Will the Pittsburgh Steelers get running back James Conner back for their Week 13 Sunday home game against the Cleveland Browns? To hear Conner talk on Monday during his radio show on 93.7 The Fan, it sounds like there’s no way he’s going to play Sunday against the Browns as his shoulder injury still needs more time to heal.

“I’m definitely making progress on it,” Conner said Monday. “Getting a lot more strength in there, more stabilization. It’s one of those things that as a player I have to be smart with because if I continue to play without it being stable, then eventually surgery will need to be done. So, I just need to wait till I have enough stabilization and strength and that tendon gets a little bit stronger, because that’s kind of what I had, a little minor setback when I tried to play versus Cleveland.”

Related players: Benny Snell, Jaylen Samuels, Trey Edmunds, Kerrith Whyte

Assuming Conner does ultimately sit out Sunday against the Browns the Steelers will likely once again let running backs Snell, Samuels, Edmunds and Whyte all combine to carry the running load like the four did Sunday against the Bengals. Snell got the bulk of the workload and is looking like a must-add for this week if he's still on the wire.

Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) and RB James Conner (shoulder) are both out for Sunday’s game against the Bengals.

Both were unlikely all week and the team made the official decision Friday. Diontae Johnson is expected to play, making him and James Washington the top options at receiver, while Jaylen Samuels should expect to see the bulk of the work in the backfield. The Steelers also won’t have suspended center Maurkice Pouncey for the next two weeks. They are hurting heading to Cincinnati.

Tomlin said he's "excited about the potential return" of rookie RB Benny Snell.

Related players: James Conner, Jaylen Samuels

Snell has missed the past two games. Snell's health will be evaluated in practice but so will his mental prep as a rookie who's missed two games, the tweet went on to say. With Conner (shoulder) in question for this week, Snell - if activated - could get some reps with Samuels in a nice matchup against the Bengals.

James Conner's status for Sunday’s game against the Bengals is up in the air.

Related players: Jaylen Samuels, Trey Edmunds

The tweet said it's good news overall for Conner. It went on to say his AC joint injury isn’t worse than it’s been after he left last week’s game against the Browns, a source said. His timeline all depends on how he feels. With a game against a winless Bengals team in Week 12, maybe the Steelers play it safe here. Samuels should be a top-priority if he's back on your wire.