2 min read • September 15, 2020
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Steelers RB James Conner left the opener early in the second quarter and never returned. I believe he could have returned to play, and will miss minimal time. James Connor has grit in spades, having beat cancer against all the odds. However, he has never been able to stay off the trainers table during his career, having played in 14, 13, and 10 games each of the last three years. I believe the ankle injury was real, but minor. He did get taped on the sidelines and I am sure he wanted to return. However Benny Snell Jr. was running well and ended up with 19 carries for 113 yards at almost a six-yard-per-carry clip. There was no reason to push it. By video, there was no clear injury to Conner, lending credence to the mild nature of the ankle sprain. My assumption is the ankle tightened up on the bench and then his return became officially questionable and was then properly reported to the public in the 4th quarter. In the presser, head coach Mike Tomlin would only say Conner (ankle) was being evaluated. I believe Conner will be ready to go next week. However, there is no question Snell has earned more playing time. From a fantasy perspective, if you own Conner you should have already owned Snell, too. The bigger problem in my mind is the Steelers weakened O-Line. They are already playing without RG David DeCastro, and his replacement Steven Wisniewski left with a pectoral injury on Monday. RT Zach Banner suffered a torn ACL on Sunday.
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