The hits just keep on coming to the Pittsburgh Steelers from an injury perspective.
That now includes standout outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. After leaving Sunday’s 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers at Acrisure Stadium with a groin injury a few plays after a missed sack on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Highsmith will be out “a couple weeks,” according to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo.
DeFabo tweeted the report moments ago.
Highsmith told reporters Monday that the groin injury was the same one he had in training camp, having aggravated it on Sunday in the first half, leading to his exit.
Here is the play in which he came up limping before exiting the game.
Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora noted throughout training camp that Highsmith was dealing with the injury and that the Steelers were being cautious bringing him back into the fold as Highsmith missed a fair amount of training camp with the injury. The Steelers began ramping things up for Highsmith late in camp, giving him a runway for the season.
The fifth-year outside linebacker initially suffered the injury on Aug. 6. He didn’t dress again until the 14th, the team’s final camp practice, and was limited to just individual work.
Though Highsmith reportedly told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac after the game that he’d “be okay”, the groin injury will shelve Highsmith for a few weeks, dealing a big blow to the Steelers’ star-studded defense.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, second-year outside linebacker Nick Herbig is waiting in the wings. Herbig had a big day in relief of Highsmith on Sunday, recording two sacks against the Chargers.
With Herbig stepping into a starting role for the Steelers with Highsmith expected to miss time, the Steelers are thin at outside linebacker. Defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal can handle some OLB snaps for the Steelers, but with outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon still on injured reserve, the Steelers are down to two healthy, true outside linebackers for the time being.
