The Steelers began their preparation for Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks at Acrisure Stadium, and the team already knows they will be without two players on defense.
Coach Mike Tomlin ruled out safety DeShon Elliott and defensive lineman Derrick Harmon, both dealing with knee injuries, and linebacker Malik Harrison was placed on the Reserve/Injured List.
Elliott and Harrison were both injured in last week's win over the New York Jets, while Harmon was injured in the preseason finale and missed the Jets game.
With Elliott out, the Steelers signed safety Jabrill Peppers. Peppers, who is in his ninth NFL season, has appeared in 99 games, starting 85. He has 511 career tackles, 331 of them solo stops, 35 passes defensed, 30 tackles for a loss, seven interceptions, six forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries.
"Highly familiar with him, not only from his time as a Cleveland Brown, but scouted him heavily when he came out of Michigan," said Tomlin. "He is a football player first, positional player second.
"He's displayed position flexibility over the course of his career at either safety position, at run down nickel. He's been a capable guy in the special teams space over the course of his career, recovering kicks, returning punts.
"He's just a good, well-rounded football player. So glad to add and have him in the fold.
"We'll see how we divide the labor up as we get into the week. The ability to communicate and execute obviously will be a major component of how we divide that labor up and go from there."
While three defensive players have been ruled out, the hope is the defense will have cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and linebacker Nick Herbig.
Porter wasn't able to finish the Jets game after suffering a hamstring injury, while Herbig was inactive for the game with a hamstring injury. Porter didn't practice on Wednesday and Herbig was limited.
"Joey Porter wasn't able to finish the game with a hamstring," said Tomlin. "Optimistic about his availability, but I'll let the quality of his work and the amount of his work during the week be our guide there.
"Really optimistic and hopeful about Nick Herbig being available for us this week.
"As is always the case in ball, you step into a stadium, you lose some capable men, but we also are going to get some capable men back. So, we'll put together a collective that positions us to be at our best."
The full practice and status report is below.
Pittsburgh Steelers Participation/Injury Report, Week 2
Wednesday, September 10
No. 24 CB Joey Porter Jr. (Hamstring) - DNP
No. 25 S DeShon Elliott (Knee) - DNP
No. 51 LB Nick Herbig (Hamstring) - Limited
No. 67 OL Calvin Anderson (Illness) - DNP
No. 90 LB T.J. Watt (NIR - Resting Vet) - DNP
No. 97 DT Cameron Heyward (NIR - Resting Vet) - Limited
No. 99 DT Derrick Harmon (Knee) - DNP
Seattle Seahawks Participation/Injury Report, Week 2
Wednesday, September 10
No. 19 WR Jake Bobo (Concussion) - Full No. 3 S Nick Emmanwori (Ankle) - DNP No. 13 LB Ernest Jones (Shoulder) - DNP No. 20 S Julian Love (Groin) - Limited No. 7 LB Uchenna Nwosu (Knee) - Full No. 90 DT Jarran Reed (Back) - Limited No. 21 CB Devon Witherspoon (Knee) - DNP No. 83 WR Dareke Young (Hamstring) - Limited
Bringing you the action: For fans who don't want to miss any of the action, NFL+ is here, which means you can now watch the Steelers live and on the go! Watch live local and primetime regular season games on mobile, plus NFL RedZone, NFL Network, live audio and more - all in one place.
