The Kansas City Chiefs have signed recently released Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Rush to their practice squad, the team announced on Friday.
The Steelers released Rush earlier this week as part of a series of roster moves. The 24-year-old cornerback first came to Pittsburgh last October when the Steelers signed him from the Kansas City practice squad.
Rush played in three games last season for the Steelers, serving as the team’s Dime cornerback and playing on special teams. When the Steelers did not re-sign veteran backup James Pierre this season, it appeared that Rush had passed him in the pecking order, but after two games, the Steelers brought Pierre back into the fold and Rush was a healthy scratch for each of the last two games after playing 19 snaps of special teams over the first two weeks.
Rush’s release came despite that top backup cornerback Cory Trice Jr. is on the injured reserve and will miss at least three more games with a hamstring injury.
The 6-foot-2, 198-pound Rush was originally a fifth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts out of South Carolina in 2023. He was cut by the Colts coming out of training camp last fall. He was claimed on waivers by the Chiefs, then released by Kansas City and added to the practice squad, where Pittsburgh plucked him away.
In addition to Pierre on the active roster, the Steelers have Anthony Averett, C.J. Henderson and D’Shawn Jamison on their practice squad in terms of depth at outside cornerback.