For the third straight week, the Pittsburgh Steelers are elevating practice squad outside linebacker Kyron Johnson to the Active/Inactive roster for Saturday’s Week 15 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.
Johnson was elevated for the Week 14 Thursday Night Football matchup against the New England Patriots, and the Week 13 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Johnson has yet to play a defensive snap for the Steelers but has played 33 special teams snaps in the last two weeks. This will be Johnson’s final chance to suit up for the Steelers as an elevation, unless they sign him to the 53-man roster late in the season, as it is his third elevation.
Johnson signed with the Steelers’ practice squad on Oct. 10, landing with a team that showed pre-draft interest in him coming out of Kansas in the 2022 NFL Draft.
As a senior at Kansas in 2021, Johnson had 8.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, adding four forced fumbles. Though the Steelers had pre-draft interest, Johnson was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Johnson was released by the Eagles on Oct. 3 and a week later landed with the Steelers.
Johnson played 13 special teams snaps in the Week 13 24-10 loss to the Cardinals and then 20 special teams snaps in the Week 14 21-18 loss to the Patriots.
With outside linebackers Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt recently cleared from concussion protocol and set to play Saturday against the Colts, the Steelers are likely just being cautious and adding additional depth. Last week veteran Markus Golden was inactive. We’ll see if he’s another healthy scratch Saturday.
