Steelers Now
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Malik Harrison suffered a knee injury as his team tried to keep New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields out of the end zone on a fourth-quarter fourth-and-goal on Sunday.
Harrison was soon ruled out for the remainder of the regular-season opener as the Steelers trailed the hosts by a point. Isaiahh Loudermilk will be the Steelers’ emergency outside linebacker if the team suffers another injury at the position.
Fields’ bootleg fooled the Steelers’ entire defense, which was missing veteran defensive lineman Cam Heyward, who’d walked to the sideline with an injury to his face after the prior play. Heyward returned to the field for an unsuccessful Jets 2-point try.
Harrison signed with the Steelers as a free agent in March. He spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens, who selected him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Entering this season, Harrison had piled up 174 career tackles over 76 games played, including 34 starts. He’d also posted seven tackles for loss, a pass defended and four quarterback hits.
Harrison had two total tackles in the matchup before getting hurt. After the Jets’ scoring march, Alex Highsmith led the Steelers with eight tackles and a sack. Chuck Clark, Patrick Queen and Juan Thornhill had seven stops each.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Suffer Yet Another Defensive Injury Against NY Jets
