Steelers expected to put JuJu Smith-Schuster on injured reserve and are fearful he will miss rest of the season after injuring his shoulder vs Broncos, per sources.

Related players: Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, James Washington, Ray-Ray McCloud, Najee Harris

Claypool stood out this past week in the Steelers win, but he and Johnson would likely see a bump in targets without Smith-Schuster in the lineup. Washington is dealing with a groin injury but it's possible he takes on a bigger role at some point, although he was reportedly unhappy and requested to be traded earlier in the year. McCloud had one catch for a yard this past week. The team has shown they're not afraid to use Harris in the passing game so it's possible he absorbs more targets as well.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson was a full participant in Thursday's practice.

Diontae missed Week 3 with the knee injury but appears to be trending towards playing this weekend. Full practice sessions before the final practice of the week are always a positive sign. Diontae has enjoyed a 30.6% target share through two games this season and should see another high volume outing against the Green Bay Packers. Diontae is currently our 24th ranked receiver for Week 4.

HC Mike Tomlin said he also anticipates that JuJu Smith-Schuster, who left Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a rib injury, will practice at some point this week, though the wide receiver may be limited Wednesday.

Linebacker Alex Highsmith (groin) and wide receiver Diontae Johnson (knee) will also practice after both were inactive for the Bengals game, Tomlin said.

It's certainly great news after Johnson missed Week 3 after getting hurt on the final play of Week 2. Tomlin said, "We'll let the quantity and quality of that practice be our guide in terms of determining their availability." We'll continue to monitor both players ahead of Week 4.

With Diontae Johnson missing the game because of a knee injury, it left the Steelers without their best after-the-catch threat. In his absence, the Steelers decided to plug Chase Claypool into the role.

It was akin to trying to fit the proverbial square peg into a round hole. Although Claypool was targeted 15 times and had nine catches for 96 yards, he was miscast in the role.

The story said Claypool’s specialty is using his size and length to make catches down the field. The Steelers like to get him in one-on-one matchups and hope that Claypool can, at worst, draw a pass interference penalty from cornerbacks. Running quick slants, breaking tackles or trying to make defenders whiff after the catch is not part of Claypool’s repertoire, the story added. There was no update on Johnson's knee injury in the story.

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (knee) will miss Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Fire up Chase Claypool and Juju Smith-Schuster. A flyer on James Washington against an iffy Bengals secondary is a boom/bust play if Ben Roethlisberger can find him deep.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson missed Thursday's practice with a knee injury.

Johnson has now missed two straight practices and will likely need to practice in some fashion on Friday in order to be cleared to play on Sunday. The Steelers have one of their easier opponents of 2021 on deck for Week 3, so the team may opt to play it safe with their star receiver. This is a situation to monitor, and we will provide another update tomorrow when his practice participation is reported. Diontae is currently our 39th ranked receiver for Week 3.

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson (knee) did not practice Wednesday according to Doug Kyed of of Pro Football Focus.

This is an injury to follow especially with Ben Roethlisberger dealing with a pectoral injury. If Johnson were to miss Week 3, James Washington would enter in three-wideout sets.

Mike Tomlin says Diontae Johnson's knee injury is "looking better, not to be confused with great."

Johnson, of course, was injured on the last play of the game with the Steelers having not chance to pull out a victory over the Raiders. Johnson had to be helped off the field but reports Monday said the injury wasn't serious. However, this update still doesn't paint a clear picture of his status for Week 3.

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson did not suffer a serious injury yesterday, source says.

The twitter world was outraged when with no chance to win Johnson caught a pass, cut across the field, was injured and needed help getting off the field. It looked like a knee injury but there was no other information in the tweet. While it's great news and a big sigh of relief for owners, his status for Sunday vs. the Bengals is still to be determined, according to the tweet.

Steelers WR James Washington has requested a trade according to multiple sources including Adam Schefter of ESPN. Dave Lolley of DKPittsburghSports.com also writes that the additions of Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool via the NFL Draft and JuJu Smith-Schuster re-signing add to Washington's request. Ray-Ray McCloud played ahead of Washington during the Hall of Fame game August 5.

It also matters that Pittsburgh drafted Najee Harris with the expectation of running the ball more. Washington is a starting-caliber receiver that stretches the field. If he does end up being moved, Washington will go from fantasy irrelevancy to late-round flyer depending on his landing spot.