The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a good chunk of their defense in their win on Sunday night over the Carolina Panthers. Three key pieces of the defense left the field and none are expected to return any time soon. Could there be a return of a familiar face to the Steelers?
Cornerback Ike Taylor broke his forearm and had surgery on Monday and is expected to be out at the very least, six weeks. Inside linebacker rookie Ryan Shazier sprained his MCL on his right knee when Lawrence Timmons accidentally fell on him at the end of a play. Coincidentally, Timmons also was the one who accidentally hit Taylor on his forearm with his helmet, causing the fracture. The losses didn’t stop there. The losses didn’t stop there. In the same third quarter, outside linebacker Jarvis Jones injured his wrist and left the game.
On Monday afternoon the team placed Jarvis Jones on the injured reserve-designated for return list which means he’s out at least eight weeks. The Steelers have Arthur Moats, who came into the game on Sunday night to replace Jones but as far as depth they may have to look to their practice squad to move up a guy like Howard Jones, who did show promise in preseason but was also described as too “raw” to be added to the 53-man roster just yet.
Who else could step in and fortify this Steelers linebacking corps? Hmm…I wonder who that could be? Naturally James Harrison’s name has already been brought up. Early on Monday ESPN Steelers reporter Scott Brown explained that Harrison’s agent had told ESPN.com that the has not heard from the Steelers and had no idea if the team would have any interest in Harrison or if Harrison would consider coming out of his so far short retirement.
Then there’s this…
Very interesting isn’t it? What are your thoughts, Steeler Nation?