If it seems like Pat Freiermuth has been out forever, it’s because he has — half of the season, in fact. The Pittsburgh Steelers tight end initially injured his hamstring in the team’s ugly Week 4 loss to the Houston Texans.
It appeared he was ready to roll for Pittsburgh’s Oct. 22 Los Angeles Rams game, but his hamstring had other plans. The Steelers placed Freiermuth on injured reserve on Oct. 21 after reaggravating the injury in Oct. 19 practice.
Preparation for the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 19 will mark four weeks sidelined for Freiermuth. Per Alan Saunders of SteelersNow.com, he plans to return to practice next week, the first time he is eligible to be activated from IR. If things go better than last time — “I don’t want to jinx it” — he’ll suit up for the big Browns brawl.
And it could be just the boost that Kenny Pickett needs. For as little scoring as the Steelers did (and have done in his absence), Freiermuth was a significant part — responsible for two of their four offensive touchdowns.
Hamstring injuries have run rampant in the Steelers locker room. Diontae Johnson returned from IR as Freiermuth went on, and today’s game is the second Minkah Fitzpatrick has missed.
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