The Steelers seem to have two important pieces of their offense healthy enough for Sunday's season opener in Cincinnati.
Even ahead of Friday's official injury report, Diontae Johnson confirmed he was a full participant in Friday's practice after being a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
"I'm feeling good," Johnson said. "My shoulder is getting a lot better, actually. I'm ready to go on Sunday."
Johnson was asked again, just for further clarification.
"Most definitely," Johnson said.
In addition to the shoulder injury he sustained in the preseason finale against the Lions, "cramps" was added next to Johnson's name on the injury report after going down with a cramp in his lower left leg near the end of Thursday's practice. Those cramps didn't limit Johnson on the practice field 24 hours later.
"My foot locked up on me and I was scared myself, but it was a cramp," Johnson said. "I'm good. I'm ready to go. Just gotta hydrate."
Johnson's health has been up in the air since he first injured the shoulder, but all signs have pointed toward him being available for the season opener. And Johnson was eventually listed as a full participant on Friday's official injury report, so it would take a clear setback between Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. to keep him off the field.
The Steelers are most definitely deep behind Johnson, but they didn't sign him to a two-year, $36.7-million contract extension if they didn't feel he was a critical part of the offense. They could take their time with Johnson if they felt he wasn't quite 100 percent, but facing an AFC North rival in Week 1 is far too important to be missing a key part of the offense.
Speaking of which, Chukwuma Okorafor, who did not participate in Thursday's practice with a back injury, was also able to fully participate on Friday. When I asked Okorafor if he was feeling good about being ready for Sunday, without hesitation, he said, "I'm good to go. I'm going Sunday."
Just as it is with Johnson, Okorafor was listed as a full participant on Friday.
The offensive line is the X-factor of the 2022 Steelers. Their performance during the preseason did not instill a lot of confidence in those banking on the Steelers pushing for a playoff spot. In order for Najee Harris to take a step forward in Year 2, and in order for Mitch Trubisky to effectively run the offense, the line will need to do at least an adequate job.
Okorafor is the Steelers' best offensive lineman right now. His name suddenly popping up on the injury report might have been one of the worst things to happen right as the season is about to get underway. The 24-hour swing in optimism is certainly hopeful news for the Steelers.
• In addition to Johnson and Okorafor, Marcus Allen (hamstring) and Cam Heyward (coach's decision) were listed as full participants in practice. Any clean bill of health, regardless of whether it's Week 1 or Week 18, is a wonderful thing for any NFL team.
The Steelers don't have the best roster in the AFC North. As we saw with the Ravens last season, a team's ability to satay healthy can drastically impact how successful they are in the standings. Only Calvin Austin III and Damontae Kazee are the only members of the original 53-man roster that won't be available Sunday as both are sitting out the minimum four games on injured reserve.
Cincinnati is a very good team, and opening on the road is not easy. Having a healthy roster can only help the Steelers.
• In non-injury news, Steelers players will be wearing a "3" helmet decal during the 2022 season to honor their late teammate, Dwayne Haskins.
Najee Harris took it upon himself to remind Mike Tomlin of how much Haskins meant to the players in the locker room.
"We want to recognize Dwayne any way possible in every game this year," Harris said. "Putting the '3' on the back of our helmets was one of them."
