Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith suffered what appeared to be a pretty bad ankle injury in the fourth quarter of the team’s 28-27 win over the Washington Commanders. After the game, Highsmith was on crutches leaving the locker room, per Chris Adamski of TribLive.
Highsmith appeared to step on the ankle of Commanders’ QB Jayden Daniels as he was chasing him down for a sack in the fourth quarter, and he was in immediate pain on the field and clutching his ankle. He was helped off the field by Pittsburgh’s training staff and didn’t return to the game, although the drive he got hurt on wound up being Washington’s last offensive possession of the game.
The injury looked like something that could cost Highsmith some time, though, and he’ll likely need an MRI to determine the extent of his injury. Per Melanie Friedlander, a low ankle sprain is the hope for Highsmith, as that would only knock him out for around two games, while anything else has the potential for him to miss four weeks or more.
With Highsmith going down, Pittsburgh’s trade deadline of OLB Preston Smith looks all the more important. Smith was acquired as depth off the edge, but he might need to play a bigger role if Highsmith is forced to miss time due to his injury. Additionally, OLB Nick Herbig is working his way back from a hamstring injury and could return as soon as next week against the Baltimore Ravens. While Highsmith isn’t easy to replace and no one will be able to replicate his production, Herbig was having a strong year before suffering his hamstring injury and his return should help make up for some of what the Steelers could be losing with Highsmith.
Given how the injury looked, it’s not a good sign that Highsmith is on crutches, but looks can be deceiving and maybe Highsmith won’t miss much time. The reinforcements in Smith and Herbig are obviously nice to have, but losing Highsmith is a big loss, especially with the Baltimore Ravens coming to Pittsburgh in Week 11 and the Steelers still having all six of their divisional matchups remaining.
We’ll find out more on Highsmith’s status this week, but it would probably be a surprise if he was able to go next week. Hopefully, he doesn’t wind up missing multiple weeks with Pittsburgh looking to make a playoff push at 7-2.
