Pittsburgh Steelers fans held their breath when they watched the replay of DeShon Elliott's scary knee injury in Week 1. After getting mixed up in a tackle while facing the New York Jets, Elliott's leg got trapped underneath him, and he went to the ground awkwardly.
Elliott's knee got twisted up on the play, and when he tried walking off under his own power, he limped while grimacing in pain as he made his way to the blue medical tent. Immediately, Elliott was listed as doubtful before the team announced he was out for the game.
Before Mike Tomlin got a chance to update the media on Elliott's injury, NFL insider Ian Rapoport broke the news that the Steelers are expected to sign veteran strong safety Jabrill Peppers. Instantly, this news seemed to point to a bad injury diagnosis for Elliott, with our biggest fears coming true.
Fortunately, that's not the case.
The Pittsburgh Steelers avoid the worst-case scenario with DeShon Elliott's knee injury
Shortly after the announcement about Peppers joining the Steelers, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that DeShon Elliott had suffered an MCL sprain in the Week 1 win against the New York Jets. This has fans breathing a sigh of relief. The fears of missing the entire 2025 season are now out the window, as Schultz reports that the veteran is 'expected to miss a couple of weeks' as he recovers.
Derrick Harmon gave us the exact injury scare this summer. During Pittsburgh's preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers, Derrick Harmon went down holding his knee and was quickly carted into the locker room. As it turned out, it was just an MCL sprain for Harmon, and the rookie first-round pick could return to the field as early as Week 2.
The Steelers needed extra safety help anyway, which explains the Jabrill Peppers signing. Peppers has started 99 games since 2017 and is a former first-round pick. Adding depth and security to the safety position is only going to help when Elliott returns to the field.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have already had two nightmare injury scares to the knees of two of their starting defenders. Let's hope we don't get any more of these moving forward.