Steelers TE Darnell Washington to Play vs. Texans after Injury Scare

PITTSBURGH — Steelers rookie tight Darnell Washington will play against the Houston Texans on Sunday, he said to Steelers Now. The injury popped up on Thursday on the injury report, and Washington says the knee has acted up a few times over the past few weeks, but he is attacking rehab.

“Yeah, it feels good,” Washington said. “You know, all I can do is attack rehab and get after it. The injury is there, but I can help make it better. That’s what I have to do to get on the field.”

Washington dealt with the knee injury throughout the season but has not missed a game yet due to the ailment. His health is essential for Pittsburgh’s run game.

It is the left knee Darnell Washington injured, but it should be noted that he fell in the NFL Draft due to knee injury concerns. Still coming out of the NFL Draft, Washington had no concerns about his knee. But not all the teams in the league agreed with that. However, it was his right knee that he had surgery on, not his left knee.

“You know, with my health, I feel great,” Washington said after he was drafted. “Some teams had concerns with knees because I’m taller and a bigger guy. They talked about some knee swelling. For me, I had no injury with my knees ever, knock on wood. I never tore anything in the knees. I had knee surgery on the right knee, but that was just cartilage that flaked up, they went in and cleaned it.”

Regardless, the Steelers should have their tight ends healthy and ready to go for Sunday against the Texans. Despite the injury scare for both Washington and Heyward, the team could look to spread teams out more and find success through more lighter personnel and box counts.