Pittsburgh

Steelers

Pittman has been playing through a foot injury this season and was seen participating in team stretches earlier today. Although the scooter use is alarming, this is likely just load management. Pittman is a boom-bust FLEX against the Colts this weekend.

McCarthy said he expects Dowdle and Jaylen Warren to be a “one-two punch” once Dowdle returns to the field. Warren has totaled 34 rushes over the last two weeks while rushing for 220 scoreless yards, but had a 21-89-0 line during the first two weeks of the season when Dowdle was active. Both backs will likely fall in the RB3/FLEX range if Dowdle suits up for Week 5’s game against the Colts.

He’ll be eligible to return in Week 9. Harmon had shown some increased pass rush ability in his four games so far this season and this is a tough loss for the Steelers defense in the short-term.

Murphy-Bunting has been on the Buccaneers’ practice squad but will now join the Steelers’ 53-man roster. The 29-year-old corner missed all of last season with a torn ACL but has started 65 of the 82 games he appeared in over his career while notching 11 interceptions. The addition of Murphy-Bunting could provide an upgrade to a defense that recently lost Joey Porter Jr. after trading him to the Cowboys.

Rapoport noted that IR is an option, but the injury is not considered long-term. Harmon suffered the foot injury on Thursday against the Browns. He was carted to the locker room and was later spotted wearing a boot on the sidelines. The second-year tackle had 1.5 sacks in three games before leaving Week 4 early. His potential breakout campaign will now be put on hold for upwards of a month.

Perhaps one of the Steelers’ backup running backs got dinged up in their Thursday Night Football game against the Browns. Adding Jennings would make sense for depth.

Freiermuth found the end zone late in the fourth quarter for his second touchdown of the season, tying fellow tight end Darnell Washington for fourth on the team with five targets. Washington managed to corral just two of his five targets but eclipsed the yardage total of Freiermuth with 27 yards while also adding a touchdown of his own. Both tight ends appear unlikely to contribute viable counting stats considering neither has seen more than five targets in a game during the first month of play.

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.

Wilson got the scoring started in the first quarter to cap a 17-play opening drive from 12 yards out. He continued to work in a downfield role, padding his stats with 62 additional yards on two more receptions, in addition to drawing an illegal contact penalty earlier on the first drive. Wilson wold briefly depart late in the fourth quarter following his final reception of the game as he appeared to land on the ball awkwardly going out of bounds. Fantasy managers will want to track his practice status closely ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Colts, where Wilson will carry interesting FLEX appeal in a growing role.

Metcalf managed just three receptions through the first three-plus quarters of play before making two grabs for 50 yards on the team’s penultimate possession, eventually resulting in a tie game with under two minutes to play following a successful two-point conversion. Even though this marks the third game in four tries with nine or more targets, Week 4 was the first game with more than 40 yards for Metcalf as he works to strengthen his connection with Rodgers in a downfield role. In fact, Metcalf more than doubled his year-to-date yardage total from the previous three games against two of the better coverage corners in the league. The individual matchup doesn’t get much easier ahead of a Week 5 meeting with the Colts, who boast another top corner duo in Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward. Metcalf remains a wide range of outcomes weekly WR3.