The Pittsburgh Steelers were losers in Week 2 of the NFL Preseason when they fell flat in a 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium. The loss will absolutely be evaluated and interpreted in multiple ways, but there is one facet, not necessarily relating to the loss, which absolutely is worth discussing. That would be injuries.

The Steelers are starting to collect many of those nagging injuries which can linger, often times into the regular season. After the game Mike Tomlin spoke about several players who were injured during the loss to Buffalo.

Running back Jaylen Warren left with a hamstring in the 1st quarter, and Tomlin said he is being evaluated. No further information was given by Tomlin outside of the fact he doesn’t see it being a long term injury.

Rookie linebacker Payton Wilson left with an apparent concussion, and is likely now in the NFL’s concussion protocol. He will have to work his way back, but his availability in Preseason Week 3 might absolutely be in jeopardy.

Cornerback Anthony Averett  also left with a hamstring injury, but Tomlin didn’t know the severity of his injury as he sat at the podium answering questions from media following the game.

All of those injuries are significant in their own way, but there were other injuries which kept players out of the lineup for a variety of reasons.

Before the game Saturday night, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said center/guard Nate Herbig is dealing with a shoulder injury which will likely have him out of the lineup for the long term.

Nate Herbig, the starting center since the beginning of training camp, has a significant shoulder injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time, per sources. That means rookie Zach Frazier becomes the starter and will begin the regular season there.

— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) August 17, 2024

After the game Tomlin was asked about Herbig’s health, and he said the lineman is getting a second opinion on the injury and he’ll have more information for the media during his press conference this week ahead of the next preseason game.

Like a bad infomercial, “But wait, there’s more!”

Undrafted rookie free agent Beanie Bishop was a player many were interested in watching vs. the Bills, but he didn’t dress for the game. When asked about it post-game, Tomlin said Bishop was dealing with a nagging injury. The Steelers head coach added he was a “little limited” but didn’t want a small problem to become a big problem, hence why he was held out of the game for precautionary reasons.

As for injured players who are working their way back, outside linebacker Alex Highsmith (groin) had returned to practice but didn’t play in the game Saturday “should be fine”, according to Tomlin. Likewise, Dean Lowry saw his first game action without any negative repercussions, same can be said about Cordarrelle Patterson.

The Steelers now turn their attention to the Detroit Lions on Sunday at 1 p.m. EST for the third, and final, preseason game. Will they find some level of consistency? One can only hope, but be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the team as they prepare for the regular season.