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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (hamstring) continues to deal with a hamstring issue heading into Week 16. He wasn't able to suit up for his team's Week 14 and 15 contests, and given how tricky hamstring problems are to deal with, it's worth questioning if he'll be able to play on Sunday.
Pickens had played in every game before this injury, racking up impressive numbers in the weeks that quarterback Russell Wilson started. His numbers weren't as great with backup QB Justin Fields, but that's why he's the backup quarterback. Pickens is the team's clear WR1, and has been treated more like it by Wilson than Fields.
But the new injury doesn't appear to be trivial. So is No. 14 in danger of missing the rest of this season?
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Is George Pickens Out For The Season?
His status for Week 16 is very much up in the air. He returned to practice to do some drills and work off to the side on Tuesday, but as it was a light practice day and he didn't do anything "official" (whatever that means), he was designated as a "DNP". So his status for Week 16 is, as stated, very unclear.
Light practice day for the Steelers, but even so, Justin Fields, George Pickens, DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson and TJ Watt didn’t practice.
Larry Ogunjobi (groin) was limited pic.twitter.com/1XDYmMIiRL
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) December 17, 2024
But it's unlikely that he'll miss the rest of the season. There hasn't been any reporting from the team about a long-term absence, and they opted not to place him on injured reserve. Typically, you expect the return timetable for players in this situation to be under four weeks.
Subsequent practice reports will be more revealing, so fantasy managers should check for updates as the week progresses. But Pickens will play again this season, and likely in the regular season. We expect his return to come either this week or next week, but not to take as long as Week 18 to come around.
Barring an unexpected setback, of course.
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