The Pittsburgh Steelers Just Got BIG INJURY NEWS That Impacts Their Week 11 Matchup vs. The Bengals

The Pittsburgh Steelers Just Got BIG INJURY NEWS That Impacts Their Week 11 Matchup vs. The Bengals

Welcome in to Steelers Talk. I’m your host, Jack Sperry. Thank you guys for joining me here on a Friday evening to talk about the latest Steelers injury updates as this team prepares to take on the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Sunday afternoon. Uh got some pretty big injury updates here for this particular football game that I want to discuss. We’re going to be talking about what those injury updates are and then how they affect this week’s matchup for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Make sure you guys click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. Usually we put out these injury report videos uh here when I’m at home on my day off. Um because whenever big injury updates happen for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it doesn’t matter if I’m on my day off or whether I’m in studio. Doesn’t mean doesn’t matter really matter where I’m at. I’m my dedication to you guys is that I’m going to get you um the latest on the Pittsburgh Steelers whenever the news breaks. So make sure you guys click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. We’ll probably also have another at home style video that comes out tomorrow if there’s any u notable practice squad elevations or anything of that kind. So, make sure you guys keep an eye out for that tomorrow as well. But let’s get into the injury report updates here. Of course, the final injury report for both the Steelers and Bengals came out today in preparation for Sunday’s matchup. And some pretty big ones here for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Um Alex Heismith, who’s been dealing with a pack pec injury all throughout the week. He will be out this week, meaning that Nick Herbig will be in line to start on the opposite side of TJ Watt on the Steelers defensive line. Also, Cole Hulcom still dealing with an illness. He will be out. Um, and then Darius Slay, who got concussed last week versus the Los Angeles Chargers, he will be out this game as well. So, what those injuries pretty much mean for the Steelers from a personnel standpoint is that Nick Herbig will uh get the start at outside linebacker opposite of TJ Watt and Jack Sawyer will be the third rotational piece. He’ll be getting uh some more playing time. And honestly, Jack’s played pretty well in his time out there for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. So, excited to see what he can do in a rotational role. And Nick Herbig, whenever he’s been uh starting for this Steelers defense, uh the pass rush has been pretty darn good. that Hervig has been a very productive pass rusher for the Steelers this year. So, it sucks that Alex is going to be unable to go in this game and hopefully that pec injury isn’t anything too serious. Um, but the good news is that the Pittsburgh Steelers have excellent depth at the outside linebacker position. So, Nick Herig is going to be able to u, you know, step into that starting role and we know that he is more than capable of executing and playing well in that spot. So certainly not too far of a drop off there in terms of your starting outside linebacker duo. Cole Hulcom, you know, he’s been out of the lineup here for this will be his third straight game with that illness. So Malik Harrison has come in and been that third rotational inside linebacker. He’s been perfectly fine. No huge worries there. And then Darius Slay, um, you know, obviously he hasn’t been playing the best this season and they just brought in Asante Samuel Jr. and James Pierre has been playing very well on the outside. So, to this point, the Steelers have not elevated Asante Samuel Jr. We’ll see if they do that tomorrow, especially with Slay being out of the lineup this week. Um, but it looks like James Pierre is going to be in line to start for the Pittsburgh Steelers uh this week. And he’s played really well. He’s got six pass breakups in just the last two games. Uh he’s been a really good cover player for the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last few weeks. So, um, especially because you’re going up against a guy like T. Higgins, who he’s probably going to be, uh, asked to go up against, you know, having a a lanky kind of physical corner like him on a guy like T. Higgins is something that I think is a pretty decent matchup for for his skill set and what he does well. Um, so excited to see what James is going to be able to do on the outside this week. Um, and then, uh, the questionable players on the injury report for the Steelers this week, it’s just one, and that’s Isaac Seamalo, who is dealing with a pec injury. He did uh practice in a limited capacity earlier in the week, but he did not practice today here on Friday, meaning that he’s likely not going to be able to play on Sunday afternoon, which of course will mean Spencer Anderson will have to play left guard and then they’ll have to bring in Andrew Pete when they go to their jumbo personnel packages. And I I do think that that is a little bit concerning because we’ve whenever you know Samalo’s been out and whenever they haven’t gone to jumbo personnel looks with everybody healthy this run game has just not been the same and this offense has not been the same. So hopefully this week uh the offense can get something going even without Samalo out there in the starting lineup. But some good news Brick Jones who’s been dealing with a groin injury this week he is good to go. He does not have an injury designation so he will start on Sunday afternoon. And then Jabril Peppers will be in uh this week. He is back from his quad injury. And I think it’s going to be interesting to see how the Pittsburgh Steelers kind of maneuver uh the safety and nickel cornerback kind of situation this week with Peppers being in injected back into the Steelers defense. U Mike Tomlin said this week that Jaylen Ramsay has been a very quote unquote stabilizing force in the Steelers defense at safety and he certainly has. He’s he’s played a really good safety the last few weeks. Um, but you know, my understanding was when they brought in Kyle Duggar, the thinking was Jabril Peppers was going to be the safety on the other side of him. Um, obviously Peppers and Duggar played in the same secondary there in New England as safeties for multiple years. And with the Steelers playing a little bit more split safety stuff, they’re they’re asking their safeties to be more involved in the run game. Um, you know, Kyle Duggar’s obviously done a really good job of that throughout his career and Jaylen Ramsay’s done a really good job of that for the