Steelers provide updates on Joe Haden’s injury, game condition

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Steelers’ Joe Haden carries the ball during a touchdown after intercepting a Raven pass.

Pittsburgh Steelers star full-back Joe Haden is one step closer to getting back on the football field. Haden, who has missed the last four games with a leg injury, has been listed as a full training participant into the Steelers December 17. Injury report. That’s a good sign because Haden didn’t participate on Wednesday and was capped on Thursday. Haden carries a questionable designation for Pittsburgh’s showdown with the Tennessee Titans on December 19.

Full-back Ben Roethlisberger (pec/shoulder) is also a full participant after being restricted on Thursday. Linebackers TJ Watt (groin) and Alex Highsmith (quad) also trained well. Rookie Buddy Johnson (foot) is the only player currently on the field for Sunday’s game.

Having Watt back makes a lot of sense for the Steelers defence. Like NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala tweeted, when Watt has more than 40 snaps, Pittsburgh is 6-2; less than 40 snaps, 0-4-1. Literally a game changer.

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Harris’s hot hand

This season, Najee Harris has been a bright spot in a struggling Pittsburgh Steelers attack. Whether you’re on the side of the team that picks to run back with their first overall pick or not, getting a player like Harris is what the Steelers desperately need.

Based on Focus on professional football, Harris has the most total mandatory tackles in the league. The tweet says 70, but premium stats (available only with check-in) at PFF show that Harris has missed defenders 72 times – 29 on receivers and 43 runs.

Harris is also tied with Denver Broncos rookie Javonte Williams for get the most hits by a rookie running back with three.

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Harris didn’t commit any clumsiness during his 238 carry – or any clumsiness as a pro. Each PFF . bet, he was ahead of Alvin Kumara of the New Orleans Saints (173) and Leonard Fournette of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (171).

But change of schedule

In 2020, the Steelers had to accept some regrets but the schedule changes due to their adversary’s COVID protocol risks. This year, the league has generally avoided any modifications to the schedule – until now.

On December 17th, NFL announced three matches have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak affecting six teams.

The Las Vegas Raiders at Cleveland Browns game has been moved from Saturday, December 18 to Monday, December 20 at 5 p.m. ET. The LA Rams against the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Soccer Team at the Philadelphia Eagles will now begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

It’s interesting that the league picks 7 p.m. EST for the two teams in the Pacific time zone, since that’s 4 p.m. in Los Angeles. If it was a weekend game, it wouldn’t be a thing. Doubleheaders was previously played at 10pm, so the timing was a bit of a surprise.

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