Both the Patriots and Steelers released their Wednesday Injury Reports this afternoon, and it truly is a tale of two teams.
The Patriots, with the exception of the players currently on IR/PUP, had perfect attendance at practice, with "Limited" being the word of the day. Pittsburgh, however, had a whole slew of important guys out:
Injury report. pic.twitter.com/Qqghip6nvm
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) October 19, 2016
Missing Wednesday practice isn't as good an indicator as to availability for Sunday's game as Thursday of Friday's practice is. In addition to Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward, two of the best players on the team, already declared out, notable names on the Steelers injury report are tackle Marcus Gilbert, receiver Markus Wheaton, and running back DeAngelo Williams. If this report doesn't change over the next few days, New England will be traveling to Heinz Field to take on a virtually unrecognizable Steelers team.
As a fan, you hate to see stuff like this; Patriots vs. Steelers was supposed to represent one of the marquee matchups of 2016 and a potential AFC Championship preview. Without Big Ben, though, it's tough to put too much weight into the result of this one, whatever it may be. Hopefully a few of the Steelers' players on the injury report will be able to suit up on Sunday and help contribute to the team. You always want to face a team at its best.