PITTSBURGH — Wide receiver Mike Williams made an immediate impact in his Pittsburgh Steelers debut, catching the game-winning touchdown against the Washington Commanders, but the same couldn’t be said in his second game with the team. During the Steelers 18-16 win over the Ravens, Williams received zero targets.
It’s not the type of showing many expected to see from Williams, but head coach Mike Tomlin remains confident his time will come to make more big plays.
“I like his work,” Tomlin said. “How we feel about his progress is not always reflected in statistics. We’ll keep working. He’s doing a great job fitting in. We’re doing a good job of getting to know him. I like the trajectory of it.”
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Williams has only been a part of the team for less than two weeks. The Steelers traded a 2025 fifth-round pick for the 30-year-old on Nov. 5, so it’s reasonable to expect a transition period.
While Williams’ impact wasn’t nearly the same as a week ago, his snap percentage did increase from 12 percent (nine plays) to 32 percent (25 plays). That is a promising sign that his role will only continue to grow as the season progresses.
It remains to be seen whether that will change very much this week, however. The Steelers have a quick turnaround with a Week 12 meeting against the Cleveland Browns on “Thursday Night Football.”
Tomlin was unwilling to commit to Williams receiving a higher share of snaps in the near future.
“We’ll see, man,” Tomlin said. “It really is just week-to-week from a matchup perspective or how we put our plan together. I’d be speculating, particularly at this stage of the week. This early, I’d be making it up and I just don’t wanna mislead you.”
Still, Steelers wide receivers not named George Pickens combined for just two catches for three yards on Sunday, which should only influence the Steelers to grow Williams role sooner rather than later.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.