The Pittsburgh Steelers have ruled out S DeShon Elliott for Saturday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, per Burt Lauten on X.
He was listed as doubtful on Thursday’s final injury report of the week with a hamstring injury. The same injury held him out of last Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, so this makes two missed games for Elliott. He didn’t practice on Tuesday or Wednesday and then was limited on Thursday.
Videos at practice showed him getting some work in, but he looked to be moving at half speed, so this news isn’t a big surprise. There is at least an outside chance that Elliott will be ready for Wednesday against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day, but it’s a very tight turnaround.
Elliott is one of the team’s best tacklers and has consistently been an impact player for the defense. He’s been critical to helping take away tight ends and his run support has been very important for helping limit opposing rushing attacks.
The first time the Steelers and Ravens played each other in Week 11, Elliott had two total tackles and a quarterback hit, but he also recovered a fumble. He is a former Ravens player and helped bring a lot of energy to the matchup last time around along with Patrick Queen.
Damontae Kazee played a season-high 64 snaps against the Eagles with Elliott out last week. That 80-percent snap share will likely continue this week against the Ravens. The only other option is to put Cam Sutton back at free safety and have Fitzpatrick roam around a bit more. The Steelers did that a bit last week, so maybe they will expand that package, though the Eagles had a lot more explosive plays than normal without Fitzpatrick back at free safety.
Fortunately, T.J. Watt was cleared to play on Thursday. The Steelers are also still evaluating CB Donte Jackson and DL Larry Ogunjobi, so the defense could end up being down a few starters in this critical game.
