Steelers Injury News: Diontae Johnson Hurts Thumb, Keanu Neal Update

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers had a number of injury issues in the team’s 23-19 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday that could impact the play of the team going forward.

Inside linebacker Kwon Alexander is expected to miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, but he was not the only Steelers player shaken up on Sunday.

Safety Keanu Neal, who was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Minkah Fitzpatrick, left the game after his interception in the fourth quarter and did not return. Head coach Mike Tomlin described Neal’s injury as a rib issue, but did not elaborate on it further. Neal suggested that it will not be a major injury going forward.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said. “When I got tackled, I just fell on the ball. They wanted to make sure I was okay”

Tomlin also mentioned that wide receiver Diontae Johnson was able to return to the game after leaving with a thumb injury.

Two injuries that Tomlin did not mention happened late in the fourth quarter. Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz suffered an ankle injury after the Steelers punted early in the fourth quarter. He was seen testing his snapping form on the sideline with punter and holder Pressley Harvin III and returned to the game to snap the final two times without incident.

Tight end Connor Heyward came off the field limping late in the fourth quarter, not putting any weight on his left ankle. He did not return to the game.

Finally, Tomlin said that special teams coordinator Danny Smith is OK after taking a shot on the final play of the game as Damontae Kazee was tackled out of bounds, starting a sideline near-brawl between the Steelers and Packers.