NFL injury tracker Week 15: George Pickens unlikely to play, Breece Hall's status 'promising,' Kenneth Walker III misses practice

After being a late scratch for their Week 14 win over the Cleveland Browns, George Pickens is likely to sit out for the Pittsburgh Steelers again.

While head coach Mike Tomlin said there is an “outside chance” Pickens plays against the Philadelphia Eagles, the hamstring injury the wide receiver is dealing with is a “little bit more significant” than the team initially believed.

“We’re just in the mindset now of just getting him healthy as quickly as we possibly can,” Tomlin said. “There’s a potential for this week, but it’s an outside chance. If you press me, I’d probably say he’s out or could be characterized as doubtful as we sit here, but again, like we always do, we’ll go through the normal procedure, we’ll let participation be our guide in terms of availability and then obviously the quality of that participation.”

Pickens has recorded a team-high 850 receiving yards on 55 catches with three touchdowns.

Jets RB Breece Hall questionable with knee injury

The 3-10 New York Jets have little to play for, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Breece Hall miss a second straight game on Sunday when they visit the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But on Friday, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said, “[Hall] looks good right now, so it’s promising.”

Hall is currently listed as questionable.

The second-year running back sat out last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins with a knee injury. Hall suffered an ACL injury to the same knee in 2022.

Should Hall, who has 692 rushing yards and four touchdowns, along with 401 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, not be able to go, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis will step in to work again. The rookie running backs have produced with Allen rushing for 43 yards while also catching four balls last week and Davis picking up 40 rushing yards and a touchdown along with three receptions for 27 yards.

QB Jake Haener to start for Saints

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jake Haener will make his first NFL start on Sunday against the Washington Commanders, interim head coach Darren Rizzi announced on Friday.

Derek Carr remains in concussion protocol and is also dealing with a fracture in his non-throwing hand suffered during their Week 14 win over the New York Giants. He was not ruled out and could serve as the team’s emergency third quarterback behind Spencer Rattler.

Jaguars TE Evan Engram needs surgery on torn labrum

Evan Engram suffered the injury in Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday he expected the veteran tight end to play this week, but things changed over the last 48 hours.

“Unfortunately we’re going to lose Evan for the year,” Pederson said Friday. “After more MRI results, testing and all that, he’ll have a labrum to get fixed. So, he’ll have surgery and fix the shoulder and miss the rest of the year.”

Engram played nine games this season, recording 365 receiving yards on 47 receptions and one touchdown. He’s the fourth key offensive player to be ruled out for the season, joining wide receivers Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis and quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

RB Kenneth Walker III remains out of Seahawks’ practice

After missing last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, running back Kenneth Walker III missed practice on Thursday. An ankle injury has been bothering him and he has not participated since last Wednesday.

The injury, according to head coach Mike Macdonald, is not a long-term concern, but Walker’s status for this week remains in question.

“He’s still day-to-day right now,” Macdonald said. “It got more kind of complicated as the week went on, so that’s why we had to do some more tests and stuff, but right now there’s positive signs. So we’ll just say day-to-day I think is fair, but it’s not long term.”

Zach Charbonnet filled in for Walker last week and ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

Here’s the the rest of the Week 15 injury report: (Players will be added after teams release their reports.)

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

T D.J. Humphries (hamstring): doubtful
K Harrison Butker (left knee): questionable

CLEVELAND BROWNS

WR Cedric Tillman (concussion): out
TE David Njoku (hamstring): questionable
G Joel Bitonio (back): questionable
DT Mike Hall (knee): questionable

CINCINNATI BENGALS

LT Orlando Brown (fibula): out
LB Joe Bachie (groin): out
DT Sheldon Rankins (illness): out
WR Charlie Jones (groin): questionable

TENNESSEE TITANS

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

WR Noah Brown (kidney): out
WR Jamison Crowder (calf): questionable
K Zane Gonzalez (left foot): questionable

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

LB D’Marco Jackson (ankle): out
WR Bub Means (ankle): out
QB Derek Carr (left hand, concussion): doubtful
DE Tanoh Kpassagnon (Achilles): questionable

