Landing with a new team on the fly and learning a new position can be quite challenging for anyone in the NFL. Fortunately for Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad linebacker Tariq Carpenter, he stepped into a veteran room with the inside linebackers.
After signing with the Steelers’ practice squad on Aug. 31, Carpenter has switched from being a bigger box safety into a full-on inside linebacker for the Black and Gold. Now, he’ll get a chance to show that on Sunday against his former team in the Green Bay Packers.
With veteran Cole Holcomb lost for the year with a knee injury and Elandon Roberts dealing with a knee injury, Carpenter is expected to be elevated from the practice squad to the Reserve/Inactive roster Sunday against the Packers at Acrisure Stadium. That will give him a chance to play in an NFL game for the first time since Week 18 of last season with the Packers, where he played primarily special teams.
Carpenter is excited for the opportunity and is grateful for the veteran linebackers in the room who have helped him not only adapt to a position change but get up to speed in the Steelers’ defense overall.
“Man, a ton, honestly,” Carpenter said to reporters Friday when asked how much the veterans at the position have helped him, according to video via Steelers.com. “So they give us so much information and stuff, and they know that we young. They understand the situation of me playing a new position and they’ve just been doing a great job of just breaking stuff down.
“I’ve been getting a lot better with it.”
The veterans helping out the young guys on the roster doesn’t come as much of surprise. It’s the Steelers’ way lately, based on the leadership they have on the roster. It starts at the top, too, with names like T.J. Watt making sure to take young guys under their wings, ensuring that they are brought up to speed quickly and helped to develop at a fast pace to help the Steelers ultimately win games.
Even with veterans like Alexander and Roberts who are new to the roster and largely on one-year, prove-it deals, they are open to helping the younger pieces in an effort to help the team. As head coach Mike Tomlin likes to state, the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is in the pack.
It’s all connected. They all rely on each other. It’s a team sport, after all. The Steelers have shown that time and time again with the next-man-up mentality. Carpenter is that next man up. We’ll see if he’s ready to seize upon his opportunity he’s been working for since signing with the Steelers’ practice squad at the end of August.
