Some positive progress on the second injury report of the week.
While the Thursday injury report showed some encouraging progress for some Bucs, other prominent names look poised to miss Week 6’s road trip to Pittsburgh.
Jaelon Darden’s dental issue has seemingly been resolved, as he went from DNP because of his tooth to full participation. Edge rusher Carl Nassib came back to practice after missing Wednesday because of illness, and Russell Gage — who has dealt with a variety of nicks since arriving in Tampa — went from DNP to limited participation.
Cam Brate seems recovered from his concussion, as he participated in full for the second straight day. While he hasn’t formally been cleared from concussion protocol, he appears on the right track. Carlton Davis practiced fully again and looks like he’ll be ready to play after banging up his hip last Sunday.
Mike Edwards was spotted wearing a brace on his injured elbow and going through practice on a limited basis, so he remains questionable heading into the weekend. Chris Godwin and William Gholston got rest days on Thursday and should be fine for Sunday.
On a less optimistic note, Julio Jones, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Logan Ryan and Akiem Hicks have all missed both practices and are long shots to play. With Breshad Perriman back from his leg injuries, it’ll be interesting to see if he or Scotty Miller are active as the 5th/6th receiver in place of Jones.
Murphy-Bunting’s injury paves the way for rookie Zyon McCollum to be the primary backup at outside corner. In his first action of the season against the Falcons, McCollum held up well in relief of both SMB and Davis, and he looked good on special teams too.
On the Steelers front, they’re poised to be missing several key contributors. Cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon and Cameron Sutton are both major question marks after missing their second practices, and another corner (Levi Wallace) remains in concussion protocol.
Most notably, star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has logged back-to-back DNPs, as have guard Mason Cole and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi.
Here’s the report in full: