Tuesday, June 2
Back at it: The 2025 season wasn't what DeShon Elliott had in mind. In his second season with the Steelers, he never expected to appear in just five games, with the rest of the season lost due to injuries.
But Elliott isn't one to get down.
Instead, he is one to fight back.
"I've been hurt a couple of times," said Elliott. "First six months is hard, and the last three is pretty easy, so I'm good now.
"I had a lot going on last year. Was on the field, off the field. I'm just happy to be able to play ball again. I put that behind me. I'm blessed to be out here with my guys, man. Anything else, I can't even worry about it.
"It's a blessing to be able to play this game whenever you can. I'm going into my ninth year, missing a lot of ball last year and just happy to be out here with my guys."
Elliott has been a regular at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex throughout voluntary OTAs this offseason and during this week's minicamp.
He knows there is a lot to accomplish with a new coaching staff, changes to the defense and so forth, and he wants to be on top of all of it.
"It's a new playbook, but we have a lot of smart guys," said Elliott. "They've broken it down for us very easy. I think over these last couple of weeks, everything started coming together when it comes to the basics of the defense, and it's pretty easy right now.
"Going into training camp, once you put those pads on, football becomes actual football. So that's all that really matters."
The secondary has some new additions this year, including safety Darnell Savage who was signed to a one-year contract on Tuesday. At the same time, though, there are a lot of familiar faces on defense, including the backend with Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Brandin Echols.
"It helps a lot when you look to your left and your right, you've got guys around you who've been around you," said Elliott. "(Guys) who you've got love for. We try our best to also hang out outside of just being at work, so I think that also helps.
"But right now, we're all happy to be here."
One player Elliott is happy to be around is Ramsey, who took part in the first day of minicamp. Ramsey stepped up in 2025 when injuries plagued the secondary, doing whatever he was asked for the good of the team.
"I applaud him for being able to be the guy who could be the 'fix it guy,'" said Elliott. "We had a lot of injuries last year. He tried his best to be the best version of himself. Obviously, perennial all-pro cornerback, but being able to be productive at other positions. I applaud him for that. Today is his first day back, so they just eased him in. But I'm always happy to be with No. 5.
"I applaud him, because obviously he's a great athlete, and takes more than that. It takes mental. He's extremely smart. He's one of our best."
'Just let us play our game': Joey Porter Jr. has been around enough and seen enough during OTAs and the first day of mandatory veteran minicamp today to pick up on some subtle but significant changes regarding how he and his fellow cornerbacks are being coached.
"Nothing too crazy from what we're used to," Porter offered. "They're gonna let us travel (follow a specific receiver regardless of formation during a given game). They're gonna let us do what we do as corners. The biggest part is to just let us play our game and not put us in a box.
"So that's what we're happy about."
Instead of being "put in a box," the cornerbacks are being coached by the new defensive staff according to "mainly just our play styles, our body types," Porter maintained.
"As a corner, some guys can't do everything the next guy can," he continued. "As a tall corner, I can't move my feet and move back fast as Asante Samuel (Jr.) so it wouldn't be right for me and him to play the position similar. We're two different types, two different body types.
"That's kinda what I mean by that."
Porter's observation was similar to one made by safety DeShon Elliott at the outset of OTAs when he was asked what would be different about the defensive approach this season.
"Just play together, man, play together and play to your players' strengths, which I think we'll be doing that this year," he said.
Porter is easing into the transition.
Porter's rookie contract scheduled to expire at the conclusion of the upcoming season.
"I'm out here," he said. "I'm happy to be out here. I'm happy I'm with the guys learning the plays. That's all I can really ask for at this time right now so I'm just gonna keep doing that and keep teaching the young guys when I can.
"It's a new start, a new beginning. We have new coaches, we have new players coming in. I just want to be around the guys as much as possible and just to help as much as I can right now. I have all my attention toward that."
Head coach Mike McCarthy understands the situation and the responses of players dealing with circumstances such as Porter's.
"I think it's like everything in life, frankly," McCarthy said. "There's a personal side to this. There's a professional side to this. And when you break down the professional aspects of being in the NFL as a coach or a player, we all have contracts. When those things occur, I really, frankly just put that into a business category.
"I've been dealing with it for 20 years and it's the same advice I've always given. It's a business situation and do the things you need to do necessary."
In looking ahead to training camp, Porter said his hope is to be a full participant in Latrobe.
"That's the vision," he said. "I want to be out there. Everybody knows I want to be out there.
"I'm just gonna do everything I can and take it day by day."
In looking back and 2025, Porter likes what he sees in terms of his game and the reputation he's seemingly earning around the NFL.
"I feel like the main goal was penalties, I got those down," he assessed. "I did what I was supposed to do when I traveled. I feel like I really showed that the last time I touched the field, so it was pretty good.
"Definitely, I feel like I was an elite guy since I've been in this league. I'm happy that I'm getting the respect that I feel like I'm owed."
-- Blog entry by Mike Prisuta
Steelers add Savage: The Steelers signed safety Darnell Savage to a one-year contract just in time for minicamp.
Savage has appeared in 88 games, with 82 starts, in his first seven seasons in the NFL. He has spent time with the Green Bay Packers (2019-23), Jacksonville Jaguars (2024-25), Washington Commanders (2025) and Buffalo Bills (2025)
He was drafted by the Packers in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the 21st overall selection.
Savage has 10 career interceptions, returned for 141 yards (14.1-yard average), including one for a touchdown. He also has 367 tackles, including 273 solo stops, 40 passes defensed, 11 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one sack.
In 2025, Savage spent time with the Jaguars, Commanders and Bills. He appeared in a total of 12 games combined, finishing the season with 25 tackles, including 18 solo stops, three passes defensed and a forced fumble.
Savage signed with the Jaguars as an unrestricted free agent in 2024 and started all 13 games he played in that season. He finished with 51 tackles, 41 solo stops, six passes defensed, two tackles for a loss and an interception.
In his final season with the Packers, Savage started all 10 games he appeared in. He finished the regular season with 50 tackles, 35 of them solo stops, a tackle for a loss and a pass defensed. In the NFC Wild Card game, he intercepted Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown, the fourth longest interception return in Packers postseason history.
Savage was sixth on the Packers in tackles in 2022, finishing the year with 57, including 42 solo stops, and was tied for fourth on the team with five passes defensed. He also recorded his first interception return for a touchdown, when he picked off Kirk Cousins and took it 75 yards for the score.
Savage started all 17 games in 2021, recorded 63 tackles, 48 of them solo stops, two interceptions, nine passes defensed and two tackles for a loss.
In 2020, Savage started all 15 games he appeared in, leading the Packers with four interceptions, all in the final six weeks of the season, and tied in the NFL for fifth among safeties. He was ranked fourth on the team with 75 tackles, 56 of them solo stops, and three tackles for a loss. He also had a sack and fumble recovery.
Savage started all 14 games he appeared in his rookie season in 2019, finishing the year with 61 tackles, 41 of them solo stops, a tackle for a loss, seven passes defensed, two interceptions and a team-high two forced fumbles. He was named to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. He started both of the Packers postseason games, finishing with 12 tackles, nine solo stops, and a tackle for a loss.
Savage played college football at Maryland where he played in 46 games, starting 37. He recorded 182 tackles, including 139 solo stops, eight interceptions, two which he returned for a touchdown and 22 passes defensed.
In a related move, the Steelers released defensive back Makari Paige.