BALTIMORE RAVENS

OLB Adisa Isaac (hamstring): questionable
S Sanoussi Kane (hamstring: questionable
NT Michael Pierce (calf): questionable
CB T.J. Tampa (ankle): questionable

NEW YORK GIANTS

S Tyler Nubin (ankle): out
LG Jon Runyan (ankle): out
DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches (neck, shoulder): out
LB Bobby Okereke (back): out
CB Andru Phillips (shoulder): out
QB Drew Lock (heel, left elbow): doubtful
CB Cordale Flott (quadricep): doubtful
CB Deonte Banks (rib): questionable
T Chris Hubbard (knee): questionable
LB Dyontae Johnson (ankle): questionable
C Austin Schlottmann (fibula): questionable

DALLAS COWBOYS

C Cooper Beebe (concussion): out
LB DeMarvion Overshown (knee): out
S Juanyeh Thomas (knee): out
CB Trevon Diggs (knee): questionable
CB C.J. Goodwin (hamstring): questionable
LB Buddy Johnson (illness): questionable
LB Eric Kendricks (personal): questionable
CB Jourdan Lewis (hamstring): questionable

CAROLINA PANTHERS

LB Trevin Wallace (shoulder): out
RB Raheem Blackshear (chest): questionable
OLB Jadeveon Clowney (knee): questionable
LB Josey Jewell (hamstring): questionable
CB Jaycee Horn (groin): questionable
S Nick Scott (hamstring): questionable

NEW YORK JETS

RB Kene Nwangwu (hand): out
CB Brandin Echols (shoulder): doubtful
RB Breece Hall (knee): questionable

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

TE Evan Engram (shoulder): out

MIAMI DOLPHINS

HOUSTON TEXANS

S Jalen Pitre (shoulder): out
C Juice Scruggs (foot): out
G Kenyon Green (shoulder): questionable
LB Christian Harris (calf): questionable
LB Jamal Hill (knee): questionable

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

WR Ashton Dulin (ankle): out
T Braden Smith (persona): out
LB Jaylon Carlies (fibula, shoulder): questionable
WR Josh Downs (shoulder): questionable
C Ryan Kelly (knee): questionable

DENVER BRONCOS

BUFFALO BILLS

CB Rasul Douglas (knee): out
TE Dalton Kincaid (knee): questionable
TE Quintin Morris (shoulder, groin): questionable
S Taylor Rapp (neck, shoulder): questionable
S Damar Hamlin (back, ribs): questionable
OT Tylan Grable (groin): questionable
DE Dawuane Smoot (wrist): questionable
DE Casey Toohill (ribs): questionable

DETROIT LIONS

LB Trevor Nowaske (concussion): out

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

WR Brittain Covey (neck): out

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

WR Javon Baker (concussion): out
DT Jaquelin Roy (foot): out
T Caedan Wallace (ankle): out
DT Christian Barmore (personal): questionable
S Kyle Dugger (ankle): questionable
CB Christian Gonzalez (shoulder): questionable
T Vederian Lowe (shoulder): questionable
G Cole Strange(knee): questionable

ARIZONA CARDINALS

RB Emari Demercado (back): out
P Blake Gillikin (right foot): out
CB Elijah Jones (ankle): out
DT Naquan Jones (shoulder): questionable
DT Roy Lopez (ankle): questionable

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

S Mike Edwards (hamstring): out
S Antoine Winfield Jr. (knee): out
LB K.J. Britt (ankle): out
WR Kameron Johnson (ankle): out
LB Markees Watts (knee): out
RB Bucky Irving (back, hip): questionable
S Christian Izien (groin): questionable
CB Josh Hayes (hamstring): questionable
LB J.J. Russell (hamstring): questionable
WR Sterling Shepard (foot): questionable
LB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (ankle): questionable

NFL injury tracker Week 15: George Pickens unlikely to play, Breece Hall’s status ‘promising,’ Kenneth Walker III misses practice