Steelers notes: Asante Samuel Jr. practicing as outside CB; Isaiah Hodgins lost to Giants

Two practices in to his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, veteran Asante Samuel Jr. has been working solely as an outside cornerback.

Samuel was signed to the practice squad Wednesday in the wake of veteran Darius Slay leaving the Steelers’ most recent game because of a concussion and two weeks after veteran outside cornerback Jalen Ramsey was moved to safety.

According to Pro Football Focus, for 93% of the career defensive snaps Samuel has played over his four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, he was lined up as an outside corner. For only 1.3% has he been lined up in the slot (he’s more often been deployed as an in-the-box de facto safety).

Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was noncommittal as to whether Samuel would make his debut with the team via an elevation to the active roster for Sunday’s home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Obviously, he’s kept himself in pretty good shape,” Austin said. “You see him running around. Where that leads at the end of the week, I won’t know until we get to the end of the week.”

Hodgins lost

The Steelers lost a player off their practice squad when the Giants signed veteran wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins to their active roster Thursday. Hodgins, 27, has appeared in 31 NFL regular-season games over the prior four seasons, 28 of them with the Giants. He has 60 career receptions for 634 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Steelers signed Hodgins to their practice squad Sept. 17, but he had not been elevated to the gameday roster at any point despite injuries to receivers Calvin Austin III and Scotty Miller.