New linebacker Avery Williamson will be permitted to join the Steelers this Saturday after clearing all of his COVID-19 testing following his acquisition this past Sunday night via a trade with the Jets.
That means Williamson, while he will accompany the team, probably won't be active when the Steelers (7-0) face the Cowboys (2-6) in Dallas this Sunday.
But the Steelers knew that when they sent a 2022 fifth-round draft pick to the Jets to acquire Williamson and a 2022 seventh-round selection. This move was made with the rest of the 2020 season in mind.
"He’s a guy that fortifies depth in an area in which we have been challenged recently," Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. "We know that we lost Devin Bush for 2020, but additionally to that in recent weeks, Ulysees Gilbert has been less than available with a back. At the trade deadline, we thought it was necessary if we had an opportunity to get a known commodity, one like Avery Williamson that we are somewhat familiar with and is somewhat familiar with our schematics, and put him into the fold, with as much ball that we have that lies ahead, it was a prudent thing for us to do. We’re excited about having him."
That doesn't mean necessarily, however, that the Steelers are down on third-year pro Robert Spillane, who has started the past two games in place of Bush, who was lost to a torn ACL in a win over the Browns Oct. 18.
Spillane had 11 tackles, an interception that he returned for a touchdown and recovered a fumble in last Sunday's 28-24 win over the Ravens. He'll stay in the starting lineup for the time being, though the Steelers have been subbing for him on passing downs.
Gilbert filled that role two weeks ago against the Titans, but was unavailable against the Ravens because of a back injury. He missed the second half of the 2019 season as a rookie with a back injury, as well. That meant converted safety Marcus Allen played the dime linebacker role against the Ravens. Allen played 11 snaps at linebacker in the game.
Spillane played 71 of the Steelers' 79 defensive snaps in the game, as did fellow starting inside linebacker Vince Williams.
"We have a vision of him, being a third inside linebacker, a guy that’s position-flexible, a guy that is capable of supporting Robert and Vince and being available if anything should happen to either," Tomlin said.
The Steelers feel comfortable that Williamson should pick up their defense quickly. A seven-year veteran, Williamson has started 81 career games and played for former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and defensive backs coach Ray Horton while with the Titans in his first four seasons.
"I met Avery at (Steelers linebacker) Bud Dupree’s Pro Day after his rookie year," Tomlin said of the former Kentucky star. "There was a lot of downtime during the course of that day, and we kind of gravitated toward one another. His passion for football comes through in general conversation. He’s a football lover. He’s a football junkie, if you will. I’ve followed him throughout the course of his career because of that. In the early stages of his career, he played down in Tennessee and played in a system that was very similar to ours, not only in terms of how it was constructed but the language itself."
The sooner, the better.
The Steelers are having their defensive depth tested sorely this season. Not only has Bush been lost for the season, but nickel cornerback Mike Hilton has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury and is questionable to play Sunday against the Cowboys. The Steelers also had starting defensive linemen Cameron Heyward and Tyson Alualu leave the win over the Ravens with injuries, though there's a chance Heyward returns this week. Alualu is expected to miss the game against the Cowboys with a sprained MCL.
With so many pieces missing against Baltimore, the Steelers allowed a season-high 457 yards, including 265 on the ground. They had entered the game No. 1 in the league in total defense and second against the run, allowing 68.8 yards per game.
Now, they're fifth in total defense, allowing just over 310 yards per game, and run defense, giving up 96.9 yards on average.
"We understand that we generally have to play better than we did on Sunday," Tomlin said. "We’ve been on a gauntlet, if you will, of late, being in some five-star-type matchups. There are consequences of that. You get stressed in terms of your core beliefs. You get stressed in terms of performance in high-stress situations, and you also get stressed in terms of the quality of your depth as injuries set in. We’ve dealt with some of that, and we will continue to deal with some of that."