Well, as if a Thursday night loss to the Cleveland Browns and a drop to last place in the AFC North weren’t bad enough, the Pittsburgh Steelers just suffered a pair of injury losses on defense they can’t afford. Defensive tackle Derrick Harmon and cornerback Jamel Dean both exited the game, and both were later seen with their feet in protective gear.

On top of that, the loss marked another chapter in an ugly trend. The Steelers fell to 0-5 all-time against Cleveland on Thursday Night Football, and the Browns added insult to injury on their way out of the building.

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Derrick Harmon carted off with foot injury

First up is second-year sensation Derrick Harmon. The defensive tackle has been putting on a show through the early portion of the 2026 season, and he has quickly become one of the most important pieces of Pittsburgh’s defense.

The team ruled Harmon out early in the game with a foot injury. After he was carted to the locker room, he was seen back on the sideline with a cast on his foot.

A cast is never a good sign. We will await more details in the coming days, but the Steelers don’t have an easy replacement for what Harmon brings to the table.

Harmon is an integral part of that defensive front. Pittsburgh needs his pass rush, and it needs his ability to two-gap in the run game. Players with that combination of skills are hard to find, and they are even harder to replace in the middle of a season.

Jamel Dean injury leaves Steelers’ cornerback room in a bad spot

As tough as the Harmon news is, the bigger cost might be Jamel Dean.

We know the Steelers shipped Joey Porter Jr. to the Dallas Cowboys. Then Dean suffered an ankle injury against the Browns and didn’t play at all in the second half. Like Harmon, he was later seen with a boot on his foot.

That’s not good for Pittsburgh. If you watched the game, you know Patrick Graham, Daylen Everette, and Asante Samuel Jr. were not at their best,

So the immediate question becomes, who lines up outside for the Steelers now?

The starters were supposed to be Porter and Dean. In roughly 24 hours, the cornerback room went from above average to very easily one of the worst in the NFL.

There is a very good chance that the next time the Steelers take the field against the Indianapolis Colts, their top two corners will be Everette, a rookie third-round pick, and Samuel.

To be fair to both players, they will develop and get better. They are both still young, and Everette is only a rookie, but that is certainly not the top cornerback duo Pittsburgh envisioned when it built this roster.

A brutal Thursday night for Pittsburgh

This is the worst-case scenario for the Steelers. Losing a game to a division rival is one thing. Losing it on national television, falling to the bottom of the AFC North, and walking out with two key defensive starters banged up is another.

Pittsburgh’s defense was supposed to be the strength of this team. Without Harmon in the middle and with a cornerback room that has been gutted in a matter of days, that unit suddenly has some serious questions to answer before the Colts come to town.

We will have more on both injuries once the Steelers provide official updates. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the latest news coming out of Pittsburgh.