steelers kick off their Week 4 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland, we learned that one key starter will be a surprise inactive today: running back Jaylen Warren.
Warren has been dealing with a knee injury that popped up recently, but he was a limited participant in practice all week. Despite his questionable status for the game, most assumed he would be healthy enough to suit up. That's not the case.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Warren has led all Steelers running backs in carries (43), rushing yards (132), targets (12), receptions (11), and receiving yards (142), while also leading the group in running success rate (53.5 percent).
The Pittsburgh Steelers have huge question marks without RB Jaylen Warren
With Warren out today, the Steelers have activated running back Trey Sermon from the practice squad. Kenneth Gainwell will get the start against the Vikings in Dublin, and we'll see how much action rookie Kaleb Johnson sees.
Johnson was in Mike Tomlin's doghouse since a costly special teams mistake in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Johnson has only played four offensive snaps on the season and didn't see the field at all in Week 3 against the New England Patriots.
The Steelers' rushing attack was already in line for tough sledding against an unforgiving Minnesota Vikings defense, led by aggressive defensive coordinator Brian Flores. But while the defense as a whole has been great, the Vikings have been a bit susceptible to the run—allowing 130 rushing yards per game.
Warren's absence is a huge loss for Pittsburgh, but the Vikings will be missing star edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel. This could make it a bit more difficult for Flores to execute his plan of attack on defense without his best pass rusher. We'll see if the Steelers can take advantage.