Steelers Now
CHICAGO — The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered three injuries in Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the Chicago Bears — wide receiver DK Metcalf (ankle), cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (hip) and left tackle Broderick Jones (stinger).
“DK got an ankle,” head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game. “You saw him go back in. Joey Porter got a hip flexor, he wasn’t able to return. Broderick Jones had stingers. I don’t have any further descriptions of that. I think he’ll be examined.”
Metcalf exited the team’s matchup with the Bears in the second quarter.
Metcalf missed a sizable portion of a march that ended with a failed fourth-down try. He exited the tent without his helmet and attempted to run, performing lateral movements and get-offs, before being given his helmet back.
Metcalf left the game in the fourth quarter again after Jonnu Smith fell on his ankle after a tackle. He returned and was on the field for the final possession.
Metcalf had scored the Steelers’ first touchdown of the game, powering in from six yards out in the first frame.
As the Bears marched down the field and Colston Loveland hauled in a 12-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter of Sunday’s game, Porter exited the game and entered the blue medical tent on the sideline.
After Loveland reeled in his score, Porter emerged from the tent and took a seat on the bench. Porter returned to the contest despite a leg injury. A hip injury tagged him as questionable to return in the third quarter. He was later ruled out.
Darius Slay replaced Porter, a third-year coverman, and joined James Pierre in the secondary. Pierre got the start over Slay, who’d missed last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a concussion, in part because Pierre impressed against Ja’Marr Chase.
After a Mason Rudolph fourth-quarter scramble drill, Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones remained down for a few moments, walked off the field under his own power, then headed to the blue medical tent after spiking his helmet on the sideline. He emerged from the cover and headed to the locker room with a stinger.
The Steelers’ training staff was working on Jones’ back on the sideline before he ducked away. Calvin Anderson replaced Jones at left tackle.
Stingers are extremely painful nerve injuries that can be a cause of or symptom of more serious issues. Repeated stingers caused current Steelers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. elected to have neck surgery this offseason, and the injuries that eventually ended the careers of Steelers defensive backs Ryan Watts and Trenton Thompson were initially described as stingers.
But it seems that Jones will not have nearly as negative of an outcome. He was walking around the Steelers locker room after the game without apparent issue and said he’s doing OK.
His status for next Sunday’s critical showdown of AFC bubble teams between the Steelers and Buffalo Bills remains uncertain at this point.
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from Chicago.
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