Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday during his press conference that the egregious penalty offenders on special teams were at risk of losing a gameday helmet moving forward, and on Saturday he carried through with that threat with the signing of safety Damon Cromartie-Smith off of the practice squad.
Cromartie-Smith will now be active Sunday against the Washington Redskins and cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke will now most likely be inactive as punishment for his four special teams penalties that he has accumulated over the course of the last three games. The move also could allow safety Will Allen, who is recovering from a rolled ankle suffered last Sunday night, some time off of special teams this week as well. Allen is still expected to start at strong safety against the Redskins with Troy Polamalu still sidelined with his calf injury.
The move to sign Cromartie-Smith and release offensive lineman John Malecki on Saturday also sets up a few other roster moves that we should see take place on Tuesday. Rookie nose tackle Alameda Ta\’amu figures to be moved back to the 53 man roster from the suspended list on Tuesday and at that time Cromartie-Smith will likely be waived to make room for him.
The release of Malecki on Saturday now allows him enough time to clear waivers so that he can be resigned back to open practice squad on Tuesday.
