Steelers Rookie Leaves Game With Head Injury

Williams' Rookie Season

Williams, who signed with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent out of Indiana in April, became the team's primary punt returner after Calvin Austin III suffered a shoulder injury against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4.

His first audition in that role came during the preseason, however, as he recorded 70 yards across nine attempts.

Before going down with his injury, Williams had taken back 11 punts for 112 yards over five contests, which comes out to an average of 10.18 yards.

He muffed a punt during the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh's Week 10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers while the Steelers trailed 22-3, however, and head coach Mike Tomlin hinted that the team was considering switching back to Austin as their No. 1 punt returner heading into their bout against the Bengals.

"As Calvin came back from injury, we wanted him to focus on getting back up to speed offensively," Tomlin said earlier in the week. "[Ke'Shawn] had done an above-the-line job in that space. But certainly, we'll look at it this week and make plans accordingly, given what transpired in the last game."

The Bengals hadn't punted before Williams' injury, though he did return the opening kickoff for 20 yards.

What Williams' Injury Could Mean for Steelers

With Williams no longer available, Austin becomes the logical candidate to return punts for Pittsburgh for the rest of the game.

Austin had returned only two punts for nine yards on the year entering Week 11, but he took back 28 punts for 289 yards last season, which included a 73-yard touchdown against the New York Giants.

Scotty Miller is another potential option for the Steelers, as he is listed as the third-string option in that role on their depth chart. He's returned just one in the regular season throughout his entire NFL career, though, which came in 2023 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.

Defensive back D'Shawn Jamison, who was elevated from the practice squad and returned a kick after Williams left the game, could also become a top option in that regard with the latter, who had been listed atop the depth chart in that role, now sidelined.