Steelers notes: Mason McCormick has broken hand, Donte Jackson ‘feels good’ and could return

Five days before the Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff game, starting right guard Mason McCormick on Monday was to be “sized for a cast and/or a brace” for a broken left hand.

McCormick suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ regular-season finale this past Saturday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers play at the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round Saturday night.

During a news conference Monday, coach Mike Tomlin said McCormick would test the functionality of his hand in the brace or cast before a decision was made on whether he could play against the Ravens.

“His participation (at practice) and the quality of his participation will kind of be an indication of his potential availability,” Tomlin said.

A rookie fourth-round pick, McCormick started the final 14 games of the regular season. He took over for James Daniels at right guard after Daniels suffered a season-ending Achilles injury during a Sept. 29 loss at the Indianapolis Colts.

Spencer Anderson replaced McCormick for the final two offensive possessions against Cincinnati.

Jackson ‘feels good’

Tomlin was noncommittal regarding the playing status of outside cornerback Donte Jackson. Jackson has missed two of the past three games because of a back injury suffered during a Dec. 15 loss in Philadelphia.

After Jackson returned for the Christmas Day game, the injury flared up during a practice last week, and he did not play against the Bengals.

“He feels good this morning,” Tomlin said Monday, “but we’ll watch him throughout the course of the week and see what his participation (in practices) does in terms of the possibility his inclusion (in the lineup Saturday).”

The Steelers will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Second-year cornerback Cory Trice has surpassed James Pierre on the depth chart as the primary backup to Jackson and Joey Porter Jr. on the outside. In his sixth career game, Trice made his first start this past Saturday and played all but five of the Steelers’ defensive snaps.

“I thought largely he did some nice things, man,” Tomlin said. “Cory is a hard-working guy. He doesn’t have a lot of experience. It was really good experience for him, and it’s reasonable to expect him to build upon that.”

Virtual ‘no comment’

Tomlin said he was not aware of a gesture No. 1 receiver George Pickens made that was caught on the ESPN broadcast Saturday. Pickens appeared to be inviting a fan to fight him.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Tomlin said when asked about it Monday, “so that’s news to me. So I’d be speculating if I commented on it in any way.”

Including Fields?

After not appearing in four of the Steelers’ final five games of the regular season, could Justin Fields be in line for a package of plays against Baltimore?

“I’m certainly open to utilizing Justin,” Tomlin said. “He has an awesome skill set. We’ve done some of that in the past. We’ve done less of it in recent weeks. “

Fields suffered an abdominal injury during a run Dec. 15 against the Eagles. He was relegated to the No. 3 “emergency” QB the subsequent two games but was cleared to back up Russell Wilson for the regular-season finale.

Fields’ only action against Baltimore this season came when, during the final of his three snaps played in the Nov. 17 game at Acrisure Stadum, he had a run that would have iced the game. But he began his slide too early and was marked short of a first down. Najee Harris picked up the yard on the ensuing third-and-1 to preserve a Steelers victory.

Since then, Fields has been limited to five carries for 41 yards in 10 snaps played.

Fields started the first six games of the season in place of an injured Wilson.