Steelers must decide whether Matt Feiler, Robert Spillane reclaim jobs they lost to injury

The six-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro right guard just spent two games playing two spots away from a rookie fourth-round draft pick.

As impressed as David DeCastro was with the play of Kevin Dotson, he welcomes the return of Matt Feiler to the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line.

After missing three games with a pectoral injury, Feiler is expected to be activated to the 53-man roster this week and play against the Cleveland Browns in an AFC wild-card matchup Sunday night at Heinz Field.

“It’s great to have Matt back and great to have that depth back,” DeCastro said. “Kevin, I haven’t seen a rookie play this well as a lineman since I’ve been here. That speaks highly to Kevin, and I think he’s done an amazing job, and I think he’s going to have a heck of a career.”

With Feiler’s imminent return from injured reserve, Dotson’s immediate future might include a spot on the bench – no matter the praise heaped upon him by DeCastro and others in the organization.

It raised the argument of whether a player should lose his job because of injury, and it’s a question the Steelers also face on defense with inside linebacker Robert Spillane returning to practice this week after a four-game absence because of a knee injury.

On Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin said he won’t “spent a lot of time pondering” whether Feiler will vault ahead of Dotson on the depth chart, and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said Thursday “both of them are getting work” in practice.

“Matt’s status is, he’s worked awful hard to get to this position, and I’m proud of him,” Fichtner said. “I’m proud of all the group. … I think it’s a unique situation because we’re finally maybe getting healthier as a group.”

Dotson has proven to be a capable starter at either guard spot. He filled in for DeCastro at right guard in Week 2 against Denver and again in Week 5 when the Steelers faced Cleveland for the first time in the regular season.

Feiler started 15 games in 2019 at right tackle, and the play of Dotson has led to questions about whether the Steelers would keep Dotson at left guard and shift Feiler to his former position and sit first-year starter Chuks Okorafor.

Based on Fichtner’s response Thursday, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

“I hadn’t thought about it in that regard,” he said. “I know he would be available to be one of the tackles if necessary. I’ve been pleased with Chuks’ work up to this point. I don’t know that moving a couple bodies like that would be helpful at this time. But I do know if there was an injury, I’d feel real good about it.

“Sometimes moving one-for-one is good. Start moving one to two and that type of thing, it gets a little dicey, and it might not be fair to Matt, who hasn’t spent as much time out there.”

At inside linebacker, the Steelers are preparing to stick Spillane back into the starting role he got after Devin Bush’s season-ending ACL injury against the Browns in Week 5. Spillane started seven games in a row before he hobbled off the field with a knee injury Dec. 7 against Washington.

Without Spillane, the Steelers allowed four consecutive 100-yard rushing performances to end the season, including 192 yards to the Browns in the finale.

In Spillane’s first start, the Steelers held Tennessee’s 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry to 75 yards. That included a jarring stop of Henry at the goal line for no gain.

“Who do you see jacking him up?” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “Spillane did that. I didn’t see a whole lot of people doing that to that guy this year. But Spillane did that. We are glad to have him back. We’ll see how it goes. There is always a tough time to come back when you haven’t been doing it a while.”

“He’s a smart guy. You don’t have to tell him something three or four times to get it done. He understands the concepts of what we are doing. He’s a good football player.”

Avery Williamson, acquired from the New York Jets in midseason, started the final four games at inside linebacker, including two when Vince Williams was on the reserve/covid-19 list. Spillane’s return provides Butler with more options in the middle of the defense.

“I feel better about that position than I did last week,” he said. “I think we will be OK.”