Sunday's injury wire read like a starting lineup. The Eagles lost an edge rusher to a concussion, the Steelers lost a head coach to the medical tent and a receiver to injured reserve, and the Saints' quarterback has been playing with two broken bones in his left hand.
Nolan Smith exited the Panthers game with a concussion and was ruled out from returning. That's the Eagles' edge rotation losing a starter, and the Eagles don't get to set the timetable. Concussions don't work on a coach's schedule, so my read is Smith misses the next one and the Eagles spend the week auditioning snaps for whoever backs him up. The part nobody in Philadelphia wants to hear: the pass rush is the one unit that has to cover for everything else, and it's now the unit getting thin.
In Chicago, Caleb Williams returned from injury and started at quarterback against the Falcons, and he set a career-best completion streak along the way. The streak is the least interesting thing about it. Completion streaks are what a quick, rhythmic, one-read passing plan produces, and that's exactly the plan I'd expect the Bears to hand a quarterback coming off an injury. I expect Chicago to keep the offense short and on schedule for at least another week rather than testing Williams deep. The Falcons game told us he's healthy. It didn't tell us the Bears trust him to carry a full playbook yet.
Pittsburgh's story is the strangest of the day. Coach Mike McCarthy suffered an injury during the Steelers' game against the Buccaneers and spent halftime in the blue medical tent. A head coach in the tent is a different category of problem than a player in the tent. In-game management, fourth-down calls, clock and challenges all sit with one man, and the staff has to plan this week as if he isn't fully available. If McCarthy is on the practice field Wednesday, I'm wrong. Until then, I'd treat the Steelers as a team with two coordinators auditioning for more responsibility.
Tyler Shough has been playing with two broken bones in his left hand, per ESPN. It's his non-throwing hand, so the arm is fine and the rest isn't. The center exchange, the play-action fake, the off-hand on a scramble: that's where a non-throwing hand earns its money. Teams don't ask a quarterback to gut through that unless they've decided the drop-off behind him is worse, which is the real story in New Orleans. Expect heavy run usage and quick throws, and expect Shough's own rushing value to take the hit.
The Giants are giving Najee Harris a larger backfield role in Week 6 against the Saints, per a Sunday morning report, after Cam Skattebo spent the first five weeks as the top back. This is a staff deciding it wants a bigger body for a specific opponent, and it caps Skattebo's ceiling more than it raises Harris's. Notice how the two items connect. The Saints are starting a quarterback with two broken bones in his hand, and the Giants are loading up at running back. New York is going to try to run New Orleans out of the building.
Pittsburgh also placed receiver Roman Wilson on injured reserve with a finger injury and signed running back Lew Nichols to the active roster. The receiver loss matters more than the transaction line suggests. The reference box score lists Aaron Rodgers at 33-of-49 for 253 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and five sacks taken. That's a lot of throws for not much yardage, which means the Steelers' passing game lives underneath, and underneath is where a receiver room gets thin fast. The Nichols signing is not a backfield takeover. Jaylen Warren went 14 carries for 50 yards, Rico Dowdle went 7 for 40, and Nichols is insurance for a room that's about to get leaned on.
My verdict: the Steelers had the worst day of the bunch, and it isn't close. Losing snaps at receiver while the quarterback is throwing 49 times for 253 yards is a real problem, and doing it in a week where the head coach is in the medical tent is a worse one. The Eagles will survive a concussion. New Orleans already decided it can survive broken bones. Pittsburgh is the club that got measurably worse and has the least room to absorb it.