Steelers Injury Updates: Two Key Starters Miss Practice

Nick Farabaugh |

Nov 22, 2023

Steelers FS Minkah Fitzpatrick — Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick at practice on Oct. 25, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are still dealing with several injury issues on the defense, and George Pickens and Minkah Fitzpatrick headline the daily injuries. Both missed practice on Wednesday to start the week’s prep against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Fitzpatrick, along with Montravius Adams, were players who had missed multiple weeks and were hoping to come back. Adams returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since his ankle injury against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 2nd.

“Minkah is working hard to be component of this week’s plan, as is Mont Adams,” head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday. “In both cases, we’ll be thoughtful about their participation and levels of participation. When we get later in the week, we’ll let the amount of that participation and the quality of it potentially be our guide in terms of their availability.”

Fitzpatrick has been out since suffering his injury midway through the Steelers’ Week 9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has missed three straight games. Damontae Kazee moved from strong safety to free safety to replace him, with Keanu Neal stepping up from a part-time role to a full-time role to replace Kazee in the first two games of Fitzpatrick’s absence.

But Neal was injured late in the Week 10 win over Green Bay, and was placed on the injured reserve list Saturday with a rib injury. He will miss at least the next three games.

Trenton Thompson was the third man up at strong safety, making his first career start against the Cleveland Browns. Elijah Riley played as the Dime defensive back, but he suffered a high ankle sprain against the Browns and was placed on IR this week. He will miss at least the next four games.

Outside of the safety position, Pickens’ injury came as a surprise. If he could not play, Allen Robinson II and Calvin Austin III would take on a larger role.

James Pierre (shoulder) and Nick Herbig (hamstring) popped up with new injuries but were limited. Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, Isaac Seumalo, and Cam Heyward were all given the day off for rest days.

STEELERS INJURY REPORT

Player	Injury	Date	Prognosis	Roster Status
OLB Nick Herbig	Hamstring	Nov. 22	Unknown	Active, LP on Wed.
CB James Pierre	Shoulder	Nov. 22	Unknown	Active, LP on Wed.
WR George Pickens	Shin	Nov. 22	Unknown	Active, DNP on Wed.
DB Elijah Riley	High ankle sprain	Nov. 19	Week to week	Injured reserve (Wk. 16)
SS Keanu Neal	Rib	Nov. 12	Unknown	Injured reserve (Wk. 15)
ILB Kwon Alexander	Achilles	Nov. 12	Out for season	Injured reserve
ILB Cole Holcomb	Left knee surgery	Nov. 2	Out for season	Injured reserve
NT Montravius Adams	Right ankle	Nov. 2	Day to day	Active, LP on Wed.
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick	Right hamstring	Oct. 29	Day to day	Active, DNP on Wed.
LB Chapelle Russell II	Knee	Aug. 11	Out for season	Injured reserve
CB Cory Trice	Right ACL tear	Aug. 1	Out for season	Injured reserve
RB Alfonzo Graham	Torn right labrum	July 29	Out for season	Injured reserve
DT Renell Wren	Torn right Achilles tendon	May 17	Out for season	Injured reserve