Though it was largely expected due to injuries at inside linebacker, the words coming right from the mouth of Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad linebacker Mykal Walker makes it all but official.
Walker told reporters Friday that he will come off the practice squad and play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, according to a tweet from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski.
Walker, who was signed to the practice squad on Oct. 30, will get his chance to make an impact for Pittsburgh Sunday, stepping up to try and replace the injured Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb, both of whom were lost for the season in successive weeks.
Now, there’s an opportunity ahead for a veteran like Walker, who has 20 career NFL starts and is coming off a 2022 season with the Atlanta Falcons where he had 107 tackles as a key starter. Surprisingly though, the Falcons moved on from him, and he hasn’t been able to catch on elsewhere. Now though, he could catch on with Pittsburgh, starting with a good performance against the Browns.
Along with Walker coming up from the practice squad, it seems likely at this point that fellow practice squad linebacker Tariq Carpenter will be elevated for the second straight week, too, giving Pittsburgh depth at inside linebacker with Elandon Roberts and Mark Robinson the only two inside linebackers on the 53-man roster currently.
A fourth-round pick of the Falcons in 2020 out of Fresno State, Walker appeared in 49 games for Atlanta, making 20 starts. To date, he’s recorded 187 tackles with one sack and three interceptions.
He last played in 2022, starting 12 games for the Falcons. He notched 107 tackles with two picks in nearly 800 defensive snaps.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin stated to reporters Thursday that the Steelers plan on utilizing a three-man linebacker rotation against the Browns featuring Roberts, Robinson and Walker. Both Roberts and Walker have worked this week in practice with the green dot, too, giving the Steelers two experienced communicators at the position.
What the exact roles will be in the three-man rotation is unclear. What is clear is that the Steelers liked the three-man rotation they had with Holcomb, Alexander and Roberts, so they’re going to try and replicate that again this week. We’ll see if it works out for the Steelers on Sunday the way it did earlier in the season.
