The Steelers are heading into the second half of the season with a 6-2 record, a bye week in hand, and a chance to get healthier before the stretch run. Pittsburgh also sits alone in first place in the AFC North, and while a trade or two before the November 10 deadline could help, the bigger boost may come from players already on the way back from injured lists.
The clearest near-term possibility is Derrick Harmon. He went on IR after a foot injury in the first half of Pittsburgh’s Week 4 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football, and after missing the minimum four games, the 2025 first-round pick is eligible to return next week for the Steelers’ Week 10 game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football. Harmon had not been working with Pittsburgh’s rehab group before the Week 8 rematch with Cleveland, so whether his 21-day practice window opens and whether he’s back on the 53-man roster by then is still up in the air.
Michael Pittman Jr. is also eligible to come back next week, though his situation sounds less certain. He was first ruled out for the Week 2 game against the New England Patriots with a foot injury, then landed on IR before he had a chance to face his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, in Week 5.
At the start of the bye week on November 2, Pittman Jr. told reporters he’s been doing “a slow progression,” which has been “going well.” He added that the injury, which began as plantar fasciitis, has “morphed into something else,” and said it would “be great to be back after the bye week,” though it seems possible he stays on IR a little longer.
Roman Wilson’s path back is a little more distant. He suffered a finger injury late in the first half against Indianapolis in Week 5 and was placed on IR before Pittsburgh’s Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The third-year receiver has been spotted working off to the side with the rehab group during recent practices, but his 21-day practice window has not been opened yet. If that changes soon, he’ll be eligible for activation in Week 11.
Sebastian Joseph-Day was moved to IR before the Steelers’ Week 7 game against the New Orleans Saints in Paris because of a triceps injury, and the outlook there is not encouraging. During an appearance on 102.5 WDVE earlier this week, Jack Sawyer said, “It sucks we’re not gonna be able to get Sebastian back for- maybe at all,” which cast doubt on whether Joseph-Day will return in 2026. If he does progress faster than expected, he still cannot be activated until Week 12 at the earliest.
There’s also a group of players whose returns are either already available or still murky. Third-round pick out of Iowa in the 2026 NFL Draft, Dunker was placed on IR before the Week 3 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals because of an MCL sprain.
The original recovery window was four to six weeks, and he’s now near the end of that range. He became eligible to return in Week 7, so once he’s cleared, he can be added back to the 53-man roster at any time.
The Steelers put Driscoll on IR with a return designation at final roster cuts in late August because of an undisclosed injury. He has been eligible to come back since Week 5, but there has been almost no update on his status all season.
Lee, meanwhile, was placed on IR in August during training camp after missing his entire rookie season in 2024 with a calf injury. The former sixth-round pick is done for the year and will look to return in 2027 as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.
Kent’s path is even more complicated. He didn’t play as a rookie last season after first suffering an ankle injury in training camp and landing on IR before tearing his ACL after his 21-day practice window opened in early December.
This year, the former seventh-round pick began on the active/PUP list at the start of training camp and was later moved to the reserve/PUP list at cutdown time. He has been eligible for activation since Week 5, but his timeline for a possible return in 2026 remains unknown.
In Other News...
Steelers Receiver Search Could Define Their Passing Game Down The Stretch
The Steelers search for help at wide receiver is starting to look like one of the more important storylines ahead of the NFL trade deadline, especially with injuries and uneven production thinning out the passing game. Reports from ESPN say Pittsburgh has been active in discussions as it tries to add another target for the stretch run, with the front office weighing whether a move can give the offense a steadier answer on the outside.
Brian Thomas Jr. and Josh Downs have come up as the names to watch in those talks, while Calvin Ridley has also been mentioned as a possible option if the primary pursuit does not come together. Nothing has been confirmed, but the fact that Pittsburgh is exploring multiple paths says plenty about how seriously it is treating the position and how much the next move could shape the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Early Draft Debate Is Already Taking Shape
With the 2027 NFL Draft still a long way off, the early national mock-draft chatter is already giving a sense of where the Steelers may be headed. Across six recent projections, Pittsburgh is being slotted to pick in the late 20s of the first round, and the names popping up around that range point to a familiar kind of debate for a team that always seems to be balancing immediate needs with long-term planning.
The spread of projected targets is wide enough to keep the conversation interesting, with quarterbacks, cornerbacks, a running back and a safety all showing up in the first-round mix. Pittsburgh also currently holds nine picks in the 2027 draft, giving it plenty of ammunition to maneuver if the board breaks a certain way, even if the team is not expected to get any extra help through compensatory selections. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Face One Brutal Test That Will Define Their Second Half
At 6-2 heading into the bye week, the Steelers have given themselves a sturdy foundation and a little breathing room, but the schedule waiting on the other side is where the real evaluation begins. The first half showed enough to keep Pittsburgh in the thick of the AFC race, yet it also set up a stretch where the margin for error gets a lot thinner against playoff-caliber opponents.
Around the league, the guesses on where this team finishes are all over the map, which says plenty about how much is still unsettled. The Steelers have shown strengths that can carry them, but injuries and the outcomes of the next few weeks could reshape the entire conversation about their postseason path, making the second half less about where they stand now and more about how they handle the pressure that is coming. [Read more 🡒]