Steelers’ Pickens has ‘real chance’ to play Wed.

PITTSBURGH — After missing the past three games, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens has a “real chance” to play against the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday, Mike Tomlin said Sunday.

Pickens, who sustained a hamstring injury before a Week 14 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, is one of several injured players who missed Saturday’s loss at the Baltimore Ravens but could return for the Christmas Day game.

“Some guys that didn’t play yesterday who have a real chance this week: Justin Fields, DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson, George Pickens and Larry Ogunjobi all have an opportunity to play this week,” Tomlin said Sunday. “But again, we’ll see what the week leads us from their inclusion.”

Tomlin also admitted he didn’t anticipate Pickens missing this much time when he first sustained the injury.

The Steelers have struggled to consistently move the ball in the three games without their top receiver. In that stretch, the Steelers are averaging 248.3 yards per game, down from their season average of 324.9. And without Pickens stretching the field, defenses have loaded the box and suffocated the run game. The Steelers, who have the 10th-best ground attack in the league with 126 rushing yards per game, are averaging 97.7 rushing yards per game over the past three weeks. Pickens’ return could fix the ailing offense.

“He is a splash playmaker,” Tomlin said. “He’s a one-on-one playmaker. Oftentimes he controls schematics which creates one-on-ones for others or a light box regarding the run, but that’s what talented outside people do. Not only George, but anybody that has talented outside people like [Chiefs WR Xavier] Worthy will do some of the same things to us.”

Defensively, the Steelers have been without Ogunjobi and Elliott for two weeks, and Jackson left the Week 15 loss to the Eagles with a back injury.

And while the Steelers could be getting a handful of impact offensive and defensive players back, the availability of cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and wide receiver Ben Skowronek, who both exited the loss in Baltimore early with injuries, is in doubt for Wednesday’s game.

“Their availability remains questionable,” Tomlin said of Porter and Skowronek. “I just don’t have a lot of new information on those guys given that we just played last night, and we’re still in the process of assessing the state of some of those things. But anybody that didn’t make it out of the stadium yesterday on a four-day turnaround is probably going to have a difficult time showing for this one.”

Despite the banged-up wide receiver corps, Tomlin was mum on the team’s potential interest in former Steeler Diontae Johnson, who will be available to claim on waivers Monday after his release from the Ravens.

“I have nothing to add about somebody that’s not in our football team right now,” Tomlin said.