🚨 ALARM IN PITTSBURGH: Steelers’ Defense in CRISIS After Week 8 — Could Key Injuries End Their Season? The Pittsburgh Steelers are reeling after their Week 8 loss on Sunday Night Football, and the biggest concerns are coming from the secondary. Could this be the turning point that derails the Steelers’ playoff hopes — or will they find a way to fight back despite the mounting adversity?.Ng1

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot of work to do after their Week 8 loss on Sunday Night Football, and most of that will come from the defense. The secondary has especially been underwhelming, and they may be unable to fix it. What makes it worse is the fact that safety DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury in that contest, and his immediate reaction made fans fear the worst. Head Coach Mike Tomlin listed Elliott with defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale under players with a “significant” knee injury after the game.

During his weekly Tomlin Tuesday press conference, Tomlin mentioned that Elliott had a hyper-extended knee, while confirming the report that Ekuale’s season is done. Afterwards, he was asked to clarify the severity of the issue to the starting safety, and he responded with some great news overall. It started with him just saying he had no speculations at the time of the issue.

When Tomlin was asked about if saying Elliott’s injury is a week-to-week thing, he simply responded by saying, “It is.” He also previously said that he would miss the upcoming Week 9 contest against the Indianapolis Colts, but nothing is confirmed beyond that. It will be great to have that little ball of energy back on the field as soon as possible.

Later on, Tomlin was also asked about the chances of Elliott going on Injured Reserve (IR). He gave another positive note on that front by saying, “We haven’t discussed that at all.” Based on that information, it sounds like the seventh-year safety will only miss 1-3 weeks. With how rough he looked while riding to the cart, that truly is good news. It could always be worse.

Elliott suffered a knee injury back in Week 1 as well, and he missed two weeks with that. In the five games he has played so far, he has not shown up on the stat sheet very often outside of tackles. He did have a big game against the Minnesota Vikings, where he had an interception, a forced fumble, and a sack. Outside of that, he has not been as productive as hoped.

When Elliott first came back, linebacker Patrick Queen raved about him and spoke about what all he brings to the team. Even if he doesn’t make a ton of splash plays, he is still a major key to this defense, and Queen mentioned that after he got injured again. His constant communication and hype will be missed on the team for the next week or so.

Other Steelers Injury Notes

Left guard Isaac Seumalo has a pectoral strain, and he is officially questionable for Week 9 according to Tomlin. He got injured in the first half of the Steelers’ recent game, and it seemed to affect the play-calling a little bit. It would not be too surprising to see him miss the upcoming contest, as muscle injuries can be tough to gauge sometimes.

Wide receiver / special teamer Scotty Miller apparently broke his finger in practice in the previous week. Tomlin mentioned that it had been repaired, but his recovery is still a wait-and-see thing. It sounds like he will also avoid IR, and he could potentially return sooner rather than later. With a few recent special teamers getting injured, Miller coming back would be very welcomed.

The Steelers have also announced that they are bringing in a couple of veteran safeties for workouts to help fill a role while Elliott is out. As of now, they only have three healthy players at that position on the 53-man roster. If either of those players get signed, it would likely be to the practice squad, so they could be elevated for the few games that the fan favorite has to miss.