Steelers Have Promising News About Slew Of Concerning Injuries

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a successful training camp and start to the preseason as a lot of the younger players on the roster have made promising strides. There are still a few position battles that need to be resolved, but the rest of the preseason will help with that. The Steelers have also been lucky, as the team has not experienced any serious injuries yet. A few guys have gotten banged up, but there is nothing as of right now that is expected to continue on into the regular season, which is a good thing for a franchise that needs to get off to a hot start in 2026.

One of the biggest injuries of training camp for the Steelers was to wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. The Steelers acquired Pittman from the Indianapolis Colts in a trade that took place right around the start of free agency. The move was a salary dump for the Colts, so the Steelers got a very good deal as all Pittsburgh had to do was swap late-round picks. The wide receiver room is the best it has looked in years with DK Metcalf and Pittman atop the depth chart, but both of those players are a little banged up as of right now.

Beat writer Gerry Dulac was asked about their injuries during a recent fan chat for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and he shared that neither injury should be considered to be too serious.

"Not to worry, Rocky Mountain," Dulac wrote. "They will be fine. They really don't need all that training camp work and preseason games anyway."

Dulac clearly has the idea of both wide receivers being experienced veterans in the back of his mind when saying this. He doesn't seem to think either injury is going to bleed into the regular season, even though neither player has returned to the practice field. They are each experienced and know how to get the most out of meetings and mental reps, but it would still be nice to see them on the field.

There is no doubt that neither player will miss a beat when returning to the field in Week 1. They will both be properly conditioned and they will know the playbook, but building chemistry with quarterback Aaron Rodgers is arguably the most important thing about being a wide receiver in Pittsburgh.

Rodgers is very detail-oriented and he expects a lot from his wide receivers when it comes to doing what he wants in certain situations, which is why practice time is critical. Metcalf has already spent a full season with Rodgers and there were times during games when the two were not on the same page. Those two getting closer on the field was important for this preseason, as was Rodgers getting used to throwing the ball to Pittman. Both of those things will have to wait.

Steelers' Trio Could Miss All Of The Preseason

Head Coach Mike McCarthy has already said that he would like to see his starting offense on the field at some point during the preseason, while Rodgers has spoken to the media and said that he doesn't see a point in that. Either way, it probably won't happen. It has been reported by Dulac that McCarthy does not want Rodgers on the field if he is not throwing the ball to his top wide receivers, and that would be the case as long as Metcalf and Pittman are banged up. That is a reason that Rodgers and the rest of the starting offense did not play against the Green Bay Packers, and it is why that group probably won't be on the field against the New York Jets in Week 2 of the preseason.

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