The Pittsburgh Steelers faced a lot of criticism leading up to their Sunday game against the Baltimore Ravens. And rightfully so considering how badly the Buffalo Bills beat them. Patrick Queen in particular was a hot topic of discussion. Despite Queen leaving the Bills game with an injury, there were a lot of negative comments floating around about him. He’s got a message for his haters following the Steelers’ 27-22 win over the Ravens, though.
“They still talking bro,” Queen said in a tweet responding to former Steelers defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko wondering what critics will say about the linebacker now. “I just work! Playing on 1 leg.”
Queen suffered what HC Mike Tomlin said was a glute injury against the Bills. That caused him to be limited in much of practice ahead of the Ravens game. It was unclear if he would play, but Queen battled back and did enough to play against his former team.
He had a solid day, too. Queen posted seven total tackles and had key coverage on Ravens tight end Mark Andrews on a Ravens fourth-down incompletion from the Steelers’ eight-yard line with around two-and-a-half minutes remaining. That kept the Ravens from taking the lead late.
It also came after Queen suffered an injury earlier on that same drive. He left the game but returned shortly after. While it’s unclear what the nature of his injury was, it’s clear that he’s dealing with some kind of lower-body issue.
This isn’t the first time that Queen has played through an ailment to face the Ravens either. He dealt with food poisoning in the Steelers’ playoff game against the Ravens last year. While things didn’t go the Steelers’ way in that contest, they avenged that loss Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
We’ll see if Queen’s injury hampers him moving forward. For what it’s worth, Tomlin didn’t mention Queen in his postgame injury report. The Steelers are about to enter the home stretch of the season, so they’re going to want to be as healthy as possible.
They lost Malik Harrison to a concussion in the Ravens game, which already leaves them thin at middle linebacker. Missing Queen, one of their leaders, would hurt even more. Hopefully, he can continue fighting through the pain.