The Pittsburgh Steelers have run the past two weeks with Mykal Walker in the starting lineup at inside linebacker. Signed to the practice squad just a month ago, his rapid ascension was spurred by injuries to Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander at the position, though he himself came to Pittsburgh with prior starting experience.
Even still, he has two players sitting behind him with much more experience. And defensive coordinator Teryl Austin seemed to hint that they don’t plan to leave them on the bench—or at least the one who is already on the 53-man roster Blake Martinez.
“We’ll continue to see where he may fit in with us”, he told reporters yesterday, via transcript provided by the team’s media department. “I think that at some point he’ll have a hat on, and he’ll have an opportunity to help us. What that is right now or this week, I’m not sure”.
An eight-year veteran but still 29 years old, Martinez retired a year ago before electing to change course in recent months. He was on the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad when the Steelers signed him, Martinez telling reporters that the Panthers were trying to promote him, but he ended up choosing the Steelers.
A 2016 fourth-round pick, Martinez started 57 of 61 games during his four seasons with the Green Bay Packers. During that time he recorded 512 tackles, including 29 for loss, with 10 sacks, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions.
He parlayed that into a big free agent contract with the New York Giants in 2020, recording 151 tackles in his first season with them along with three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception. A torn ACL the following season, however, completely changed the course of his career, Martinez seemingly opting to retire a year ago under the impression he could earn more money off the field.
Martinez has only played in five games over the past two seasons, largely due to that ACL injury, of course, and he struggled to retain employment a year ago, spending time with the Las Vegas Raiders. He should be entirely healthy by this point, however, and in football shape after weeks in Carolina.
“Like every practice, he’s just learning our stuff and getting into the playbook and learning the things and how we do those things”, Austin said. “He’s a good pro. We can see that. It’s just a matter of time before he’s ready to hopefully contribute”.
Martinez, who only signed last week, was a healthy scratch for this past Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but Walker wasn’t with the team for very long before he was called into action, either. I would expect him to dress this week, though whether he plays is another matter.
The Steelers were using a three-linebacker rotation this season before the injuries, so I’m sure they want to get back to that. They bragged about having three starters before losing two of them. If they could get back to that point despite what happened, the scouting department will deserve quite a bit of praise.
