PITTSBURGH — The Steelers started their week of preparation against the Cleveland Browns with 8 players sitting, including star free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick suffered an ankle injury against the Baltimore Ravens that left him on the ground in a heap. He rolled his ankle but after the game said that he was determined to fight through the injury and play moving forward. Minkah Fitzpatrick would return to cash the game-winning interception. However, he starts off this week as a did not practice.
Tre Norwood (hamstring) and Myles Jack (groin) were the two other players mentioned by Mike Tomlin as injuries in his Tuesday press conference. They did not practice on Wednesday. Norwood missed the game against Baltimore while Jack left the game earlier after aggravating the injury.
Diontae Johnson (hip), Arthur Maulet (illness), Larry Ogunjobi (toe), and Kevin Dotson (shoulder) were all surprise inclusions that did not practice. However, given Tomlin’s insistence to not mention them, that likely speaks well about their likely participation in the game and in the coming days.
Najee Harris took a day off to rest. That is the first true instance where Harris is healthy but had a player’s day off. Meanwhile, James Pierre, who was in the concussion protocol, practiced in full. That is a good sign for his ability to play on Sunday as well.