Patrick

Queen

Steelers LB Patrick Queen (glute) will also play. Watt took the day off on Wednesday before practicing fully thereafter. Queen did the same to begin the week but only managed limited sessions on Thursday and Friday. Watt has generated 39 quarterback pressures and eight sacks, while Queen has racked up 58 tackles. Having both players active is helpful.

Patrick Queen (glute) was able to get in a limited session. It sounds like things are moving in the right direction for Pittsburgh’s front seven ahead of Sunday’s must-win showdown with the Ravens. Watt could be cleared off the injury report entirely tomorrow, while Queen probably has a slim chance of that and should at least make the questionable line.

Watt limped off the field in the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ Week 13 loss to the Bills. He was checked out by trainers and did not return. A DNP today puts him at risk of missing Week 14. Patrick Queen, who suffered a glute injury versus Buffalo, was also held out of Wednesday’s practice. It looks like a Pittsburgh defense that was already underperforming this year could be down multiple starters versus the Ravens this week.

It’s quite a shift from the hip injury this was initially classified as, but Queen is undergoing further tests to determine the specifics of his injury. According to Rapoport, the Steelers hope Queen’s injury isn’t something long-term, but it sounds like he could be sidelined for at least one game. Queen and the Steelers have a pivotal Week 14 matchup against the Ravens on tap as they battle for supremacy in the down bad AFC North. If he’s unable to go, Malik Harrison would be the next man up on the depth chart.

One play after Patrick Queen sparked a near-brawl in the second quarter with a questionable hit on Josh Allen, the linebacker went down after a carry by James Cook. He limped off the field and into the blue medical tent before going back into the locker room.

Queen heads to the Ravens’ biggest rival in the Steelers after a breakout campaign where he tallied 133 tackles, 3.5 sacks and made the Pro Bowl. The deal is worth $41 million and fills a need in the middle of the defense for the Steelers. Queen now gets a chance to lead a defense as he played alongside Roquan Smith for the past two seasons.

“The fifth-year option was something that was more based on business and the salary-cap economics than actually Patrick Queen and his performance and what he does as a player,” DeCosta added. Queen certainly played well last year, but he enters into a walk offseason and the Ravens may not be inclined to offer him a big enough contract to keep him from testing the market if the fifth-year option was too much of an investment. They’ll have a few months to make that stated goal a reality before the 2023 season starts.

Just one day after The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec said Queen could be “a potential trade candidate”, the Ravens further stoked those rumors by declining his fifth-year option. The selection of Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson with the 86th overall pick, combined with the extension of Roquan Smith has made Queen somewhat expendable heading into 2023. Queen hasn’t fully lived up to the expectations that made him the 28th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but put together his best year as a professional in 2022. He’ll enter 2023 on a prove-it year, in hopes of earning a long-term extension next offseason.

The Ravens picked Trenton Simpson 86th overall in this year’s draft, just signed Roquan Smith to a huge extension, and have danced around the idea of whether they will pick up Queen’s fifth-year option this offseason. Queen is coming off his best season to date and the Ravens appear to be willing to part with him for the right price, as they offered in Zrebiec’s words “no resolution” on Queen’s status at their post-draft pressers.

Queen had his best season to date, finishing with a 64.6 PFF run defense grade and a 65.5 coverage grade, both career highs. And on the other hand, the Ravens traded for Roquan Smith and gave him $100 million dollars, so Queen will likely never be the No. 1 linebacker in Baltimore. The fact that the Ravens were non-committal indicates that Queen hasn’t done enough for this to be a no-brainer, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t take the extra year of team control.