The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t get much time to enjoy their 27-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns before getting some unfortunate news. Wide receiver George Pickens missed the first game of his career in Week 14 with a hamstring injury, and it seems likely he could miss more time; Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday afternoon that Pickens is expected to miss Week 15.

Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports that Pickens is considered to have a grade 2 hamstring strain. A grade 1 strain is considered mild, while a grade 3 hamstring strain is the most severe per the UK’s National Health Service.

In the team’s first game without Pickens, QB Russell Wilson went 15-of-26 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns, completing a pass to eight different players. TE Pat Freiermuth was the team’s leading receiver in Week 14 with a 3-48-1 line. WR Van Jefferson led the team with 35 total snaps out split out wide, followed by Scotty Miller (32). Mike Williams, meanwhile, who’d been announced as a starter in this game, played just 16 snaps out wide (17 total on the day) — a bit surprising.

One would look at Williams’ inability to earn snaps over Miller specifically, who’s been inactive in three of the past five games, as a concerning sign of his lack of progress within the offense (or faith that Arthur Smith & Co. have in him to take on a significant role). Also interesting is the fact that WR Calvin Austin played just 23 snaps, though perhaps his diminished role was due to the fact that he was limited to start the week with a concussion, though he did clear protocol in time to play.

Pickens’ absence was a bit of a surprise despite being listed as questionable ahead of the game, as Tomlin indicated in his pre-game interview with CBS that he didn’t anticipate it would be an issue, but following the game he shared that they didn’t want a “little problem to become a big problem.”

Given their 10-3 record and likelihood of going to the playoffs (can secure a playoff berth with a win in Week 14), the team appears to be taking a more cautious approach. Hamstring injuries vary in severity, obviously — Cory Trice Jr. missed nine games on IR with a hamstring injury before eventually being activated on IR just last week. Meanwhile, Justin Fields missed just a single game (plus rested over the bye) with his earlier this year, and Nick Herbig missed a four-game stretch.

Though the passing game had its struggles without Pickens in the lineup, including a drop in efficiency across the board, the team had gone through an entire week of practices and already installed the offense by the time there was an indication Pickens would miss. A full week of knowledge that Pickens would be unavailable may force OC Arthur Smith to make some more proactive adjustments to the installed game plan that could further mask some of the deficiencies the roster has in terms of receiving depth.