Steelers get one step closer to fixing a major defensive issue following the return to practice of rookie first-rounder
Here is the latest on the health status of the team.
It’s safe to say the Pittsburgh Steelers are a banged-up football team right now. Specifically, on the defensive side of the football. All three levels of the defense have experienced some attrition through the first two weeks of the season.
Hoping to have Patrick Queen and Darius Slay in the lineup come Sunday, the questions surrounding Joey Porter Jr., Derrick Harmon, DeShon Elliott, and others continued to persist after Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference.
But on Wednesday, Derrick Harmon returned to practice for the first time since suffering his knee injury, giving hope to what would be a massive help along the defensive line.
Steelers Week 3 injury report, Wednesday
“Just giving you [a health] update [Isaiahh] Loudermilk will be out. He has a high ankle sprain that could be described as week-to-week. Alex Highsmith has a less significant ankle sprain as well. He could be characterized as out as well,” said Tomlin on Tuesday. “We have some guys that got banged up in the game that may limit them at the early portions of the week, but should not eliminate them for participation.”
“Some of those guys include Patrick Queen with an oblique and [Darius] Slay with a shoulder. And so as you can see, a lot of those guys are and have been defensive players. But oftentimes it happens like that in football. It is our job and their job to adapt and adjust, to put together the appropriate formula in terms of mixes of people, how we divide the labor up, and what we do schematically, and so really excited about it.”
It’s still early, but the return of Harmon is a good sign, even if it’s in a limited capacity. Whether it’s been the changes along the line or the struggles of Payton Wilson at the second level, it’s clear that Pittsburgh needs all the help it can get, and its rookie first-rounder would be a massive lift.
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