UPDATE (3:47 PM): According to Adamski in his Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article, Thompson is expecting to start opposite Damontae Kazee. Minkah Fitzpatrick nor Keanu Neal have been ruled out but if they are, it seems Thompson will become next-man-up.
Our original story is below.
After being elevated off the practice squad in the Pittsburgh Steelers Week 10 win over the Green Bay Packers, safety Trenton Thompson said he will again come up off the practice squad to play in Week 11 against the Cleveland Browns, per Chris Adamski of TribLive.
The Steelers brought up both Thompson and LB Tariq Carpenter as elevations last week, and we know that LB Mykal Walker will also come up this week due to comments by the coaching staff. Pittsburgh has an opening on its 53-man roster with Kwon Alexander’s placement on IR, but Pat Freiermuth still needs to be activated off IR. With Pittsburgh only allowed two elevations per week, another roster move is coming in order to facilitate all three of Thompson, Carpenter and Walker coming off the practice squad this week.
Neither Keanu Neal nor Minkah Fitzpatrick practiced on Wednesday for Pittsburgh, with DC Teryl Austin saying both players would be likely game-time decisions. Given that, it makes sense to add Thompson to the room again. He played seven snaps on defense after Neal went down against Green Bay following an interception, and he also had two snaps on special teams.
“We like Trent,” Austin told reporters Thursday during his weekly press conference. “When we got Trent, in camp, he came in he was tough, good tackler, showed some ball awareness, ball skill. So those are the things you like, but until you get him in a real-game situation, like last week he kind of got thrown in, until we get more of a body of work, then we’ll feel more comfortable with him. But we like his initial skill set and the things we saw.”
Thompson appeared in his second career NFL game last Sunday after also playing for the New York Giants in a 2022 game against the Dallas Cowboys. The San Diego State product had an interception with the Steelers during the preseason and has spent most of the year on the team’s practice squad.
