In the trickle-down effects of the season-ending injury to Stephon Tuitt, Isaiah Buggs potentially could be in line to make his NFL regular-season debut in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ next game.
A defensive lineman from Alabama taken in the sixth round of April’s draft, Buggs has yet to be activated for a game this season. His time could come Monday night against the Miami Dolphins.
“If my number is getting called, it’s all lights and action so I’ve got to be ready for that,” Buggs said after practice Wednesday. “But in the meantime I’ve got to follow these (veteran) guys (in the position room) and they’re going to lead me in the right direction.”
Buggs said he cut 16 pounds since he was drafted, and he appears noticeably slimmer. After playing in national championship games (winning one) during each of his two years at Alabama, Buggs made the NFL as a rookie sixth-round pick – no guarantee – but is stuck behind a deep Steelers defensive line corps that included starters Cameron Heyward, Tuitt and Javon Hargrave and veteran backups Tyson Alualu and Dan McCullers.
“You’re not going to the grave with this,” #Steelers' Cameron Heyward said. “This is something you can come back from and be a better player because of it.” https://t.co/EhBvLPgiBu
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 16, 2019
“It has been difficult,” Buggs said of not playing thus far, “but I know that I am the young guy and I know I have to wait until my number’s called and be patient. And between those times I have to work hard and practice hard because you never know what may happen.”
Buggs being one of the 46 Steelers players active is still no guarantee; the team signed veteran defensive lineman L.T. Walton last week to take the roster spot when Tuitt went on injured reserve.
Regardless, though, Buggs insists he’s spent every week this season preparing as if he’s had to play that game.
“I stayed patient, I practiced hard, studied and just followed behind the footsteps of the older guys,” Buggs said. “And now that the time is here, I am ready, I am prepared for it.”
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