Mike Tomlin rules T.J. Watt out, Minkah Fitzpatrick questionable for Wild Card game vs. Bills

Mike Tomlin confirmed Tuesday that Steelers star T.J. Watt is out for Pittsburgh’s playoff game against the Bills. But there is a flicker of good news for the defense. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick could see action.

Tomlin made the announcement at an availability with local media. Watt sprained his MCL during the Steelers 17-10 win over the Ravens, a victory that helped clinch the wildcard berth.

Tomlin: Minkah Fitzpatrick will be limited in practice early, but optimistic about his inclusion.

TJ Watt is OUT with knee injury

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 9, 2024

The Steelers are the seventh seed in the AFC playoff bracket. That means they’ll travel to Orchard Park, NY to play the Buffalo Bills at their place. The Bills earned the second seed when they clinched the AFC East division with a win Sunday night at Miami.

So the Steelers defense has the tall task of stopping Bills quarterback Josh Allen without the services of Watt, the top pass rusher in the NFL. Watts notched his second sack of the game Sunday against Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley. That was good enough to give him the league lead with 19 sacks. The achievement made NFL history. It’s the third time in his career that Watt won the NFL sack title. No other player in league history has led the league in sacks three times. The NFL has maintained sack stats since 1982.

Big brother JJ Watt bragged on his Steelers brother on social media. JJ and TJ also became the first set of brothers in league history to notch multiple seasons of at least 19 sacks.

NFL History.

Special stuff. @_TJWatt pic.twitter.com/3YFOOSSnms

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 8, 2024

Meanwhile. Fitzpatrick still is recovering from a knee injury. He missed the last three games of the regular season, forcing Tomlin to scramble his secondary. However, Fitzpatrick returned to practice last Wednesday, but only on a limited basis. He was questionable for Steelers-Ravens, but didn’t play.

In other Steelers news, Tomlin announced that Mason Rudolph will remain the starting quarterback. Rudolph, who began the season as the third-string QB, started the last three games, all wins. Kenny Pickett now is healthy after surgery for a high ankle sprain. But Tomlin is sticking with the hot hand. With Rudolph, the Steelers offense has relied on the ground game as well as big pass plays from Rudolph.