The Pittsburgh Steelers are hurting badly on their defense, particularly at inside linebacker and safety, due to the attrition that has occurred there over the past few weeks. Starting LBs Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander were lost for the season in back-to-back weeks, while S Keanu Neal was placed on IR several weeks ago with a rib injury, with his status unclear if he’ll return again in 2023. Pittsburgh also lost S Minkah Fitzpatrick last Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts with a knee injury while also seeing Trenton Thompson suffer a neck injury while Damontae Kazee got ejected and later suspended for the rest of the season for a big hit on WR Michael Pittman Jr.
Neal and Fitzpatrick are expected to miss Pittsburgh’s next game Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals while Thompson didn’t practice either with an ankle injury. The team does have S Elijah Riley practicing on a limited basis, working his way back from an ankle injury himself, but is still on IR and hasn’t been cleared yet to return.
Another in-house option that Pittsburgh has yet to turn to is S Eric Rowe, who was signed to the practice squad back in November, adding a proven veteran into the fold for Pittsburgh. DC Teryl Austin was asked about Rowe and his inclusion into the game plan, given Pittsburgh’s number of injuries at the position. He stated that we could see the veteran out there for the first time in a Black and Gold jersey.
“Yeah, that was one the reasons we got Eric is we know that he’s played some football in this league, good football in this league,” Austin said to the media Wednesday according to official transcripts provided by the Steelers. “If you get to a situation like this, he would be a guy that you could probably lean on. So, he’s a guy that, depending on how this thing shakes out, may see him out there this week doing some stuff for us. I would have a comfort level with that because I’ve seen him on cross-film. I never coached him until he got here but seen him on cross-film and know he’s a football player that understands what’s going on in this league and will have a skillset to help us.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin mentioned in his press conference that we could see a little bit of Rowe given the attrition Pittsburgh has experienced at the safety position in the last several days, being a proven veteran with ample starting experience with the Patriots and Dolphins. Rowe, a second-round pick of the Eagles back in 2015, started his career at cornerback before making the move to safety. He became a big-time contributor for the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins, having played in 100 games with 56 career starts. Rowe has 381 total stops, 41 pass deflections, five interceptions, and six forced fumbles during his time in the league, operating as a safety and big nickel who can match up with tight ends given his size and physical play style.
Given that Thompson could miss Saturday’s game and that S Miles Killebrew is primarily a special teams ace that you don’t want playing a large number of snaps on defense, it would be reasonable to expect Rowe to at least get some snaps, if not start depending on the status of Thompson as well as Riley. Austin mentioned that he doesn’t want CB Patrick Peterson playing full-time safety today as well, even though the seasoned vet saw plenty of snaps there last week and during this season after Fitzpatrick and Kazee left the game.
Given Pittsburgh’s need at safety and their inability to stop the tight end position the last several weeks, Rowe could be just what they need as the team is digging deep into the reserves, attempting to keep their defense patched together as they try to avoid playoff elimination this weekend.