Steelers. He’s an excellent run defender, great tackler, all that stuff. So, you know, I I could certainly see the Steelers just, you know, stick with what’s working and keeping Jaylen Ramsey and Kyle Duggar at safety and then continuing to play Brandon Eckles in the slot. But Eckles has kind of struggled these last two weeks in coverage, man. He really has. And he got toasted multiple times versus Lad Mani, Keenan Allen, and uh the various slot weapons that the Chargers have last week and then even the week before that. uh you know he would he he had some lapses in coverage versus the Colts. So um something that would be interesting to me and something that I’m going to be watching for to on Sunday afternoon is do they put Jaylen Ramsay back at nickel and then plug Jabril Peppers in at safety. I think that that might alleviate maybe your your weakest link right now in my opinion which is Brandon Eckles playing the slot because uh Jaylen is just so good playing in the slot. He really struggles at this point in his career playing outside corner against legitimate number one wide receivers. We saw that the last time the the uh we played the Bengals back in week seven on Thursday Night Football. Jaylen Ramsey, it just can’t hang with like the truly elite route runners on the outside anymore, but he’s still a really good nickel player. And uh if you feel like you can trust Jr. Peppers at safety. Uh I think that putting Jaylen Ramsay back in the nickel could make this Steelers pass defense even better than what it has been over the last two weeks. So I’m going to be interested to see how Mike Tomlin and Tara Austin kind of um you know shift the puzzle pieces around here this week at safety and at the slot cornerback position. Um but then on the other side of the ball here, the Cincinnati Bengals, multiple key players are going to be out for them. Once again, Joe Burrow will be out. Trey Hendrickson will also be out. Shamar Stewart, their rookie out of Texas A&M, an edge rusher, he will be out this week as well. So, their depth at uh defensive end, not too great heading into this ball game. And then Sam Perine, their number two running back will be out as well. And then Lucas Patrick, one of their starting offensive linemen, a guard, is questionable to play in this game. We’ll see if he ends up playing. Um, but I I I want to leave you guys with this little discussion here, and that is what’s going to happen with the practice squad elevations. Will they bring up anybody? Will they will they keep both Asante Samuel Jr. and Marquez Valdez Scantling on the P squad, or do one or both of those guys get elevated? Now, I could certainly see Asante Samuel Jr. get elevated because Darius Slay obviously is going to be out in this ball game. And if you’re just going into the game with Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre and then Brandon Eckles as like your true corners. Then, you know, if any of those guys gets injured, that means Jaylen Ramsay is going to have to, you know, not play safety. So, you know, and then if there’s another injury, then you’re in a lot of trouble. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if Asante gets elevated to the active roster and then maybe they just, you know, not, you know, they don’t start him, but he’s in reserve in case they in case of an emergency. Could certainly see that. And then also Marquez Valdez scantling. You know, there’s been some hints from guys like Aaron Rogers and Arthur Smith that MVS is actually not going to get elevated this week. Uh Rogers said in his media availability this week that he’s not getting like any reps with the first team in practice. And um you know, Arthur Smith kept alluding to all practice squad players trying to get activated when he was asked specifically about MVS being elevated. So honestly, if I had to guess right now, I don’t think MVS gets elevated. I think this team is going to continue to put their faith not only in Calvin Austin the third and Roman Wilson, but also uh the numerous uh receiving tight ends that they have on this team, John Smith, Pat Fri. I’m really hoping that they, you know, really uh, you know, uh, go heavier with Pat Frymouth starting this week because last time, you know, we played the Bengals, obviously Muth was the leading receiver, over 110 yards receiving, multiple touchdowns, multiple big plays, and frankly, John Smith has just not been very good this year. He’s got less than 200 yards receiving this year. um which is just unacceptable for somebody that plays as much as he does and for somebody that is really, you know, his role in the offense is to be a receiving tight end specialist and he’s I think he’s getting like less than 20 receiving yards a game at this point, which is just, you know, crazy for a full-time starter. So, I think Pat Firemouth is clearly the best receiving tight end option. I think that he should be getting um you know, full-time starting reps. And frankly, I think that January Smith should be mostly on the bench. He doesn’t really do a whole lot for this offense at this point. And I know he’s Arthur Smith’s guy, but I really think that, you know, if you’re looking for other players outside of DK Metaf and Jaylen Warren to step up in this offense, I would say Pat Frymouth is the next guy on the list here that I would trust the most. And I’m hoping that Calvin Austin the third and Roman Wilson uh can step up here down the stretch and uh kind of prove to the Steelers coaching staff and front office that you know the faith that they have put in those two guys uh is going to pay off down the stretch here. But um you know we haven’t seen it to this point. You know Calvin only has two games with over 50 receiving yards and I don’t think he has a single one over 100 and then Roman only has one over 50 uh receiving yards this year. and u you know most of those yards came in garbage time. So you know just hoping that somebody else is going to step up this week. We’ll see what ends up happening. We’ll probably give you guys an update on which players are getting elevated from the practice squad tomorrow. Uh so make sure you guys click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. We’ll have two videos come out tomorrow. We’ll have our weekly mailbag uh with a bunch of really great questions this week, guys. I can’t wait to see uh I can’t wait for you guys to see tomorrow. And then also we’ll have that kind of last minute update video. uh where I’ll come to you once again from my home. Uh so make sure you guys uh click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. Greatly appreciate you guys sitting there uh listening to me talk here uh this evening. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. And until next time, guys, here we go.

