Damontae Kazee is officially back on the Pittsburgh Steelers active roster, but the team officially lost another member of its ailing safeties corps.
Kazee was restored to the 53-man roster, it was announced Wednesday upon the expiration of the three-game suspension he served resulting from a hard hit on Indianapolis Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. on Dec. 16. Kazee initially was suspended for the remainder of the season, but upon appeal, it was reduced to cover only the regular season.
The Steelers open postseason play with a wild-card game Sunday at the Buffalo Bills.
Kazee’s absence was compounded by the injury loss of the Steelers’ other two starting-level safeties — Minkah Fitzpatrick and Keanu Neal — and No. 4 safety Trenton Thompson.
Thompson (neck) and Fitzpatrick (knee) suffered injuries during the Colts game and have not played since, and Neal (rib) remains on injured reserve. While it is possible Fitzpatrick returns for Sunday’s game, any possibility that Thompson might was eliminated when Thompson was placed on IR in the corresponding move Wednesday.
Over the final three games of the regular season — all Steelers victories — converted cornerback Patrick Peterson and recent practice-squad signee Eric Rowe manned safety for the Steelers.
Note: The Steelers signed 32-year-old punter Brad Wing to their practice squad. The move perhaps signals unhappiness with incumbent punter Pressley Harvin III after Harvin had punts of 34, 26 and 39 yards — and another that netted 33 yards – in last week’s regular-season finale in Baltimore. Wing punted for the Steelers in 2014 and after a trade to the Giants served as their punter for three seasons but had not appeared in an NFL game for six years when the Steelers deployed him when Harvin was injured for a pair of October games earlier this season.
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