Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle appears to be on the precipice of a return from his toe injury.
While praising Jaylen Warren during his postgame press conference following the Steelers' Week 5 win over the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Mike McCarthy stated that Dowdle was "close" to suiting up in the contest and that he's hopeful he'll make his return in Week 6 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He's the man. He's hauling it right now for us," McCarthy said. "There's a number you like to continue to give him. He's produced. So it's been heavy. It'll be great to get Rico back this week too. I'd love for Rico to practice this week and, hopefully, be up for the game. Yeah, he was close. Having him as a one-two punch was the vision of this offense, but Jaylen's crushing it right now. He's been awesome for us.”
Can Dowdle Help Make Up for WR Deficiency?
Pittsburgh is in dire straits at the wide receiver position.
Michael Pittman Jr. was placed on the reserve/injured list after aggravating his foot injury last week, meaning he'll need to miss at least another three games. That period will run through the team's Week 9 bye, meaning the earliest he can return is in Week 10 vs. the Cincinnati Bengals.
Meanwhile, Roman Wilson (finger) and Ben Skowronek (calf) both went down in the first half against the Colts and did not play at all in the second half. That left DK Metcalf, Germie Bernard, Kaden Wetjen and Brandon Smith, who was elevated from the practice squad, as the only healthy receivers left on the game day roster.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has reported that Wilson is expected to miss several weeks with his injury, though he is still in the process of gathering information and will seek out a second opinion.
As such, Pittsburgh is lacking depth at receiver and should have a move or two on the horizon to address that situation.
Obviously Dowdle isn't going to help mask the team's issues at the position in a traditional sense, but should he be back on the field against Tampa Bay, he does have the means to make a difference in the passing game.
The Steelers have often relied heavily on their running backs through the air. That was the case last season in Arthur Smith's system, as Kenneth Gainwell had 486 yards on 73 catches while Warren finished with 333 yards over 40 receptions, and the latter has now accumulated 230 receiving yards on 19 catches under Mike McCarthy this year.
Dowdle had posted four receptions for 28 yards in roughly a game-and-a-half before dislocating his toe twice in Week 2 against the Patriots, which has kept him out ever since.
The 28-year-old logged a combined 546 yards and four touchdowns across 78 catches between the 2024 and 2025 campaigns, though, showing that he is capable of making a real impact as a pass catcher out of the backfield and thus could be another key target for Rodgers as Pittsburgh deals with a shortage at receiver for the time being.
How Much Work Will Dowdle Get Once He Returns?
Coming into the season, the expectation was that Warren and Dowdle would share the workload at running back with something like a 55/45 or 60/40 split in favor of the former.
That was largely true when Dowdle was healthy, as he had 10 touches in Week 1 vs. the Atlanta Falcons while Warren had 15.
Given how dominant Warren has been since Dowdle went down, however, posting 491 yards from scrimmage in three games while looking like one of the league's top running backs, that type of split is unlikely to materialize moving forward.
Dowdle is a fantastic complementary piece at running back, though he's going to have to take a back seat to Warren.
Instead of a 1A, 1B-type situation, Warren has become the clear top dog for Pittsburgh and is in line to garner somewhere in the ballpark of 70 to 75 percent touches out of the backfield while Dowdle essentially gets the rest.
That could change at some point, but the Steelers simply can't curtail Warren's workload given how well he has played recently.
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