Pittsburgh Steelers LB Chapelle Russell is out for the rest of the team’s preseason opener with a knee injury, according to Joe Rutter of TribLive. Russell is competing for a backup inside linebacker spot after spending much of 2022 on the team’s practice squad. He’s been a solid performer during camp, but this injury is definitely a setback as he competes for a spot on the 53-man roster.
As captured by the KDKA cameras, LB Nick Kwiatkoski suffered a shoulder injury late in the third quarter. He was attended to by trainers as he came off the field. It appeared to be a right shoulder injury. The injury happened as he dove to break up a pass downfield.
An NFL veteran and Pittsburgh native, he is fighting for an inside linebacker spot on the 53-man roster. With Russell’s injury, the Steelers suddenly look thinner at the position.
CB Duke Dawson went down late in the fourth quarter with a lower-body injury, leaving the game. It appeared to be a left knee injury. Mike Tomlin tended to Dawson on the field alongside trainers as he was examined. He was helped off the field by trainers. Hopefully, the injury isn’t as serious as it looked.
Dawson is competing for snaps as Pittsburgh’s slot corner position. He has previously suffered a torn ACL, LCL and sprained MCL, in his right knee a 2020 game against the Panthers, when he was a member of the Denver Broncos. In 2015, he had a torn ACL in his left knee, so there is a history of injury to that knee.
