Steele suffered a broken collarbone in Saturday night's upset win over the Western Bulldogs and the Saints expect him to be out of action for four weeks.
Already hit with a long injury list, the Saints will now be without their captain for next Saturday night's club 150th anniversary match against Essendon at the MCG.
Steele suffered the injury in the third term of the match at Marvel Stadium, but returned to the field and played out the game.
"Jack's as courageous as they come and to play out the game with a broken collarbone was a fantastic effort," Saints football boss David Misson said in a club statement.
"We're looking at a four-week recovery window for Jack.
"As we've seen with our playing list so far this season, while injuries aren't ideal, all we can control is our response and I'm sure another player will step up in Jack's absence and seize the opportunity to contribute to the team.
"We're hopeful that Jimmy Webster and Jack Bytel could be in the frame for a return this week, but we'll just monitor their progress during the week and be guided by the medical advice."
Richmond are also sweating on Dustin Martin's fitness after he was substituted out of Saturday's win over Adelaide.
Martin had precautionary scans in Melbourne on Sunday, with the Tigers facing a huge clash with red-hot Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick attempted to play down Martin's substitution after 32-point victory over the Crows.
"His (benching) was just from a management point of view. We'll see how that pans out," Hardwick told reporters.
"Obviously we've got a short break like Collingwood, but we'll work our way through those."
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