Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed during his Tuesday press conference that he’s optimistic that wide receiver Calvin Austin III (hamstring), cornerback Brandin Echols (groin), cornerback James Pierre (calf) and left guard Isaac Seumalo (triceps) will return for Sunday night’s winner-take-all Week 18 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
After being a limited participant on Wednesday, Seumalo practiced in a full capacity on Thursday. That bodes well for his status for Sunday night.
Seumalo suffered the triceps injury in the team’s Week 15 win over the Miami Dolphins. Seumalo has missed the last two games due to the injury. He was a limited participant in all three practices last week.
Seumalo dealt with a pectoral ailment earlier in the season. Including against Miami, Seumalo has played in 13 games this season, starting all of them. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, who drafted him in the third round in 2016. He started over 60 games during that stretch with the Eagles.
Spencer Anderson made his second consecutive start at left guard on Sunday against Cleveland, with Andrus Peat filling in when Anderson was used as the tight end in the team’s jumbo package.
Tight end Darnell Washington, who underwent surgery for his broken arm, was placed on injured reserve with a broken left wrist. Anderson is expected to replace Washington at tight end in the jumbo package, so Seumalo returning will clear things up.
Austin and Echols were both injured in the team’s Week 16 win over the Detroit Lions. Neither returned to action after their injuries. Austin and Echols both did not practice last week and were out for Sunday’s game against the Browns.
Austin and Echols were limited for the second consecutive practice. Both are confident that they’ll play on Sunday night, however.
“I’m feeling good, really good,” Austin said this week. “Ready to go.”
The Steelers certainly need Austin back, as the wide receiver corps struggled mightily against Cleveland without DK Metcalf, who’s serving a two-game suspension after getting into an altercation with a Lions fan in Week 16.
Pierre missed his third straight game this past Sunday with a calf injury he suffered against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14. Pierre was limited on Wednesday and Thursday last week before taking a step back and not practicing on Friday. Asante Samuel Jr. has replaced Pierre at outside cornerback since his injury.
Pierre was limited on Wednesday but did not practice on Thursday due to an illness.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Key Starter on Track to Play vs. Ravens
