After a week full of troublesome injury updates for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ve finally received some good news — running back Jaylen Warren has been removed from the injury report and will play in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders. He was originally listed as questionable for the game on Friday’s final practice report.
Warren has missed each of the past two weeks dealing with a knee injury but made significant progress this week, logging a full practice for the first time since the injury on Friday.
Coming off a season where he was quite literally one of the most efficient backs in the league last year, Warren hasn’t found the same success in Arthur Smith’s to this point. He’s averaging just 3.9 yards per carry and a 35.7% successful rush rate per Pro Football Reference.
His presence will be a much-welcomed spark for the run game, which has struggled so far this season. Starting RB Najee Harris has struggled in Warren’s absence this season (and in general this season), averaging just 2.26 yards per carry over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson is out for the second straight week with an ankle injury.
Further compounding inefficiencies in the run game this year are a series of injuries on the offensive line. Time will tell if this spot against the Raiders can be a get right game for this unit.