The Pittsburgh Steelers Just Got BIG INJURY NEWS That Impacts Their Week 8 Matchup vs. The Packers

The Pittsburgh Steelers Just Got BIG INJURY NEWS That Impacts Their Week 8 Matchup vs. The Packers

Welcome in to Steelers Talk. I’m your host, J Barry. Thank you guys for joining me here on a Friday. The official injury report for Sunday Night Football’s matchup between the Steelers and Packers is out. We got some news today that impacts this football game that we’re going to talk about on today’s show. But before we get into the action here, make sure you guys click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. We already have our extensive preview for this game on the channel. Uh we have a bunch of different stuff on the channel that we put out this week. A lot of great stuff. We put out a quarterbacks, a college quarterback and draft target video out earlier today. If you guys want to check out my thoughts on guys like Tai Simpson, Dante Moore, uh Fernando Mendoza, and more. I’ve got my thoughts on those guys. Um and some more really interesting college quarterback prospects that we put out earlier today. So, make sure you click that subscribe button to never miss any of our videos. We try to get you at least two videos out every day that’s not a Steelers game day. And of course, we go live for every single Steelers game. So, we will be going live on Sunday starting at 700 p.m. Eastern time. Over an hour of pregame coverage, followed by live playbyplay and live analysis of the game itself, followed by postgame analysis. So, uh we have the largest Steelers watch parties anywhere on YouTube. So, if you guys want to join us, make sure you guys click that subscribe button and join the Steelers Talk family today. So, we’ll start with the Steelers injury report today. officially Calvin Austin III and TJ Watt. Uh two guys that you know, you know, we’re pretty sure that those guys were going to play this week. Uh especially with the sentiment surrounding Calvin Austin the third and his recovery from his shoulder injury, but now it’s officially official. Uh Austin and Watt. Uh Watt did get popped up on the injury report this week with a hip injury was limited at times in practice this week, but he is good to go. Same thing goes for Calvin Austin III. Now, because Watt is dealing with a little bit of a hip issue, maybe that’s another reason why Nick Herbig should be getting more playing time than the less than 30 snaps he had last week versus the Cincinnati Bengals. It certainly seems like Terrell Austin and Mike Tomlin um with their sentiments and their messaging this week. It seems like Nick is probably going to get a little bit more playing time this week. Hopefully, that’s the case. He’s been phenomenal this year. And now that Watt is dealing uh with a little bit of a hip issue, uh that could be even more reason to get Herbig more into the rotation and try to give him, you know, maybe up to like 40 40 plus snaps in this ball game. I’m somebody that has advocated for the Steelers to embrace a three-way rotation at edge rusher and get these guys playing at a pretty similar amount and get these guys rotated in and out and give them uh you know certain rest breaks and all that stuff to keep them fresh throughout the course of a game and throughout the course of the season. And frankly, we never know, you know, when another injury is going to pop up. So to whenever you do have all three of these guys healthy, you should, you know, utilize all three and you should keep these guys fresh um and kind of save some of those bullets in case you know they have to play more because somebody else is injured. So it’s good to see Austin and Watt no injury designations they will play. Um someone that did pop up with a finger injury and will be out for this game is Scotty Miller. Uh because of that and Scalvin Austin returning um here I would expect Kon Williams to retain his active roster spot on Sunday. Um we’ll see what how how many receivers get a spot on the active roster and you know maybe some people would point to Isaiah Hajins maybe even being activated onto the active roster here. But personally I don’t think that’s going to happen because you’re going to have to take someone off of the active roster in that case. And I don’t really see Hajins or any reason to bring Hajins off of the practice squad at this point. So I would just expect Kashan Williams who has done a pretty decent job, especially as a kickoff and punt return guy. I would expect Kashan to kind of retain his spot as probably a really good kickoff return guy. Um, but I probably would expect Calvin to retain his job as the starting punt return man for the special teams here with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the guys that are questionable for the Steelers this week, the biggest name is Zack Frasier, the center. He popped up with a calf injury. Uh he was wearing a sleeve on his calf all week and uh he was a limited part participant today in practice. If he can’t go, it’s going to be Ryan McCollum, his backup. And I do think McCollum is a serviceable backup uh for this Steelers offense. If McCollum has to play, I don’t think it’s going to necessarily ruin the Pittsburgh Steelers chances of winning this ball game. don’t think it’s that drastic of a decline, even though obviously you want to have Frasier out there. He’s an awesome player and he’s really been playing well these last few weeks in particular in my opinion. Um, and then Will Howard and Malik Harrison, two guys that have been on IR for a while. They had their had their uh 21-day practice window opened this week. Um, you know, we’ll see if they end up making the active roster this week, but they they are officially questionable to play. Uh they both practiced in full this week though, so it seems like they are uh getting back to full health. Shifting over to the Green Bay Packers, and this is really where, you know, the the impact on the game really starts to kick in. Lucas Van Ness and Dantavian Wixs are the two players that will be out. So Dantavian Wixs, route runner, bigger body, can run block at wide receiver. He will be out in this game. I believe he has a calf injury. And then Lucas Vaness, who’s been out for a number of weeks at this point, will be out. And the reason why that affects this ball game, guys, is because they might be a little bit less inclined to put Micah Parsons at offball linebacker. And you know, reason why I say that, why I would even suggest that they do something like that is because we all know that the Pittsburgh Steelers love to run these jumbo personnel looks. has become a big part of their identity on offense where they bring in Spencer Anderson, an offensive lineman to play as an eligible tight end. And then they have Darnell Washington next to him pretty much creating a sevenman offensive line to run block for Jaylen Warren and Kenny Gainwell and all the guys that they got here in Pittsburgh. And um having that