On a Sunday that saw NFL stars across the country fall to significant injury -- notably the Giants' Saquon Barkley, the 49ers' Nick Bosa and maybe the Panthers' Christian McCaffrey -- the Steelers escape without a single one.
Apparently.
Surprises often emerge a day, even two days later, but no player exited the 26-21 victory over the Broncos, and Mike Tomlin, who invariably opens his postgame press conferences with an injury update, instead went right to talking about the game.
The other guys were nowhere near as fortunate.
The Broncos lost starting quarterback Drew Lock in the opening quarter to a right shoulder injury shortly after being taken down by Bud Dupree for a strip-sack. Reports out of Denver suggest he will miss 2-6 weeks based on a labral tear.
“We’re going to take it day by day,” Lock said afterward. “I’m optimistic about it.”
The Broncos arrived in Pittsburgh already missing All-Pro edge rusher Von Miller and their top cornerback A.J. Bouye and, in this game, lost Lock and their top receiver, Courtland Sutton, for the season to a torn ACL. Sutton had three catches for 66 yards but allowed a pass to slip between his hands and into those of Joe Haden. Sutton hurt his knee chasing Haden on the interception return. He's done for the year. Also, defensive linemen Dre'Mont Jones (knee) and DeMarcus Walker (calf) will miss a month or more.
The Steelers' only injured player among their five inactives Sunday was David DeCastro, who's expected to make his season debut next Sunday against the Texans. The other inactives were quarterback Josh Dobbs, defensive lineman Carlos Davis, linebacker Ulysees Gilbert and tight end Zach Gentry. Rookie running back Anthony McFarland, left inactive last week when the coaching staff had a miscommunication, made his NFL debut.