Michael Pittman (foot) expected to play vs. Cincy

That makes two consecutive games with two receptions for the veteran X receiver, who continues to be handily outplayed by teammate Roman Wilson. Pittman brings his season total in receptions to seven after missing Week 2 with injury and remains largely confined to the short areas of the field. The Steelers made good on their promise to increase their 12-personnel utilization against the Browns, and it was Pittman who saw his route participation suffer the most. Pittman is quickly bordering drop candidate territory ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Colts.

Pittman was back in action after missing Week 2’s game with a foot injury. Despite being on the field for 28 routes, the veteran receiver struggled to make much of an impact, making two eight-yard receptions on back-to-back drives before fading into the distance. Pittman has caught 5-of-8 targets for 74 scoreless yards this season and shouldn’t be counted on for Week 4’s game against the Browns.

It was reported earlier on Sunday that Pittman was expected to suit up, so this isn’t much of a surprise. Despite being ready to go, Pittman will be hard to trust this week against a much-improved Bengals defense. He caught just three passes for 58 yards on three targets in his lone game this season and his best left on fantasy benches in most cases.

He was limited in practice all three days this week with a foot injury that kept him out of Week 2. We’d say Pittman is on the optimistic side of questionable based on his participation status. If he’s out again, it would likely be Germie Bernard picking up the slack, as he did in Week 2.

It seems like he’s trending towards playing, though Mike McCarthy seemed unsure about it earlier in the week. That’s two straight limited tags for Pittman. Friday will likely determine if he winds up with a questionable tag or not.

Pittman didn’t practice once last week, so a limited session today is a big step in the right direction. Germie Bernard took his spot in the lineup on Sunday and caught four passes for 35 yards, but he also coughed up a drop that was then intercepted by New England. The mistake all but guarantees his return to the bench once Pittman is healthy.

McCarthy said Pittman is making good progress in his recovery, but noted that this is not the same injury he sustained during training camp. Pittman did not practice leading up to last week’s game against the Patriots and will likely need to log a few limited sessions to have a chance to suit up this week. Germie Bernard ended up seeing eight targets in Pittman’s absence against the Pats, but Aaron Rodgers’ dink-and-dunk style of play makes any receiver in this offense hard to trust for fantasy purposes.

Pittman was unable to get on the practice field this week and will now miss Week 2 as a result of a foot injury. DK Metcalf enters the WR2 discussion in a difficult matchup on paper after ranking in the top five in expected fantasy points in Week 1, for an offense near the top of the league in pass rate over expectation in their first game. Third-year receiver Roman Wilson and rookie Germie Bernard see an uptick in value, although both are difficult starts outside the deepest of leagues. Tight end pat Freiermuth can be started as a back-end TE1 in a pinch.

Pittman did not practice at all this week. If he plays, he could be fairly limited. We tentatively expect him to be inactive on game day, though. Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth had a solid role last week and could take on No. 2 pass-catcher duties if Pittman indeed cannot play. Steelers WR DK Metcalf will almost assuredly take on a larger role, operating as the team’s receiving focal point.

Pittman was limited yesterday, before no-showing during the portion of practice open to the media today. Typically, that series of events suggests the player suffered an injury during practice. He should be considered questionable to play in Week 2 against the Patriots at this point. Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth could end up being the biggest beneficiary, potentially operating as the team’s No. 2 target earner if Pittman cannot play.