Mike Tomlin on Tuesday alluded to defensive tackle Derrick Harmon’s potential return to the lineup. Because of attrition at the position and the performance of the run defense without Harmon, it can’t come soon enough for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers have three defensive linemen on injured reserve, creating a situation in which one of the NFL’s oldest defensive players, Cameron Heyward, leads all league defensive linemen in snaps played (667).

Harmon has missed four games this season — including the past two — because of a pair of knee injuries. With him out, the Steelers have allowed an average of 191.3 rushing yards. During the nine games Harmon has played, opponents have been limited to roughly half of that: 96.0 rushing yards per game.

“He’s a first-rounder,” Tomlin said of Harmon, who was drafted with the 21st overall pick in April. “That’s why you draft first-rounders. He’s really talented.”

His talents could be of use to the Steelers in their game Monday night against Miami. The Dolphins’ De’Von Achane leads the NFL in yards per rushing attempt (5.8) and is third in yards (1,126).

The Steelers, over the past two weeks against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, have allowed averages of 233.0 yards per game and 5.1 per carry. Tomlin, though, isn’t willing to pin the blame solely on the absence of Harmon.

“It’s not a one-man gang, certainly,” he said. “I knew we were in for a tough run day last week when (inside linebacker Malik Harrison) went down (with a head injury Sunday in Baltimore) because that’s also a component of his job description in terms of being a nine-on-seven, stopping (the run) type linebacker for us. It’s never a one-man discussion. Usually it’s a multiple-man discussion. Certainly, Harmon is an asset to us in that space.”

Without Harmon — and with veterans Dean Lowry, Isaiahh Loudermilk and Daniel Ekuale on IR — at defensive tackle, the Steelers turned to a player they signed off the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad (Brodric Martin-Rhodes) against Buffalo.

After the Bills rushed for more yards as a visitor against the Steelers (249) than any team since 1975, Martin-Rhodes was scratched the following week in favor of second-year defensive tackle Logan Lee.

Allowing the Ravens to gain 203 rushing yards — albeit in a Steelers win — wasn’t all that much better.

The 36-year-old Heyward played 63 defensive snaps in that game, the most he had in a game since 2021.

“He’s an outlier,” Tomlin said when asked how a 15-year veteran can play that much in the trenches at a position where rotating bodies is the norm even for younger players. “There are some outliers in every discussion. Guys like he and (39-year-old Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle) Calais Campbell, for example, are outliers.”

Heyward is a special outlier in Steelers history, but even Tomlin acknowledged Tuesday that he is playing more often than this year’s coaches had planned or would prefer.

That could be alleviated, in part, by Harmon, who is scheduled to return to practice this week, albeit in a limited capacity when the Steelers next practice Thursday (a day later than usual because of the Monday game).

“We’ll let the amount of (Harmon’s practice) participation and how quickly it picks up and the quality of that participation as we go through the week to determine whether or not he’s available (against Miami),” Tomlin said. “Certainly excited about an additional day as it pertains to him.”

The bulk of Harmon’s playing time has been absorbed by fellow rookie Yahya Black, a fifth-round pick. Black has set career highs in snaps played each of the past two games, and he earned his second career start Sunday in Baltimore.

Black has two forced fumbles over his past three games and in the two games without Harmon combined for 12 tackles (six solo) and was credited with a QB hurry against the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

“Yahya has gotten better through the process,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes, as I often say, one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. We have certainly absorbed some attrition (at defensive line) … and Yahya has been a guy that’s really taken advantage of the opportunities not only in terms of his play, but just general growth associated with gaining in-snap experience.”

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