Steelers Will Rely On Depth To Cover Loss Of Cole Holcomb

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without one of their defensive starters for the remainder of the season. They seemingly have enough depth to cover the loss, though.

Inside linebacker Cole Holcomb sustained a knee injury in the first quarter of last week’s win over the Tennessee Titans and underwent surgery.

However, Holcomb had been part of a three-man rotation at the two inside linebacker spots with Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts. Both of those figures to get an increase in playing time Sunday when the Steelers (5-3) host the Green Bay Packers (3-5) at Acrisure Stadium.

Holcomb has seen the most action of the trio as he has played 77% of the Steelers’ defensive stats this season. Meanwhile, Alexander has played 61% and Roberts 40%.

The three veterans are new to the Steelers this season. Having Alexander and Roberts gives coach Mike Tomlin hope that the Steelers can overcome the loss of Holcomb, whose 54 tackles are tied for the team lead with free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

“It was somewhat of a luxury,” Tomlin said about having three starting-caliber inside linebackers during his weekly news conference on Tuesday. “We thought we had three really capable linebackers dividing the labor up between two positions. That’s a really good thing when you have an opportunity to do that. You really can specialize and allow guys week in and week out to do the things that they do best. They can remain fresher. So, it was a pleasure to have that collective talking about Cole, Elandon and Kwon.

“Now we simply got two guys for two spots and so it’s more of a traditional rotation. “We had a luxury when we had all three, but we’ve got two really capable guys now who are going to act in more of a traditional fashion. We don’t feel like anything’s lost in that regard.”

Holcomb also recorded four tackles for loss this season as well as two forced fumbles.

Roberts has made 48 tackles, including five for losses, and 1 ½ sacks. Alexander has contributed 41 tackles, five for loss.

Second-year inside linebacker Mark Robinson might get an uptick in playing time after playing just four defensive snaps so far this season. However, Tomlin cautioned that Robinson would not be asked to carry a heavy workload.

The Steelers use backup safety Keanu Neal as inside linebacker on some passing downs. He has 42 tackles and defensed one pass.

“We’ve been doing that anyway and will continue to do so,” Tomlin said of deploying Neal on the second level of defense.”

The Steelers have relied on their defense in building a winning record at the midway point of the season, They are the first team in NFL history to have a winning record after eight games despite being outgained in each matchup.

The Steelers are 29^th among the league’s 32 teams in total offense. The Packers aren’t much better as they stand 24^th.