Insider sends warning to Pittsburgh Steelers’ George Pickens

Despite losing consecutive games to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers can expect to get several key players back from injuries in the near future.

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

“I would much rather they go out in the first round of the playoffs and be 100% healthy all around than be at home and still dealing with some injuries,” Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan.

He added that he believes the Kansas City Chiefs may enter their Week 17 clash with Pittsburgh less engaged than usual, as they are all but assured of the No. 1 seed at 14-1.

Additionally, Kaboly explained that the Cincinnati Bengals (7-8) are in danger of being eliminated from playoff contention when their Week 18 game begins against the Steelers and that they could theoretically rest some of their key players with such low stakes.

That means he believes Pittsburgh can keep up with Baltimore by fending off its players struggling with injuries, depending on where their final 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) onto the field against the Chiefs on Wednesday if he can’t put up his typical workload.

“I think he will (play), but I don’t want to see him out there when he’s on the field,” Kaboly said. “If he’s out for 15 games at this point, just stop him. I’m sure when he comes back he’ll count in some way… Everything I’ve seen from him in the last week or something, it looked like he was ready to go last week, just some of the moves he made.”

Pittsburgh’s passing offense has struggled significantly during Pickens’ absence over the past three weeks, as Russell Wilson threw for just 503 yards in that span.

While the star receiver appeared to have taken a step forward in his recovery last week, as Kaboly mentioned, it might not be wise to risk his injury getting worse when he isn’t quite ready to return.

Winning the division and winning 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 the time they need to recover, full force before they start the postseason.

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