Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — DeShon Elliott will not play for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday, but defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is keeping his options open in terms of who will replace him.
Elliott was ruled out for the Seahawks game by head coach Mike Tomlin on Tuesday after suffering an MCL sprain in Week 1 against the New York Jets.
The Steelers signed strong safety Jabrill Peppers on Wednesday, bolstering the depth of the unit, but it’s not yet clear whether it’ll be Peppers or Chuck Clark starting at strong safety this Sunday.
Clark replaced Elliott against the Jets, playing in 32 snaps and finishing the contest with eight tackles and one for a loss on a pivotal third down in the fourth quarter. Austin said both are options to start this Sunday.
“We’ll see how it goes and we’ll see at the end of week,” Austin said. “We’ll be able to make a determination on where we are there.”
Austin said that he thinks Peppers’ pedigree as a former first-round draft pick and his NFL experience should let him start quickly with a new team — the fourth squad he’s played for in his nine-year NFL career.
“He’s a physical guy, tough, good tackler,” Austin said. “In getting to know him in the last couple of days, our guys think he’s got a good football IQ and sense of what’s going on around. A lot of times it’s just putting it into their own terminology so they can function faster. So we like those things about him and we’ll see how far he takes us this week.”
Both options have plenty of experience. Peppers will be playing his 100th NFL game, and has made 85 starts in his NFL career, while Clark has played in 109 games and has made 75 starts.a
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Staying Mum on DeShon Elliott Replacement
