The Pittsburgh Steelers surprisingly included center Zach Frazier on their injury report to begin this week. But more bad news arrived for the Steelers with T.J. Watt on Thursday.
The team added the All-Pro edge rusher to the injury report. Watt was limited in practice Thursday.
Watt didn’t practice at all Wednesday, but the Steelers had the edge rusher listed as out because of a veteran rest day. According to the team’s Thursday injury report, Watt is dealing with a hip issue.
There isn’t a lot of other information on Watt’s injury.
“It’s not clear when the injury occurred or how it might impact his status for Sunday’s Week 8 home game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football,” wrote Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders. “Head coach Mike Tomlin did not mention him in his rundown of Steelers injuries on Tuesday.
“Watt usually speaks with the media on Fridays before Sunday games.”
There should be more details on Watt’s injury Friday. Not only will he likely speak to the media, the Steelers will update his game status for Week 8.
The Steelers will host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.
Steelers’ T.J. Watt Dealing With Hip Injury
The Steelers haven’t been able to find a lot of consistency on defense this season. The unit appeared to be getting better before Week 7. But then last Thursday, the Steelers gave up 33 points and 470 yards to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The last thing the Steelers need is one of their defensive captains and All-Pro edge rushers to be less than 100%.
Watt’s hip, though, could explain why he isn’t off to a better start this season. The four-time first-team All-Pro has 25 combined tackles, including five tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, four pass defenses. Watt also has an interception and forced fumble.
Those are good numbers. However, he only had four sacks in six games.
Again, to be clear, it’s not for certain that Watt has been dealing with his hip problem since the beginning of the season. Before Thursday, the edge rusher had not been on the injury report other than for rest days.
Watt led the NFL with 19 sacks two years ago. Last season, he had 11.5 sacks and led the league with six forced fumbles.
Steelers Have Edge Rushing Depth to Overcome Loss of Watt
In years past, losing Watt has been devastating for the Steelers. Not that the franchise would be alright losing the All-Pro, but the team is probably better equipped now than ever to replace him.
In addition to Watt, the Steelers have Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig in their edge rushing room. Highsmith and Herbig have six combined sacks.
Herbig leads the team with 4.5 sacks.
The Steelers received criticism for not playing Herbig a lot against the Bengals. He could see more playing time in Week 8 even if Watt is active.
Herbig also leads the Steelers with six tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits. He has two pass defenses, a forced fumble and interception as well.
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