A day after he was unexpectedly added to the injury report with a malady that presumably occurred during practice, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal was placed on injured reserve.
A third-round pick who had been one of the few pleasant surprises for a Steelers team on a four-game losing streak, Leal has a knee injury that was not known until the final league-mandated injury report of the week was announced Friday afternoon. IR rules mandate a player miss at least four games.
Isaiahh Loudermilk is expected to take Leal’s spot in the rotation on the Steelers’ defensive line.
Down four members of their starting secondary because of injury, the Steelers made moves to allow three practice-squad defensive backs to play in Sunday’s home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Josh Jackson was added to the 53-man roster — taking Leal’s place — and cornerback Quincy Wilson and safety Elijah Riley were designated as “call-ups” to play Sunday.
All Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and the Steelers’ top three cornerbacks — Cameron Sutton, Ahkello Witherspoon and Levi Wallace — will miss the game because of injury. Sutton and Witherspoon have hamstring ailments, and Wallace is in NFL concussion protocol.
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Jackson and James Pierre are expected to start as outside cornerbacks with Arthur Maulet playing the nickel/slot, and Tre Norwood is expected to sub in for Fitzpatrick. Special-teamer Miles Killebrew joins Riley and Wilson as the only backups available during the game.
NFL rules allow for a maximum of two practice squad call-ups per game.
Jackson made his defensive Steelers debut last week after having played in just two NFL games in 2021. Wilson is a former 2017 second-round pick of the New York Jets who has 32 games (11 starts) of NFL regular-season experience — but none since 2020.
Wilson has played 38 defensive snaps during NFL regular-season games since October 2019.
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