BALTIMORE -- It's not Steelers-Ravens without its bumps and bruises. However, the Steelers were fortunate to walk away relatively healthy in their 16-13 victory over their AFC North rival.
James Pierre left the game late in the first quarter with a head injury that was later ruled a concussion. He obviously did not return to the game.
Pierre had been in a three-man rotation at cornerback with Cam Sutton and Levi Wallace. So when Pierre left the game, that moved Sutton and Wallace exclusively to the outside while Arthur Maulet filled in as the slot corner in certain sub-packages.
In addition to Pierre, Myles Jack had to leave Sunday night's game. However, Jack's departure was due to an existing groin injury that's hampered him for multiple weeks.
Robert Spillane once again had the lion's share of snaps at inside linebacker, and his nine tackles tied with Minkah Fitzpatrick for the team lead on the night. However, Jack's injury paved the way for Mark Robinson to finally get an extended look on defense, and he stepped up in a big way with eight tackles.
Mike Tomlin said players such as Robinson and DeMarvin Leal earned helmets because their style of game fit the mold for how the Steelers wanted to attack the Ravens, and was not necessarily an indication of guaranteed snaps moving forward, specifically for Robinson.
"We’re going to do it week to week to give us the best chance of winning," Tomlin said. "We’ve got a collection of men that we think are all capable. We divide the labor up appropriately based on game circumstance; we’ll deal with that next week. If he’s helpful to us, we will."
However, if Jack remains limited by his groin injury, surely Sunday night's performance can only improve Robinson's chances to earn more playing time.
Tomlin didn't provide any injury updates after Sunday night's game. Diontae Johnson and Fitzpatrick both had moments where they needed attention on the field for an apparent injury, but both returned to the game. Johnson's issue appeared to be with his right leg while Fitzpatrick rolled his left ankle while trying to tackle Mark Andrews early in the second half.
"It’s hurting, but I finished the game," Fitzpatrick said. "I was feeling it every play, but I could finish the game.”
Fitzpatrick intercepted Tyler Huntley on Baltimore's final drive to seal the victory.