The Steelers began their preparation for Monday night's game against the Miami Dolphins at Acrisure Stadium, practicing inside on Thursday.
Linebacker T.J. Watt did not practice on Thursday and team spokesman Burt Lauten released the following statement.
"T.J Watt is currently in a local hospital for further medical evaluation of his lung after experiencing discomfort at the practice facility on Wednesday. He will not be at practice on Thursday, and his status for Monday night's game vs. Miami is in question. Coach Tomlin will provide more updates at the appropriate time."
There was a myriad of players who didn't work, as Coach Mike Tomlin indicated many would be limited to start the week.
"Certainly, we have several guys in the concussion protocol," said Tomlin. We'll let that process run its course and the medical experts will be center stage in determining availability of those guys. Those guys are (Andrus) Peat, Malik Harrison, Darnell Washington.
"We have some other guys who got banged up during the course of play. Keeanu Benton had an ankle. He was able to go back and finish. I'm sure that will limit him some at the early portions of this week. James Pierre suffered a calf injury. He was able to finish but could impact him at the early portions of this week. Ben Skowronek, Yahya Black, and some others."
One player who could be looked at as the arrow is pointing up is safety Kyle Dugger, after he missed the Ravens game.
"Kyle Dugger has a chance to come back this week from his hand injury, and the rest are bumps and bruises associated with play," said Tomlin.
Tomlin shared more information on receiver DK Metcalf, who remained in Baltimore overnight on Sunday for observation.
"He got hit in the abdomen or stomach in-game," said Tomlin. "I think they gave him some basic over-the-counter remedies in-game, like Pepto, and it got probably progressively worse after the game.
"So, appreciative of our medical experts. We just exercised an abundance of caution. We didn't want to get him in the air without having a complete understanding about what he was dealing with, and they did a good job of that.
"He's moving in the right direction. I don't think it's going to jeopardize his availability at all, but it certainly may jeopardize his availability at the early portions of the week from a practice standpoint.
"Thankfully, he's fine. I'm appreciative of our medical staff and how quickly they acted in making sure he was safe and taking care of him postgame."
Rookie defensive lineman Derrick Harmon has missed the last two games with a knee injury, but he is working his way back to the lineup.
"Derrick Harmon will be limited at the early portions of the week, and we'll let the amount of participation and how quickly it picks up and the quality of that participation as we go through the week to determine whether or not he's available," said Tomlin. "Certainly excited about additional day as it pertains to him."
With the Monday night game, the Steelers have an extra day for players to bounce back from injuries.
"Thankful that we have an additional 24 hours or so plus this week," said Tomlin. "That's why we adjusted our schedules in the way that we've done. Sometimes when we play on Monday, particularly at the early stages of team development, we'll do Friday twice and hit a lot of or situational football and really get solid on some of that stuff.
"We just deemed it appropriate to give ourselves another additional 24 hours of recovery this week, and so that's why we've taken the approach that we've taken this week.
"Hopefully we'll get better clarity regarding some player availability. We'll give guys some additional time to rest and recuperate and be able to put their hand in the pile in terms of participating in the process of the game readiness, and certainly it's important this time of year that we have that as the road gets narrow."
The full injury and practice report is below.
Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 15
Thursday, December 11
No. 4 WR DK Metcalf (Abdomen) - Full
No. 6 LB Patrick Queen (Hip) - Full
No. 8 QB Aaron Rodgers (Left Wrist) - Full
No. 15 WR Ben Skowronek (Hand) - DNP
No. 29 S Kyle Dugger (Hand) - Full
No. 42 CB James Pierre (Calf) - DNP
No. 50 LB Malik Harrison (Concussion) - Limited
No. 71 OL Andrus Peat (Concussion) - DNP
No. 80 TE Darnell Washington (Concussion) - Limited
No. 90 LB T.J. Watt (Lung) - DNP
No. 94 DL Yahya Black (Shoulder) - Full
No. 95 DT Keeanu Benton (Ankle) - Full
No. 99 DT Derrick Harmon (Knee) - DNP
Miami Dolphins Participation/Injury Report, Week 15
Thursday, December 11
TBA
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