The Steelers selected Alex Highsmith in the third round of this year’s draft to be the eventual replacement for Bud Dupree, who is going to become a free agent after the season ends. They just didn’t think Highsmith would have to play this early.
With Dupree suffering a season-ending knee injury in the 19-14 victory against the Ravens, the Steelers will turn to Highsmith to become the starter for the remainder of the year. It’s the second time this season the Steelers have lost a starter on defense, and it’s the second time they will be calling upon a young and inexperienced player to fill the void.
When Devin Bush suffered a knee injury in Week 5, the Steelers turned to Robert Spillane to take his spot. He has played well as a replacement, and the defense remains among the best units in the NFL. Now it’s Highsmith who will be looking to keep the defense on track without Dupree.
“I’m just as comfortable and confident as I was in Robert Spillane when we called upon him, or Kevin Dotson when we called upon him,” coach Mike Tomlin said Thursday afternoon, one day after the Steelers beat the Ravens to improve to 11-0. “That’s life in this business. Those guys work behind the scenes every day very diligently to prepare themselves for these opportunities, not only in terms of knowing what to do, but always preparing themselves in terms of conditioning when we ring their bell, and we are ringing Alex Highsmith’s bell now. It’ll be exciting to see him respond to it, but it will also be exciting to watch his growth because growth is associated with experience. And no doubt in coming weeks he will be gaining a lot of that.”
The Steelers have enjoyed tremendous production from their outside linebackers this season. Dupree has eight sacks and T.J. Watt has 11. They were well on their way to both registering double-digit sacks in the same season for a second year in a row.
When a reporter suggested Watt’s production might tail off with Dupree’s pass-rushing presence on the right side of the defense, Tomlin wasn’t buying it.
“I don’t think T.J. Watt gets assistance from anyone in terms of his quality of his play,” he said. “T.J. makes his plays. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue at all. Guys like T.J. don’t depend on anyone.”
Highsmith has only played 128 snaps on defense this season, but he did get his first sack in Dallas, and he snagged an interception in the win in Baltimore last month. In his senior season at UNC-Charlotte, he had 15 sacks and 21 ½ tackles for loss.
It was that kind of production that attracted the Steelers to Highsmith when they had an opportunity to draft him with the 102nd overall pick. And when the Steelers play Washington on Monday, he’ll get his first chance to prove he can continue to produce in the NFL.
“He had a really big year in 2019,” Tomlin said. “He had a tangible growing resume and some maturity that we thought would aid us if called upon in the ways he’s being called upon right now.”
Williamson gets in the rotation
Due to the numerous postponements of the Ravens game, the Steelers are in the middle of a stretch of playing three games in 12 days. On Wednesday, the Steelers took the proactive approach of resting some of their starters by rotating in the reserves a bit more often.
Avery Williamson, who was acquired in a trade with the Jets last month, saw his most extensive playing time when he played 25 of the 54 defensive snaps. He only played 11 snaps against the Bengals and eight against the Jaguars.
“If you really look at it, we played a lot of guys on defense and we did that by design,” Tomlin said. “We have a block of games here in a very short period of time where the strength of the pack is the pack. We were thoughtful about playing a lot of people to keep the group up. We did it last night, and we will do it again on Monday.”
Robert Spillane led all inside linebackers with 44 snaps, and Vince Williams played 33.
Injury update
Cornerback Steven Nelson is getting an MRI on Thursday after injuring a knee against the Ravens. He was able to finish the game, but the fact that the Steelers are playing on short rest against Washington means his status could be in doubt.
The Steelers return to the practice field Friday. Tomlin did not answer a question as to when center Maurkice Pouncey will return. The Steelers found out Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before kickoff, that Pouncey was going to be placed on the COVID list.
J.C. Hassenauer replaced Pouncey, and Tomlin said he was solid in his first NFL start.
“We’ll proceed with the guys we have now,” Tomlin said. “Whenever Maurkice gets back to us, he gets back to us.”
Defensive end Stephon Tuitt tweeted that he will be back for the Washington game. He is currently on the COVID list.
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: December 3, 2020, 6:06 p.m.