Insider sends Pittsburgh Steelers George Pickens warning

The Pittsburgh Steelers, despite losing back-to-back multi-scoring games to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, can hang their hat on the fact that they are poised to return several key players from injury in the immediate future.

While the team might understandably be eager to welcome them back in the midst of a tight AFC North race, Steelers insider Mark Kaboly cautioned them against making a short-term decision that ignores any potential long-term consequences.

“I’d much rather see them go on the road in the first round of the playoffs and be 100% healthy across the board than be at home still dealing with some injuries,” Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan.

He added that in his opinion, the Kansas City Chiefs may come into their Week 17 meeting with Pittsburgh less engaged than usual since they have the No. 1 seed almost locked at 14-1.

Furthermore, Kaboly stated that the Cincinnati Bengals (7-8) are in danger of being eliminated from the playoffs when their Week 18 matchup against the Steelers rolls around and could theoretically rest some of their key players with such low stakes.

All of this is to say that he believes Pittsburgh could keep up with Baltimore by sticking out its players who are battling injuries based on where its last two regular-season opponents currently stand.

In particular, Kaboly doesn’t think it would make much sense for the Steelers to send wide receiver George Pickens (hamstring) out on the field Wednesday against the Chiefs if he doesn’t get his typical workload.

“I think he will (play), but I don’t want to see him out there if he’s in place,” Kaboly said. “If he’s out there for 15 plays, at that point, just keep him out. I’m sure if he comes back, he’ll be in some way to count … Everything I’ve seen from him the last week or so, it looked like he was ready to go last week, just some of the moves he was making.”

Pittsburgh’s passing offense has endured significant struggles amid Pickens’ absence over the past three weeks, as Russell Wilson threw for just 503 yards during that stretch.

While the star receiver seemed to take a step forward in his recovery last week, as Kaboly mentioned, it might not be smart to risk him aggravating his injury when he’s not quite ready to return.

Winning the division and earning a home playoff game at Acrisure Stadium is the desired outcome for the Steelers, but perhaps the more logical course of action is to give their injured players like Pickens all the time they need to recover before starting on a postseason race at full strength.

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