Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers star cornerback Jalen Ramsey sustained a hamstring injury and did not return in the team’s 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Ireland on Sunday. According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ramsey is expected to miss at least several games.
During his media availability on Wednesday, Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin didn’t have an update on the severity of Ramsey’s hamstring injury, but he did explain how the defense will manage without the Pro Bowl CB.
“I think it’s like any time you lose a starter. You’re gonna have to work through those things,” Austin said. “But, right now, it’s typical. It happens because you have to deal with it every year. Most of the time, it’s not the same starting unit out there all 17 games. So we’ll work our way through it if it shows up that way. We’ll figure it out.”
Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is expected to return after the bye week. Porter has been sidelined for the last three games due to a hamstring injury. Fortunately for the Steelers, they’re deep at CB with Porter, Darius Slay and Brandin Echols, so Ramsey being out will not be a major loss, even though he is the team’s best cornerback.
Austin took the blame for the 81-yard Jordan Addison reception in Sunday’s game. With the Steelers banged up at cornerback, Austin called too complicated of a defense, considering the personnel they had available at the time, and should have made a similar, easier-to-execute call.
For the play in question, cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey (hamstring injury) and Brandin Echols (cramps) were both off the field being attended to by trainers, leaving the Steelers with just two healthy cornerbacks in Darius Slay and James Pierre.
“I’m gonna take that one,” he said. “We were struggling with who was in the game, and I probably made a call that probably wasn’t simple enough for everybody, and so that’s on me. … I’ll make sure if that ever happens again, if we have some attrition the way it happened, I gotta give our guys something that’s way more simple, and that they can line up and play.”
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers DC Explains Plan at CB if Jalen Ramsey Misses Time
