Coming off what defensive coordinator Teryl Austin called, "a bad day at the office," the Steelers have to gather themselves back together defensively on a short work week to host the Patriots Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium.
And they'll do so with even more turnover at the inside linebacker position.
In the past month, the Steelers have seen their very effective rotation at inside linebacker go from three players down to none as Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts all have suffered injuries – in the case of Holcomb and Alexander, season-ending ones – turning a position that had been an unexpected strength into a big question mark.
And the results in-game were not good in last Sunday's 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Prior to losing Roberts in the second quarter, the Steelers had allowed the Cardinals to gain just 2.0 yards per play. After Roberts exited the game with a groin injury, that rose to 5.4 yards per play.
Not only did the Steelers lose an every-down linebacker, they also lost their defensive communicator.
"It's very big. It always is. And when our communication suffers, sometimes our play suffers," Sutin said Tuesday as the Steelers (7-5) prepared to host the New England Patriots (2-10) Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium.
"And so we have to do a better job as coaches helping our guys communicate better. And when I say that, it is helping them in terms of demanding it more, making sure that they get it in practice and if somebody goes down, it's not always just one guy."
That could mean even looking outside the box in terms of who is relaying the defensive calls from the sideline to the other players on the field. The Steelers have typically leaned on an inside linebacker to do that since he's in the middle of the defense. But looking outside of that with Roberts injury – which isn't expected to be season-ending – they could be forced to mix-and-match things a little more defensively against the Patriots.
That could push the defensive play-calling duties to another player who never leaves the field, such as safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
In the meantime, with Roberts questionable to be available this week, the Steelers have to get others ready to step into the void created by his loss. Mykal Walker and Mark Robinson filled the inside linebacker spots on Sunday, but the Steelers also have veterans Blake Martinez and Myles Jack available, as well, though Jack is currently on the practice squad along with Tariq Carpenter.
Martinez, who was signed off the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers a few weeks ago, and Jack, who played with the Steelers last season, both had announced their retirement earlier this season.
Martinez, 29, had four consecutive seasons from 2017 through 2020 with at least 140 tackles for the Packers and Giants before injuries sidelined him for all but seven games the past three seasons. Jack, meanwhile, led the Steelers in tackles in 2022 with 104 but was released last offseason.
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Both were coaxed back to the game because of the potential to play.
"I don't know the reasons they retired or why they retired," Austin said. "I just know they expressed an interest in coming back. I think the practice squad gives us an opportunity to get guys who have not been in play shape an opportunity to get in playing shape to see where they are and to see if they still measure up.
"I think we like what we see with those guys, and we'll move forward. At some point I would expect That could be as early as this week for one or both."
That could come as early as this week.
The Steelers allowed Arizona to rush for 150 yards last Sunday, 103 of which came in the second half without Roberts in the game.
But that also wasn't all because of the play at inside linebacker or a lack of proper communication.
"I don't think that was the main reason. The main reason was we just didn't do a great job," Austin said. "We've got to do a better job coaching and playing all around. It wasn't all communication. There are some aspects of it, but I think we just had a bad day at the office. Sometimes that happens."
