The Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-3 and preparing for a huge AFC North matchup Sunday on the road vs. the Cleveland Browns. For the black-and-gold they will need all hands on deck for the contest, especially on offense. Luckily for the offense they could be getting a big piece back for the game Sunday in the form of Pat Freiermuth.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Steelers have started Freiermuth’s 21-day window to return from Injured Reserve (IR).

Steelers are opening the 21-day practice window on TE Pat Freiermuth and he is tracking to play Sunday against the Browns, per sources.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 15, 2023

The news of Freiermuth’s potential return should be viewed as a lift for the offense, but before the talented tight end was put in IR due to a hamstring injury his impact on the offense was minimal. Has the scheme changed to be more tight end-friendly? That has yet to be seen, but it isn’t as if Conner Heyward and Darnell Washington were seeing significant targets while Freiermuth was on the shelf.

Nonetheless, getting Freiermuth back should help the Steelers in multiple ways, and hopefully the offense can start to utilize him from a mismatch standpoint by moving him around the offensive formation.

As a reminder, there is no guarantee Freiermuth returns this week, but the Steelers opening the 21-day window simply means the team can activate him off IR at any point. If the 21 days runs out, Freiermuth would land on season-ending IR.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the Browns on Sunday.