Bengals running back Chase Brown sprained an ankle late in Saturday’s overtime win over the Broncos. He has played 686 offensive snaps this season, which is 65 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.

So, the Bengals will miss a big part of their offense if Brown can’t go against the Steelers on Saturday.

“Chase Brown is a special player, and I think he’s got a bright, bright future in this league as one of the top backs, really in anything you ask him to do,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said, via Jay Morrison of SI.com. “And so, obviously, we’re hopeful that we’re going to have him. And I know he’s going to work really hard to be able to be out there for us.”

Brown has 283 touches for 1,350 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, with his 536 yards from scrimmage since Week 13 ranking eighth among all players, according to ESPN Research.

If Brown can’t play, the Bengals insist they have confidence in Khalil Herbert, who the team acquired in a trade with the Bengals at the deadline. Herbert has nine touches for 52 yards for the Bengals, but four carries for 23 yards came on the game-winning drive last week.

“Khalil’s a pro,” Pitcher said. “He’s played a lot of NFL football. He’s been productive. We really like the way he prepares during the week. He’s diligent. We brought him here for a reason.

“We heard really good things about him. We were able to evaluate the player on the tape and we liked the player. And then we heard a lot of really good things about the person. The ability for us to add him was big.”