PITTSBURGH —The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without a large part of their offense when they take on the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC North title on Sunday — literally and figuratively. Third-year tight end Darnell Washington , who's emerged as one of Aaron Rodgers ' preferred targets, had surgery on his broken arm on Tuesday.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ruled Washington out for the pivotal matchup. Tomlin didn't elaborate on whether it's a season-ending injury, but NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport wrote in a post on X that Washington's season is done.
"He's not available to us this week, and that's really all the information that I was concerned about as we formulate a plan," Tomlin said . "This is a one-week season for us."
Washington suffered the injury after a reception during his team's road loss to the Cleveland Browns . He remained in the game for a few more plays before heading off. Washington had two grabs in the first quarter of that contest, picking up 15 yards.
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington runs with the ball on Oct. 12, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Rodgers said earlier this season that defenses were starting to respect Washington's receiving talents, especially with what he could do to punish would-be tacklers after the catch.
"They're getting scared of him, for sure. They should be," Rodgers said. "He's a mammoth. He jumped over a guy. He stiff-armed a guy to the ground, ran a guy over, made another guy miss a tackle. Then he had a block where he knocked two guys down. … I'm just so proud of him, really just his approach and the growth I've seen since training camp as he's continued to get his body in shape, get his mind in shape."
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Offense Takes Hit, Will Miss Darnell Washington vs. Ravens
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