James Conner injury: Steelers RB suffers lower leg injury vs. Chargers - SB Nation

Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers after sustaining a lower leg injury late in the fourth quarter. Conner went down hard and stayed down for some time, before being helped off the field with assistance from team trainers. Head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters after the game that Conner suffered a lower leg contusion.

Conner was quickly escorted to the locker room for further testing, while the Steelers managed to go on and tie the game on the drive. He was quickly listed as questionable to return. Stevan Ridley and Jaylen Samuels (56 and 26 yards rushing, respectively) are Conner’s primary backups on the depth chart.

Conner has been a breakout player for the Steelers this season, effectively filling the role of Le’Veon Bell in a way that absolutely nobody (except perhaps Steelers coaches) could have predicted. He runs well and he’s a lethal receiving target for Ben Roethlisberger, just as Bell was before his holdout, and has had a healthy workload all season.

Going into Sunday’s game, Conner had carried the ball 186 times for 849 yards (4.6 yards per carry average) and 10 touchdowns while catching 49 passes for 453 yards and a touchdown. Pittsburgh’s second-leading rusher is Roethlisberger with just 94 yards, so any missed time for Conner would be significant for a team in the midst of a playoff race.

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