It’s appearing increasingly likely that the Pittsburgh Steelers could be without their nickel cornerback for Sunday’s showdown of undefeated teams in Nashville.
Mike Hilton sat out practice for the second consecutive day because of a shoulder injury, leaving his status for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans in doubt. But veteran interior offensive linemen David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey each practiced fully for the first time this week.
DeCastro, the Pro Bowl right guard, missed last Sunday’s victory against the Cleveland Browns because of an abdominal injury. Pouncey, a Pro Bowl center, has missed the final minutes of each of the past two Steelers games because of a foot ailment. DeCastro was limited during Wednesday’s practice; Pouncey rarely practices on Wednesdays, regardless of health.
Receiver Diontae Johnson also was a full practice participant. For him, it was the second day in a row he did that in the wake of missing an NFL game because of injury for the first time last week when a back ailment suffered the week prior prevented him from playing against the Browns.
As expected, JuJu Smith-Schuster returned to practice after sitting out Wednesday. He has a lingering knee injury that has not caused him to miss any game time.
Fullback Derek Watt, though, has missed both practices so far this week because of a hamstring injury that kept him out of 1 ½ of the past three Steelers games.
If Hilton cannot play, Cameron Sutton has shown he can capably fill in as the slot cornerback. However, his usage there could create a domino effect for when the Steelers choose to deploy six or more defensive backs, particularly in the wake of the absence of three-down linebacker Devin Bush (torn ACL).
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