The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without star pass rusher T.J. Watt for their Week 3 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Watt was originally listed as questionable for this AFC North head-to-head Friday after being listed as a limited participant in practice this week, but the club downgraded him to out Saturday morning.
The 26-year-old is dealing with a groin injury he suffered in Pittsburgh's loss to the Raiders in Week 2. Despite being limited in practice, Watt said Friday that he felt like he "did a good amount this week to leave the door open for Sunday." However, it seems like the Steelers are playing it safe with their best defensive player, who they just invested $112 million in earlier this month.
"It's always tough," Watt said Friday of missing the second half of Pittsburgh's game last week. "You never want to miss time and you only get so many opportunities to play a game each season. So any time you miss time is obviously frustrating. It always comes back to being smart so you don't miss extended periods of time as well."
Defensive tackle Carlos Davis (knee), linebacker Alex Highsmith (groin) and receiver Diontae Johnson (knee) were also ruled out by the Steelers on Friday. The good news for Pittsburgh, however, is that it appears quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (pectoral) is slated to play after practicing in full on Friday and carry no injury designation heading into Week 3.
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