Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here’s your weekly roster update.
It’s time once again time to take a run down the Pittsburgh Steelers roster and update it for this week’s game. Pittsburgh is once again shuffling the roster ahead of this week’s game. On Sunday the Steelers will take on the New York Jets and Pittsburgh continues to play for their playoff lives.
Here is our updated gallery of the Steelers roster sorted by jersey number.
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The Steelers are road favorites this week.
It’s December football and this usually means the Pittsburgh Steelers are winning. Pittsburgh is 2-1 so far in the month and this week they start the first of a two-game road trip and first up are the New York Jets. New York is sitting at 5-9 but have been playing better football especially on the defensive side of the football.
But for the Steelers, this game is all about the playoffs. There is no margin for error with only two games to play. The oddsmakers tend to think Pittsburgh will go on the road and pull off the win as Bet MGM has Pittsburgh as a 2.5-point road favorite this week.
The Steelers are 4-1 against the Jets in the last five matchups going back to 2011. These two teams squared off most recently in 2016 with Pittsburgh winning 31-13 at Heinz Field. The last time the Steelers played the Jets on the road, New York won 20-13.
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The Steelers got JuJu Smith-Schuster back Wednesday.
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JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) was limited and Vance McDonald (concussion) was full today.
— Missi Matthews (@missi_matthews) December 18, 2019
The Pittsburgh Steelers got some good news at practice on Wednesday. According to the team’s practice report, tight end Vance McDonald was a full participant after having missed time with a concussion. The team hasn’t officially announced he’s out of the league’s concussion protocol but that could be coming very soon.
Another player who returned to practice was wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. He was limited but did get out there and get some reps in. Smith-Schuster has missed the last four games with a knee injury.
The Steelers go on the road this week to take on the New York Jets.
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Pittsburgh has their starting quarterback for Sunday’s game.
Tomlin said Devlin Hodges will start again at QB against the Jets
— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) December 17, 2019
When the Pittsburgh Steelers go against the New York Jets this weekend it will once again be quarterback Devin Hodges getting the start. Head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the press on Tuesday and quieted any concerns about a budding quarterback controversy.
It wasn’t unreasonable to wonder if Tomlin would go back to Mason Rudolph after Hodges four-interception effort against the Buffalo Bills. After all, it was only one half of subpar football after Rudolph threw four interceptions against the Cleveland Browns that he got himself benched.
Tomlin noted in his press conference he doesn’t anticipate failure by Hodges but he probably didn’t anticipate failure from Rudolph either. There’s an old saying that says if you have two starting quarterbacks you don’t have one. It really feels like this is where the Steelers are at this point.
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The Steelers have plenty to worry about this week.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are doing their very best to make sure this season is exciting. After losing to the Buffalo Bills, the Steelers have put themselves in a position where winning out is almost the only way they make the playoffs.
This week the Steelers go on the road to take on the New York Jets and despite their 5-9 record, the Jets are going to put up a fight. Considering the problems the Steelers have had, this one won’t be easy. Here are our three big worries this week.
New York might not have a potent offense but their defense is stout. This is especially true of their run defense which is No. 2 in the NFL. The Steelers offense has enough problems without facing another good defense this week.
It isn’t clear if JuJu Smith-Schuster is coming back this week.
đź—Ł @TeamJuJu spoke to the media about his health and getting back on the field. pic.twitter.com/Lq7BQuOqnA
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 16, 2019
If the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to throw the football all over the field like they did on Sunday, they need the best options possible out in the route. But with two games to play and the playoffs on the line, it isn’t clear if or when Pittsburgh will get wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster back in the lineup. Smith-Schuster has been sidelined with a knee injury.
Smith-Schuster spoke to the media on Monday and he gave nothing to indicate he’s close to ready to play. He did some running before Sunday’s game but you could hear Smith-Schuster measure his words carefully so as not to give a false impression he’s close to being healthy enough to play.
Despite Smith-Schuster’s struggles this season he is still far and away the team’s best weapon in the passing game. Plus the coverage he draws helps the rest of the depth chart even if the ball isn’t going to Smith-Schuster. But for now it’s unclear if the Steelers will get the star receiver back against the Jets this week or not.
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