When the Steelers made the trade to acquire Avery Williamson Nov. 1 from the Jets, it was with the idea that he would at the very least provide some depth to them at a position where the team was missing its star in Devin Bush.
With Bush out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in a win Oct. 18 over the Browns, the Steelers then saw their depth at inside linebacker further diminished when Ulysees Gilbert suffered a back injury the following week against the Titans, prompting the trade.
It's a good thing GM Kevin Colbert pulled the trigger on that deal.
Bush's backup, Robert Spillane, suffered a knee injury in Monday's 23-17 loss -- the Steelers' first of the season -- against Washington, then the team's other starting inside linebacker, Vince Williams, was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 List Thursday.
The Steelers aren't ready to suit up inside linebackers coach Jerry Olsavsky just yet, but they are getting close.
That means it will be Williamson and converted safety Marcus Allen handling the inside linebacker duties Sunday night when the Steelers (11-1) travel to Buffalo to face the Bills (9-3) at Bill Stadium.
At least the Steelers have been able to work Williamson, a six-year veteran, into the mix the past two games, rotating him with Spillane and Williams in games against the Ravens and Washington.
That added up to 25 snaps for Williamson in the 19-14 win over Baltimore and 38 against Washington, many after Spillane was lost in the third quarter.
"I'm definitely planning on playing a lot," Williamson said in an interview with The Fan Thursday. "Hopefully (Robert) is going to heal up quick. He's having a great season. I definitely give him credit. He's been having a great season."
Spillane is expected to miss the next two games, though there's a chance he could return for the Steelers' Week 15 game at Cincinnati. Williams, meanwhile, can be expected to miss at least one game on the Reserve/COVID-19 List depending on whether he's tested positive for the virus or simply went on after being exposed to the virus.
The Steelers did have Gilbert resume practicing this week, but he played all 14 of his defensive snaps this season in that win over the Titans. And he missed the second half of his rookie season in 2019 with a back injury.
Gilbert is expected to be activated from injured reserve later this week.
In the meantime, Allen has played 60 snaps in the past five games, essentially as a dime linebacker. He was converted from safety to linebacker in training camp this summer after seeing just 18 defensive snaps in three games in his first two seasons.
So Williamson, with four games in a Steelers uniform and 81 defensive snaps under his belt, will be the most veteran of a thin inside linebacker group.
"Hopefully, we will be in good shape," said defensive coordinator Keith Butler. "Marcus, we bring him in on third down quite a bit to do a lot of the coverage stuff for us. In the past, we let Vince handle some of the blitzing stuff we want to do and make them pick up Vince and block him, stuff like that. We’re just going to have to do what we can and play together. The biggest thing is playing together and knowing what each other is doing like I talked about before. I think we will be OK. Avery hadn’t been with us for training camp and stuff like that, but he’s gotten a pretty good grasp of the defense. He will have an idea of what he should be doing out there."
It could help Williamson that the Bills are a team he's not only accustomed to seeing, but one he's already played this season while with the Jets. Williamson missed the Jets' opener in Week 1 against the Bills, a 27-17 win by Buffalo, but he did play in the rematch in Week 7. Williams had 13 tackles in the Bills' 18-10 win over the Jets.
So, he at least has an idea of what Buffalo's offensive scheme and personnel look like. That could be a big help this week.
"You’ll probably hear me say this 100 times, the two things that get you beat on defense are mental mistakes and missed tackles," Butler said. "Mental mistakes means I dropped a coverage, or I’m not covering the guy or I’m not in the gap I’m supposed to be in the running game. If you miss a tackle in the open field and they keep running down the field and stuff like that, that always hurts you.
"We’re going to try to do what it takes to do that and that is trusting each other in terms of what we are supposed to be doing."
There hasn't been a lot of time to build that trust, but at least in his time with the Steelers, Williamson has been working with the second-team defense with Allen. So, they aren't unfamiliar with each other's skillset and communication.
The Bills also aren't a big downhill running team. Buffalo has just five more rushing attempts than the Steelers this season, despite the fact quarterback Josh Allen has 87 rushing attempts. Take his carries out of the equation, and the Bills average 18 rushing attempts per game.
But for the inside linebackers, it's as much about how they handle running backs catching the ball out of the backfield and crossing routes as it is about helping to stop the run.
Allen has allowed three catches on five targets for 32 yards this season, while Williamson has allowed four completions on six targets for 22 yards since joining the Steelers.
"Our guys are pretty good in terms of knowing what the guys in front of them are doing and learning from that," Butler said. "They probably haven’t had as many reps. Obviously, they haven’t had as many reps as you want them to have. Our guys are really smart guys. Most of the time, they won’t make mental errors."
At least that's the hope.
