Joe Sargent/Getty Images Stephon Tuitt of the Pittsburgh Steelers sacks Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans on September 27, 2020.
On Friday afternoon the Pittsburgh Steelers added three linemen—including a pair of defenders—to the team’s COVID-19 Reserve list.
At the top of the list is starting defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who is joined by backup defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs and offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins.
Pittsburgh currently has a total of four players on COVID-19 Reserve, as rookie offensive guard Kevin Dotson has been on the list since November 14th.
There is no word yet on whether Tuitt, Buggs or Hawkins have tested positive for the virus or whether they are high-risk close contacts of someone who has. But none of the three can be cleared before the Ravens game, assuming the game is played on Tuesday evening, as tentatively scheduled.
Regardless, Pittsburgh’s player availability issues still pale in comparison to those faced by Baltimore, which has added a dozen players to its COVID-19 Reserve list since this past weekend.
Ravens have added a dozen players to the Reserve/COVID-19 list this week:
QB Lamar Jackson
FB Patrick Ricard
DE J.Madubuike
LS Morgan Cox
RB Mark Ingram
RB J.K. Dobbins
NT Brandon Williams
OLB Pernell McPhee
DE Calais Campbell
OL Matt Skura
OL Patrick Mekari
DE Jihad Ward
Steelers Disadvantaged by Scheduling Changes
As it stands now, the Steelers are scheduled to play the Ravens on Tuesday night in front of a national television audience on NBC.
Our game against the Baltimore Ravens will now be played on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
But because the NFL has moved the game to Tuesday, the Steelers will now be forced to play the first-place Washington Redskins (4-7) on Sunday December 6th with only four days in between. Meanwhile, the Redskins will have had nine days rest, having clobbered the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
That’s hardly ideal, considering both teams would have come into the game with the same amount of rest had the Steelers hosted the Ravens on Thanksgiving night, as originally scheduled.
The Ravens don’t make out as badly with their scheduling adjustments, as Baltimore’s Week 13 game vs. Dallas has been moved to Monday December 7th, giving them five days between games, as compared to Pittsburgh’s four.
Steelers Injury/Participation List Update
Meanwhile, both the Steelers and Ravens issued “estimated” injury/participation reports on Friday, as neither team held practice.
Steelers cornerback Joe Haden (knee) was listed as “limited”; he was also involved in a car crash on Friday that appears to have caused significant damage to the passenger side of his black Rolls-Royce.
For his part, running back Jaylen Samuels (quad) would have missed practice entirely, had a session been held.
Meanwhile, Baltimore listed nine players on Friday’s participation report, including a few who would not have practiced—starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, for example—due to their COVID-19 status.
But there were four notable Ravens players listed as “limited,” those being:
TE Mark Andrews (thigh)
OLB Matthew Judon (ankle)
OG Tyre Phillips (ankle)
CB Jimmy Smith (ankle)
Former Steelers CB Visits with Detroit Lions
In one other bit of news today, former Steelers CB Alexander Myres is visiting with the Detroit Lions. Myres went undrafted out of the University of Houston but was signed by the Steelers to a futures contract in December 2019. He was cut by the Steelers at the end of August when the team signed former Penn State wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins, who only lasted a week before getting released.
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