Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Jalen Ramsey made a handful of enforcer-like hits on Indianapolis Colts pass-catchers while on the back end on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ veteran defensive back will be slotted at safety again as the team prepares to take on Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
During Sunday’s 27-20 win over the Colts, Ramsey played beside Kyle Dugger, who arrived in the Steel City earlier in the week via a trade from the New England Patriots. Usual starting safety DeShon Elliott badly hyperextended his knee in the Steelers’ loss to the Green Bay Packers the week before, and Jabrill Peppers (soft-tissue injury) and Chuck Clark (illness) also couldn’t suit up.
“It certainly was a challenge,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said during his weekly press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Tuesday. “It lacked a little bit of fluidity there early on, but I thought as those two worked, and worked together — their experience in the National Football League, even though they’re somewhat new to us — whether it’s Jalen new to the safety position, I thought their global overall experience and talent showed up as the game wore on. So I’m excited about an additional week’s work with that collective.
“Jalen will continue to work exclusively at safety. We value his positional flexibility. It’s an asset to us. It gives a lot of people things to work on, but certainly under the circumstances that we’re under right now, we deem that appropriate, as we did last week, in terms of nailing him down there.”
Ramsey lining up on the back end should give more opportunities to Brandin Echols at the nickel spot, along with James Pierre. Tomlin feels the Steelers are deeper at cornerback than they are at safety.
“It’s certainly an asset of his,” Tomlin said of Ramsey at safety. “It’s something that he’s open to doing. It’s something that he’s capable of.”
Ramsey discussed his approach to playing at a different spot on Friday before the Colts game.
“I think I’ve played damn near every position in every game almost,” Ramsey said. “I’m just out there doing what I do.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Make Decision on Versatile Jalen Ramsey’s Role vs. Chargers
