Like any team, the Pittsburgh Steelers have felt the weight of attrition that an NFL season brings come Thanksgiving. For their sake, hopefully the Steelers can remain healthy the rest of the way. Otherwise, the team may have to begin making tough decisions on who to bring back and who to leave behind.
NFL rules allow teams to designate-to-return up to eight players each regular season. To be clear, that doesn’t mean the players has to come back to the 53-man roster. If their 21-day window opens and they return to practice, they count against the list. If the player gets injured again or if the team never activates him for whatever reason and he remains on injured reserve, he still counts.
Through 12 weeks and 11 games, the Steelers have used six of their eight allotted spots.
OT Dylan Cook & EDGE Jeremiah Moon
Lumping these two together because they were designated at the same time. This occurred at final roster cutdowns. Updated NFL rules allowed teams to circumvent the “make roster, land on IR the next day” yo-yo teams had previously been subjected to. Now, each team gets slots to immediately send up to a pair of players on IR and automatically be designated to return.
In 2024, that went to Cook and Moon. Cook suffered a foot injury during the summer while Moon went down with an ankle sprain. Both returned to practice but only Moon’s stuck. Cook was activated but immediately waived and signed back to the practice squad. Moon has been on roster since Week 5 and contributed on defense and special teams, blocking a punt against the Las Vegas Raiders.
LB Tyler Matakevich
Matakevich suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos. A core special teamer, he went to IR but was brought back for Week 10’s win against the Washington Commanders. He only has three tackles this season but is a reliable and dependable ‘teamer the Steelers like to roster each season.
WR Ben Skowronek
As part of the Steelers’ shuffling out their summer gunner options, Skowronek was signed after cutdowns and quickly became a top option covering punts. He went down with a shoulder injury in Week 2 before coming back in Week 10, just like Washington.
Unlike Matakevich, Skowronek’s carved out a role on his side of the ball. Primarily a blocker in heavy packages, he’s caught one pass for four yards this season.
CB Cory Trice Jr.
Healthy all summer and making the 53-man roster after losing his rookie year to a torn ACL, Trice made an early-season impact. He picked off Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix in Week 2, a crucial end zone pick in a low-scoring affair. Finding a role in dime packages, his moment was short-lived. He suffered a hamstring injury early the following week against the Los Angeles Chargers and hasn’t played since.
He’s practiced for more than two full weeks and ruled out yesterday, must be activated by next Thursday. That still seems likely to happen, though the delay and shift in his status, limited this Thursday and Friday after working full Wednesday, draws a red flag.
NT Montravius Adams
The most recent name to be designated, Adams was placed on injured reserve Oct. 22 due to a knee injury he suffered on his first snap against the New York Jets. It’s left the team without a true backup nose tackle on the 53, though Breiden Fehoko is on the practice squad and Dean Lowry has picked up extra snaps.
Adams has also been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bengals but has more time to get brought back than Trice.
Who Remains On IR?
There’s still a pair of players on injured reserve who could come back in the regular season. CB C.J. Henderson (neck) and WR Roman Wilson (hamstring) could possibly be brought back late in the year. We don’t know the exact extent or timetable of their injuries, but either one could return. Whether it’s worth using one of those two final spots is debatable. Henderson hasn’t appeared in a game while Wilson has logged only five snaps his rookie year. Even if he was added to the 53, he won’t have a role.
Others are expected to stay on IR the rest of the season: C Nate Herbig (shoulder/labrum), P Cameron Johnston (knee), and EDGE DeMarvin Leal (neck). Rookie DL Logan Lee (calf) never felt like he had a season-ending injury, but has spent the entire regular season on IR. Perhaps the team figured it wasn’t worth burning a slot for him, and their calculation was probably accurate.
What About Playoffs?
It’s important to note the NFL allows two additional IR-to-return slots for the postseason. And any of the allotted eight for the regular season roll over. Meaning, if Pittsburgh doesn’t designate anyone else this season, they can bring back up to four for the playoffs.
That could apply to OT Troy Fautanu. Seemingly out for the regular season with a dislocated kneecap, there’s a chance he could return by mid-January should Pittsburgh’s season still be going. Returning to the starting lineup seems doubtful, but that’s one name to watch. As is anyone placed on IR late in the regular season.
The Important Context
Finally, some context. Having only two spots left for the regular season sounds dicey. But the reality is anyone placed on IR come Week 15 – the Philadelphia Eagles game – or later can’t come back in the regular season anyway. Any player placed on IR has to miss at least four weeks and there isn’t enough regular season runway to bring them back by that point. Come playoffs, the Steelers will have two more slots.
Meaning, Pittsburgh just has to get through the next two games without using up all their slots for that to be a problem. And that really shouldn’t become an issue unless they suffer a bunch of semi-serious injuries over that span. If say, three players go on IR following the Bengals game, then the team could have decisions to make late in the year. Hopefully, that won’t come to pass.
