On Wednesday morning, the Pittsburgh Steelers made it official announcing on their Twitter page that LB Jaylon Smith was signed to the practice squad along with S Nate Meadors.
He is already in Pittsburgh and spoke to the media before practice today. He was asked if he had prior ties to head coach Mike Tomlin dating back to his draft process in 2016.
“Yeah, great relationship. Tomlin’s a guy that any player wants to play for,” Smith said in a clip posted by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo on X. “Me coming out of college, was gonna be a top-three pick and got hurt the last game, so a lot of guys thought I’d never play again. But I’m happy to be in year eight and still striving for greatness, so I’m just thankful for this opportunity.”
He hasn’t played a ton of football lately, appearing in just one game with the Las Vegas Raiders. He logged 25 snaps and made two tackles in that game. He was asked about his time with the Raiders and why he didn’t play more.
“It just came down to opportunity,” Smith said in a clip posted by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor on X. “I still got a lot left in the tank.”
Starting out on the practice squad and with just two games left in the regular season, it is unclear if or when Smith will get his chance to suit up in a game. That being said, the inside linebacker group has been snake-bitten this season with injuries. The uncertainty isn’t changing his approach to preparation.
“I don’t know what the role’s going to be. [What] I’m going to do is make sure I’m ready for whatever,” Smith continued in a quote transcribed by Pryor on X. “I’m a guy that’s got experience, and I know I can still add a lot of value to a team. Being here in Pittsburgh, I understand the Steel Curtain tradition, and for me, it’s just about giving it all I got.”
Smith was counted out after a severe knee injury that resulted in nerve damage back at Notre Dame. Like he said, a lot of people counted him out and thought he could never be effective on the football field again. He didn’t play his rookie season, but by 2017, he appeared in all sixteen games. From 2018-2020 he was a full-time starter for the Dallas Cowboys. He even earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2019 with 142 combined tackles, six tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception. For his career, he has wracked up 626 total tackles, 378 solo tackles, 24 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, six forced fumbles, and two interceptions.
With guys like Myles Jack and Blake Martinez coming off the practice squad to play significant snaps late in the season, Smith is very much in play to suit up at some point. Jack, and more recently, S Eric Rowe have proven that their veteran experience translates to their preparation on the field, with both players making a big impact in their first action with the team in Week 16. Especially if the Steelers extend their season by qualifying for the playoffs, Smith could hear his name called. At the very least, Omar Kahn is re-stocking the shelves in the event that the team continues suffering attrition like they have all season.
