PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers released their injury report following Thursday afternoon’s practice, providing a cleaner look into the availability of several key players for Sunday’s Week 1 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
Most notably, starting quarterback Russell Wilson was a surprise entry as a limited participant due to calf tightness. He was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice.
He’s nursed a calf injury for over a month dating back to the Steelers’ conditioning test, which also limited his availability throughout training camp and held him out of the preseason opener against the Houston Texans.
Head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters that Wilson is set to receive further evaluation from doctors, though he isn’t concerned about it becoming a long-term conundrum.
Elsewhere around the roster, second-year tight end Darnell Washington did not practice with a knee injury after he was omitted from the report on Wednesday.
He dealt with foot and knee issues coming out of the University of Georgia that caused him to slide to the Steelers in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He appeared in all 17 regular season games for the team last year, though he did not receive any snaps during the preseason.
The team’s official depth chart lists Washington as the primary backup to Pat Freiermuth, meaning Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt could see inflated roles should he be ruled out against Atlanta.
Rookie defensive end Logan Lee also did not participate with a calf injury. The sixth-round pick out of Iowa was not active for Pittsburgh’s preseason finale against the Detroit Lions with an undisclosed ailment, though it’s now fair to assume that he’s been dealing with this issue for a sustained period of time.
Cornerback Cory Trice Jr. (groin), running back Jaylen Warren (hamstring) and rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu (knee) all were full participants after being limited a day prior. All three are projeced to play significant roles for Pittsburgh this season, and it appears as though they’re in good shape to contribute versus the Falcons.
Rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson, on the other hand, remained limited with an ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of camp.
Starting left guard Isaac Seumalo has already been ruled out with a pectoral injury, though there’s hope that he can return to the team in some capacity over the coming weeks.
