NFL insider confirms suspicion surrounding concerning knee injury suffered by Steelers starter in loss against Green Bay Packers
Not the news the Steelers’ defense wanted to hear.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is the topic of conversation for all the wrong reasons. After back-to-back games where they were torched by Joe Flacco and Ja’Marr Chase and then Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft, something is off with one of the league’s highest-paid units.
The problem is, all of these struggles have come with a defense that was at full strength the last two weeks. Every starter and the majority of the unit’s rotational players were available against the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers.
Well, following the loss to the Packers, that is no longer the case.
Steelers lose DL Daniel Ekuale, S DeShon Elliott to season-ending knee injuries
You could tell by the body language, raw emotion, and amount of time between Elliott leaving the field and him being ruled out, that his knee injury was serious. The way his knee buckled on the play led you to believe something bad happened.
“From a health standpoint, man, it looks like we got a couple of significant ones,” said Mike Tomlin after the game. “Daniel [Ekuale] got a significant knee injury. DeShon Elliott’s got a knee injury as well. Isaac Seumalo has got a pec strain, and so it’s what comes with playing. Obviously, we’ll assess those, and I’ll have a better update for you the next time we come together.”
Ekuale would later take to social media to confirm the NFL Network report that he had torn his ACL. He’s a significant depth piece used to spell Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, and Derrick Harmon; his absence will be felt.
But then late on Monday night came the real big blow — the news on Elliott.
“The Steelers are bracing for safety DeShon Elliott to miss the rest of the season, per sources,” posted Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on Monday. “His ACL is intact, and he’s working through the nature of the leg injury, so Pittsburgh will hold out hope, but a return is not considered likely at this point.”
Elliott’s loss cannot be overstated. Not only does he play with reckless abandon, serving as a plus one in the run game and an excellent player that rallies from depth, but he is also the player who keeps everything under wraps in the secondary.
It’s not a coincidence that when Elliott missed time earlier in the season, and again on Sunday, the team struggled with communication and missed assignments on the backend. His loss, along with Ekuale, is the last thing a reeling Steelers defense needs.
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