Steelers Announce Surprising Pat Freiermuth Injury Before Bucs Game

Another Pittsburgh Steelers pass catcher is dealing with an injury ahead of the team's Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) catches a wide open pass for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 7 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. The Bengals won, 33-31. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Another Pittsburgh Steelers pass catcher is dealing with an injury.

While the Steelers announced that DK Metcalf (illness) has been removed from the injury report ahead of their Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per the team's senior director of communications Burt Lauten, Pat Freiermuth (calf) has been added to it and is now questionable.

The #Steelers have added TE Pat Freiermuth (calf) to the injury report and is questionable for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay. Additionally, WR DK Metcalf (illness) has been removed from the injury report and will not have an injury designation as he is expected to play Sunday.

— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) October 17, 2026

Pittsburgh is incredibly thin at wide receiver even with Metcalf now being good to go vs. Tampa Bay. Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) was placed on the reserve/injured list ahead of the team's Week 5 win over the Indianapolis Colts, which will keep him out through the Steelers' Week 9 bye.

Furthermore, Roman Wilson (finger) and Ben Skowronek (calf) suffered their respective injuries vs. Indianapolis and will not suit up against the Buccaneers.

Rookie Germie Bernard proved that he can take on a brunt of the workload in a starting role, recording 80 yards on six catches vs. the Colts. Still, Freiermuth has become all the more crucial to Pittsburgh's passing offense due to the slew of injuries it's dealing with at receiver.

It remains to be seen whether or not he ends up playing against Tampa Bay. If Freiermuth isn't out there, however, it would deliver yet another blow to a Steelers offense that is coming off a 34-point outing vs. Indianapolis.

Oct 11, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

How Pittsburgh Could Deploy TEs if Freiermuth Doesn't Play

According to SumerSports, the Steelers have run the ninth-most plays (84) while in 12 personnel this season.

12 personnel, which is when an offense has two tight ends, two wide receivers and a running back on the field in addition to the quarterback and five offensive linemen, allows Pittsburgh to get Freiermuth and Darnell Washington onto the field at the same time.

Should Freiermuth be active, it wouldn't be surprising if the Steelers utilized more 12 personnel looks on offense than usual given their deficiency at receiver beyond Metcalf and Bernard.

Even if Freiermuth doesn't play, though, they might still come out in 12 personnel quite often with Robert Tonyan essentially filling the former's role.

Pittsburgh already doesn't utilize 11 personnel formations at a high rate (195 total plays, seventh-fewest in NFL per SumerSports). Considering it will potentially have to rely on Brandon Smith as its third receiver vs. Tampa Bay assuming he's elevated from the practice squad for a second-straight week, the team may instead lean more heavily on Tonyan even though he's logged just 14 offensive snaps this year.

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