Former Pitt star Darrin Hall returns to Steelers' practice squad for backfield depth

The jersey color changed, even if the number didn’t.

Darrin Hall was back in the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room on Thursday morning, wearing a white No. 42 at a locker occupied a day earlier by outside linebacker Sutton Smith in gold.

The Steelers re-signed the former Pitt running back to their practice squad, just a day after releasing him to sign Smith, a sixth-round draft pick this past spring. The Steelers cut Smith to make room for Hall.

“It’s just one day off,” said Hall, a Youngstown resident. “They know I’m close and that they can call anytime. And they trust me that I’m in shape and everything. My job is to answer the phone.”

The 5-foot-11, 220-pound Hall rushed for 2,189 yards and 21 touchdowns in four seasons at Pitt, including 1,144 yards and 10 touchdowns on 7.5 yards per carry as a senior last fall. He signed with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent and also spent time with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.

Hall’s rapid return to the Steelers is a sign that they are dangerously thin in the backfield, where backups Trey Edmunds (ribs) and Benny Snell (knee) and fullback Roosevelt Nix (knee) did not practice Wednesday and starter James Conner (shoulder) was limited. That leaves the Steelers with Jaylen Samuels, Tony Brooks-James and Hall as the only healthy running backs. Hall spent last week on the practice squad, and is still learning the playbook.

“It’s a next-man-up league, so I’ve just got to get in here and dive into the books and see what happens,” Hall said. “They told me to hear everything, watch everything and, if it calls on me, to advance the growth of the room.”

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