plan has really worked out. And you know the Steelers rushing attack has been one of if not the best rushing attack in football ever since they started deploying those. And a big reason for that, guys, is because teams have a hard time matching the size and the strength that the Steelers are putting out on the offensive line because they like to play a lot of nickel and they like to play a lot of too high safety coverage and all this different stuff. But, you know, if you do that, you’re not going to have, you know, the strength advantage and you’re not going to have the numbers advantage. Um, so the Steelers are really doing a good job forcing these teams’ hands and trying to make them play heavier. But the Packers kind of have a unique kind of setup here where they have Rashan Garry and Lucas Vaness alongside Micah Parsons and of course Micah has plenty of experience playing off ball. So, they could have theoretically played Lucas Vaness on one side at edge, then uh then Rashawn Garry on the other side, and then you could have had Micah Parsons in there as an offball linebacker combined with Quay Walker and Edin Cooper, their two normal starters at offball linebacker and play like a true 4-3 defense with Micah Parson’s, you know, incredible athlete screaming uh from the offball linebacker position. They could use him in creative blitz looks and stuff like that as well. So, you know, if Lucas Vaness would have been able to play, they could have probably been a little bit more creative than what they’re going to have to do now, where I’m I’m guessing they’re going to have to play Michael Parsons at the edge for a very vast majority of this football game. Um, which is not going to be good news for the Green for the Green Bay Packers. They’re going to have to use some other offball linebacker if they want to play in base 43. Um, we’ll we’ll see how they try to uh handle the Pittsburgh Steelers rushing attack and their uh jumbo personnel looks, but I do think the Steelers have the advantage in that regard heading into this week. And frankly, they’re going to have that advantage over most teams in the National Football League because most NFL defenses like to play in nickel and they like to base out of nickel and they like to play with two high safety coverages. And this is a big reason why Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin wanted this to be the identity of the Steelers. um because it it kind of like perfectly counteracts, you know, the modern NFL defensive kind of philosophy, which is to have a lot of speed on the field, play out of nickel, play out of two high safety structures a majority of the time. And um you know, the this heavy personnel identity that the Steelers have cultivated for themselves has allowed them to win that strength battle at the line of scrimmage to dominate that. And then when you combine that with a guy like Jaylen Warren, who’s one of the more dynamic running back threats in the game today, consistently makes guys miss. It usually takes more than one person to bring down Jaylen. Um it it could it’s it’s it’s a son of a to go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers rushing attack now, guys. And that’s really good if you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I think it’s going to be a big reason why the Steelers are going to be able to uh have a pretty darn good chance to win on Sunday night. Okay. Then the questionable guys for the Packers this week, some notable names. Christian Watson, who’s still working his way back from a serious injury he suffered last year. He’s looking to make his senior season debut this week. He’s going to be questionable going into Sunday. Also, kind of an injury that got popped up here late. Matthew Golden is dealing with an injury. Um the rookie out of Texas and he’s going to be questionable to go this week as well. So, if they’re without Watson and they’re without Golden, both of those guys, they’re already down Dantavian Wixs. I mean, we’re going to be looking at um and they’re already down Jaden Reed as well, who’s currently on IR. That’s a lot of uh you know, talented receivers that they’re going to be down and they’re going to be asking guys like Savon Williams and Malik Heath to step up in really, really big ways. Of course, they’re going to be asking quite a bit of Romeo Dos regardless this week. Um so, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with those two wide receivers. Keep your eye on their statuses. And then Dvonte Wyatt also is questionable to play in this game. Wyatt, you know, one of the more underrated defensive tackles in the National Football League in my opinion. Um, really, really good football player, really disruptive and a really good pass rusher from the Interior defensive line position. So, for him to not be out there, he’s missed the last few weeks. He’s questionable to go for this one. If he’s not able to go, that’s going to certainly help out the interior of this Steelers offensive line. And then Brandon McManis, their kicker, is also going to be questionable for this football game. So obviously if they’re down him, they’re going to be down their starting kicker, which could mean some special teams wo specifically in the kicking game for Green Bay this week. So that’s uh the injury updates that we have for you guys today. Obviously, I think especially the Packers injuries really affect the dynamic of this football game, especially the Lucas Van Ness one. And if they’re out, Matthew Golden as well, that’s certainly going to uh impact the game as well. But it’s nice to see Calvin Austin the third officially back this week. Excited to see what he’s going to be able to do. Same thing with TJ Watt. you know, he’s he hasn’t missed any time, but it’s nice to know that, you know, he’s not questionable or, you know, it’s anything that’s going to keep him out of this week’s game. Hopefully, Zack Frasier is able to go and start for this football team on Sunday night. It would certainly be helpful to not have a backup center snapping the ball to Aaron Rogers um in this really key matchup on Sunday Night Football. So, we’re going to continue to give you guys updates throughout the weekend if we get anything uh big in terms of these questionable uh designations. And of course, we’ll have our mailbag coming out uh later this weekend as well. And we got a very, very in-depth Steelers uh defensive uh video coming out tomorrow morning. So, you guys are not going to want to miss that. Uh in that video, I break down two adjustments that the Pittsburgh Steelers can make right now that I think could catapult this defense to a top 10 level. And if that happens, that would make the Pittsburgh Steelers, in my opinion, bonafide Super Bowl contenders this season. So, you’re not going to want to miss that video tomorrow, guys. It comes out around noon tomorrow, I would say. So, make sure you click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. Till next time, guys.

