Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens will miss his third consecutive game on Saturday due to a hamstring injury, but NFL insider Albert Breer expects him to return for the team’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day at Acrisure Stadium.
“He is running and he did make an effort for doctors to clear him, ultimately, that didn’t happen,” Breer said on Amazon Prime after Thursday night’s Broncos-Chargers game. “He won’t play but they’re optimistic that he’ll be able to go Christmas Day against the Chiefs.”
Pickens did not participate in practice this week, but he did do workouts off to the side. On Tuesday, Pickens took part in a ball security drill with his teammates just 10 days after suffering an injured hamstring in practice that caused him to miss each of the last two games.
The Steelers’ offense with and without Pickens is drastically different. The Steelers rank dead last in yards per play, success rate and explosive-play rate without Pickens on the field, according to True Media.
The Steelers finished with 163 yards against the Eagles, their fewest since they had 127 in a 19-11 victory against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 19, 2010. They also possessed the ball for just 20:08 and had just two possessions in the second half.
The Steelers will have another tough challenge on Saturday with going up against the Ravens defense. It’s imperative that the wide receivers step up, or it’s going to be a long afternoon.
Pickens had played the first 46 games to start his career, and he’s champing at the bit to get back on the field.
The cameras for HBO’s Hard Knocks caught Pickens lamenting his injury status on the Pittsburgh sideline during the Steelers’ Week 14 game against the Cleveland Browns.
“I wanna play so bad, boy,” Pickens said to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
Tomlin responded, “It’s that football life. “Just football life.”
As of now, it appears that Pickens will makes his much-anticipated return on Christmas Day against the Chiefs.