The unbeaten Pittsburgh Steelers will be without nickel corner Mike Hilton and fullback Derek Watt when they face off against the 5-0 Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Hilton has missed the entire week of practice with a shoulder injury sufferers in last Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns.
Hilton has become one of the league’s best slot corners, and leads the the Steelers with 27 tackles this season. He also has three sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery.
The loss of Hilton is another major blow to a Pittsburgh defense that lost middle linebacker Devon Bush for the rest of the year with a torn ACL.
The Steelers will also be without Watt on Sunday, who continues to struggle with a hamstring injury that forced him to miss time earlier this season. He did not practice this week.
In some positive news, the Steelers will have guard David DeCastro (abdominal strain) and wide receiver Diontae Johnson (back) available when they travel to Nashville. Both players missed last week’s game against Cleveland.
DeCastro was a full participant on Thursday and Friday after being limited on Wednesday. Johnson suffered his back injury in Week Five against the Eagles, but was full-go all this week.
Center Maurkice Pouncey (foot) and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) were both held out on Wednesday, but returned to the practice field the last two days and are also good-to-go against Tennessee.