The Pittsburgh Steelers welcomed back running back Jaylen Warren and outside linebacker Alex Highsmith to practice on Thursday. Both players were limited, but that is a good sign for them to return.
Both players missed Wednesday’s practice, and Highsmith missed all of last week with a pec injury. Highsmith says he remains ‘optimistic' that he can play this week. They will test out his pec injury to see how much he can do on Friday.
It is a new injury. Highsmith was coming off two straight games with two sacks, but this injury could be a setback for him. He also dealt with an ankle injury two weeks ago that limited him throughout the week.
Warren, meanwhile, suffered the ankle injury against the Cincinnati Bengals. He returned for one play before ceding the rest of the snaps to Kaleb Johnson and Kenneth Gainwell.
However, head coach Mike Tomlin said that Warren was cleared to return to the game, but they chose to hold him out after seeing how well Gainwell was playing.
“I could have (returned), but it was part of being smart,” Warren said. “We got a lot of games ahead of us, so they’re looking out for me.”
Warren then described the injury as a ‘little tweak’ of his ankle, but says that he is ‘good’ moving forward. The Steelers will face a Chicago Bears defense that has struggled mightily over much of the season.
Warren finished the game with 62 rushing yards and appeared to be on his way to a strong game before the ankle injury forced him out for the rest of the game.
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