The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting a major playmaker back for the playoffs and that’s makes coach Mike Tomlin happy.
Wide receiver DK Metcalf will return on Monday night when the Steelers (10-7) host the Houston Texans (12-5) in an AFC Wild Card game at Acrisure Stadium. Metcalf missed the final two games of the regular season while serving an NFL-imposed suspension for an altercation with a fan on Dec. 21 at Detroit’s Ford Field.
“I think he's in a great place,” Tomlin said on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “I know that he's happy to be back, he's happy to be in this tournament, and he's ready to go to work.”
The Steelers need Metcalf as he is, by far, their best wide receiver. He was targeted a team-high 99 times in the regular season as the Steelers won the AFC North and had 59 receptions for 850 yards and six touchdowns. No other wide receiver had more receptions than Calvin Austin III’s 31.
The Steelers missed Metcalf during the first game of his suspension, a 13-6 loss to the Browns in Cleveland. Aaron Rodgers passed for just 168 yards and wide receivers accounted for eight receptions and 70 yards. Austin also missed that game with a hamstring injury.
Rodgers then had a season-high 294 passing yards last week when the Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 in a showdown for the division title. Austin returned and caught the winning touchdown pass with 55 seconds remaining.
The wide receivers got more involved in the passing game with 13 receptions for 141 yards. Running backs Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren combined for 13 catches and 97 yards.
The Steelers should seemingly benefit from having Metcalf, even though he has just two 100-yard receiving games this season after being acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in a trade during the offseason then signing a five-year, $150-million contract extension. If nothing else, the Steelers found a way to utilize other pass catchers during Metcalf’s absence.
"I think as a collective, as a coaching staff, when you're faced with adversity, it's important that you pivot,” Tomlin said. “There's an expiration date on adjustments, and certainly we had to make some adjustments. We felt the effects of it in Cleveland, but as I mentioned (against the Ravens), it was reasonable to expect us all to be better – the players themselves, us as strategists – and I think we displayed that.
"And so hopefully, in returning (Metcalf) to the fold, we get the benefits of our adaptability, the growth of individuals, the growth of continuity, and new individuals. And you couple that with his presence, hopefully we're all continually, collectively better. I know it's going to be required."