Pittsburgh Steelers news and rumors: The Pittsburgh Steelers got huge news ahead of their NFL Week 8 matchup vs the Green Bay Packers including a return for WR Calvin Austin III as well as OLB T.J. Watt being cleared to go. Green Bay Packers EDGE Lukas Van Ness and WR Dontayvion Wicks have been ruled out which will seriously impact their rotation for EDGE and WR respectively. Steelers Report by Chat Sports with Jack Sperry discusses how this injury news will impact the Pittsburgh Steelers as they look to get revenge on the Green Bay Packers for Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

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Steelers Injury Report vs GB (as of 10/24):
IN: Calvin Austin III, T.J. Watt
OUT: Scotty Miller
QUESTIONABLE: Zach Frazier (Ryan McCollum as his trustworthy backup), Will Howard, Malik Harrison

Packers Injury Report vs PIT (as of 10/24):
OUT: Lukas Van Ness, Dontayvion Wicks
QUESTIONABLE: Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, DeVonte Wyatt Brandon McManus

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– Will the Steelers win against the Green Bay Packers? Type ‘Y’ for yes or ‘N’ for no.
– Welcome back Calvin Austin III. Spam ‘CA’ to give him some love!

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Calvin Austin II 2025 stats:
– 10 REC
– 139 YDS
– 13.9 AVG
– 2 TDs

Check out more Steelers football content on YouTube with some of our latest videos:
– Steelers Draft Rumors: The Only 6 QBs PIT Should Be Considering In Round 1 Of The 2026 NFL Draft – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka_Q9s2hXjc
– Steelers News: DC Teryl Austin Shares CONCERNING Evaluation Of PIT’s Defense + Week 8 Injury Updates – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLayoAd-mbw
– 6 Steelers Players That Should Be Playing MORE Than They Are (+ 3 That Should Be Playing LESS) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTzkkdu28X0

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