The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the season with two players on defense who weren’t on a roster most of the year as starters, or at least close enough not to make a difference. Their opportunities were birthed by necessity, but on the whole, they rose to the occasion.
ILB Myles Jack was the much more familiar name. He was a starter on the defense already in 2022 but was released due to his high salary. After retiring, he eventually got a phone call from the Steelers mid-season following a series of injuries at the position.
Eric Rowe is a veteran defensive back with a great wealth of experience. The Steelers were eager to pick him up on their practice squad in November, but they didn’t anticipate him starting the final four games of the season.
He had to after Damontae Kazee was suspended and Minkah Fitzpatrick was injured. Those two events occurred on consecutive plays. Keanu Neal was already on the Reserve/Injured List. Rowe was virtually the last man standing, with CB Patrick Peterson moving over to start at safety with him.
Jack also slowly earned playing time following a rash of injuries at inside linebacker, including to starters Kwon Alexander and Cole Holcomb. He had his ups and downs, the postseason loss to the Buffalo Bills not one of his better games.
But on the whole, head coach Mike Tomlin was impressed with the performances of both, in totality and in context. They delivered under pressure, coming off the bench, and Tomlin said in his post-season press conference that he would “certainly” continue to do business with both of them.
Considering neither of them was on a 53-man roster at any point of the season, that’s pretty remarkable. Each of them played the final four games, but for each game, they were elevated from the practice squad to play rather than being signed to the 53.
In 155 defensive snaps during the regular season, Rowe recorded 29 tackles with one for loss. He added a forced fumble with an interception and two passes defensed. To that, he contributed another eight tackles and a pass defensed in the postseason loss to Buffalo.
Jack’s playing time was less consistent, officially only starting one game, but he recorded 17 tackles in 131 snaps, including one for loss. He also recorded his first sack since 2020 and added two hits. In limited work against the Bills, he added another four tackles—but also two unfortunate penalties.
Both of them earned praise throughout the final month of the season for stepping up to the plate when it was their turn to bat. Still, while Tomlin expressed an openness to continuing to work with them, neither is guaranteed a thing.
Rowe will be 32 next season, Jack 29, and already once retired. There is no telling if either of them will actually want to continue to play. At the moment, they remain under practice squad contracts. They were not among those who have already signed Reserve/Future contracts, but they could be exploring other options before making that commitment.
