The knee injury for JuJu Smith-Schuster is not considered to be serious for the long term, but he is not expected to play Sunday against the Bengals.

Fowler notes there is too much to overcome between his knee injury and being in the concussion protocol. With Diontae Johnson also a question mark for Sunday, James Washington and Johnny Holton will see the most opportunities from Mason Rudolph. It’s not the end of the world, but certainly the dropoff will be noticeable in the offense. Steelers will be limping into Cincinnati looking to get back to a winning record.

Tomlin said three players -- JuJu Smith-Schuster, rookie WR Diontae Johnson and OLB Ola Adeniyi -- are in concussion protocol.

Related players: James Washington, Johnny Holton

Tomlin confirmed JuJu also has a knee injury but did not say he if could play or not vs. Bengals. Obviously, Smith-Schuster will need to clear protocol this week before being activated. With Johnson also in protocol, the Steelers are potentially looking at Washington and Holton as their two starting WRs in Week 12.

RB James Conner injured his quad against the Chargers, but said Wednesday he expects to play Monday night. He also said he feels healthy, which he backed up earlier this week with an exuberant run around the locker room to celebrate a gaming headset given to him by JuJu Smith-Schuster.

As long as James Conner gets practice time in, he should be ready to go in a great matchup against the Dolphins' poor defense. Benny Snell will back him up with Jaylen Samuels still out.