The Pittsburgh Steelers, down Alex Highsmith, started Nick Herbig two games in a row. He left in the second half of last night’s game with a hamstring injury, however, leaving the team very thin off the edge beyond T.J. Watt. Cameron Heyward knows there’s no getting around the fact the injuries put the Steelers in a tight spot.
“Losing Nick [Herbig], we were kind of makeshifting parts”, Heyward said with a nervous laugh, via the Steelers’ website. “Guys stepped up to replace, but, man, it was tough sledding. But that’s part of the game”.
Starting OLB Alex Highsmith suffered a groin injury in Week 3, causing him to miss the past two games. The Steelers started Herbig in his place, at the time the only other edge rusher on the roster beyond Watt. He had a pretty quiet debut start with just two tackles in Indianapolis, but on Sunday, he split Watt’s 100th career sack.
Unfortunately, the Steelers had to make do without him for the final third of the game. Herbig exited with about 20 minutes left to play, suffering a hamstring injury. After DeMarvin Leal also left with a neck injury, that left just Jeremiah Moon to pair with Watt.
Moon spent the first four weeks of the season on the Reserve/Injured List. He only just returned to practice this past week, the Steelers activating him to their 53-man roster. Playing mostly in relief of Herbig, he made one tackle during the game.
“I’ll have to watch the film on how Moon did, but he’s prepared really well since he’s been here”, Watt said of the last man standing after Herbig and Leal. “It’s the next-man-up mentality; always has been”.
The Steelers selected Nick Herbig in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He proved productive in limited snaps as a rookie, graduating to top backup this season. On Sunday, he finished with two tackles, half a sack, and the fumble recovery from said sack.
Shortly before that strip-sack, Herbig made a big play with a six-yard loss on a jet sweep. Unfortunately, the Steelers gave up a 3rd-and-14 conversion albeit with a beautiful play by CeeDee Lamb. On the other hand, it gave Watt and Herbig the opportunity to make history.
The Steelers didn’t rule Nick Herbig out until about four minutes left in the game. We don’t as yet know the severity of his hamstring injury, but they can’t really afford to load up the Reserve/Injured List. They are already arguably at their maximum capacity, allowed only eight return designations. They have already used one on Moon and Dylan Cook, and will need ones for Cory Trice Jr., Ben Skowronek, Tyler Matakevich, potentially Troy Fautanu, and perhaps Logan Lee. That leaves perhaps one available return slot left open if they need to shelve somebody else.
