With star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick out for Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers are shoring up the depth chart, at least on the practice squad.
The Steelers announced Tuesday morning the signing of veteran safety Jalen Elliott to the practice squad and released outside linebacker David Perales.
Elliott previously spent time with the Steelers in training camp, signing with the franchise on Aug. 8, which came just five days after he worked out for the Steelers at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Elliott spent the entire preseason with the Steelers before he was waived on Aug. 28 ahead of final cutdowns to get to the 53-man roster.
Elliott had signed with the XFL Houston Roughnecks on Monday but ended his time with the organization quickly to get another opportunity in the NFL.
In the preseason with the Steelers, Elliott played 65 defensive snaps, grading out at a 32.9 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a mark of 67.8 as a run defender and just 33.7 in coverage. Elliott allowed 13 receptions on 13 targets in the preseason for 108 yards and two touchdowns and missed one tackle.
Elliott previously spent time with the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders. He was waived by the Raiders in May before hooking on with the Steelers in training camp.
Elliott attended Notre Dame where he was named a captain during his senior season and played in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He finished his college career with 134 tackles and six interceptions. He went undrafted in 2020 and landed with the Lions. Later playing against the Steelers in the 2021 season at then-Heinz Field, he recorded four tackles on 17 defensive snaps for the Lions.
Elliott now joins Trenton Thompson, Luq Barcoo and Tariq Carpenter as defensive backs on the practice squad.
Elliott earned a grade of C- from Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora following training camp. Kozora had this to say about Elliott: “Another mid-camp add to help get the team through the summer, Elliott is a skinnier-framed player without much speed or athleticism. But he’ll come up and tackle and isn’t afraid to do the dirty work. He split time between free and strong safety in camp and saw 65 reps during the preseason so he got plenty of burn to share with teams when he’s released and getting on the in-season tryout circuit.”
As for Perales, his time with the Steelers comes to an end at least for now.
Perales was undrafted out of Fresno State this season and played 100 snaps in the preseason for Pittsburgh, grading out at 45.1 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a mark of 53.8 as a pass rusher. Perales had just two pressures in the preseason and had three tackles, though he did flash at times in practice.