Steelers Talk by Chat Sports on Friday, November 14th, dives into the latest Steelers injury news & updates as Pittsburgh prepares to take on the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Sunday afternoon. How will the absence of defensive starters such as Alex Highsmith and Darius Slay affect the Steelers’ defense this week? With Isaac Seumalo likely out for another game this week, can Steelers fans really expect the offense to bounce back? Should the Steelers move Jalen Ramsey away from safety and put him back at nickel corner now that Jabrill Peppers is back from his quad injury? Get some answers on today’s edition of Steelers News & Rumors, brought to you by Chat Sports.

The 2025 NFL season will be pivotal for the Steelers! Subscribe to not miss a thing: https://www.youtube.com/SteelersTV?sub_confirmation=1

If you’re excited about the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers, HIT THAT THUMBS UP ICON!

More NBA ,NFL and college football rumors from @chatsports – follow us across the internet…
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chatsports
– X: https://x.com/ChatSports
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chatsports

Love our videos? Then share this one!

We’ve got more Pittsburgh Steelers content every day here at Steelers Talk. He’s some of our latest hits:
– Steelers Rumors: TRADE Mike Tomlin To The Giants? + New Report Reveals Why George Pickens Was Traded – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTqnXmJVves
– Steelers News: Jon Gruden DOUBLES DOWN On Will Howard + Why You SHOULDN’T Panic About Aaron Rodgers – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzdp20INyUs
– Steelers QB Draft Targets: 2 Draft-Eligible QBs NOBODY Is Talking About That PIT Could Take In RD1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtxQBRMagdg

This is going to be a MASSIVE Pittsburgh Steelers season. Turn on those notifications so you never miss a thing!

Get all the latest NFL news and NFL rumors this season on the Chat Sports YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/chatsportstv?sub_confirmation=1

NEVER miss a Steelers news story this year by giving host Jack Sperry a follow on X: https://x.com/jack_sperry

#Steelers #SteelersNews #SteelersRumors #CSB