Injury Pops Up for Steelers Star Safety
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed during his weekly Tuesday press conference that strong safety DeShon Elliott is dealing with some hamstring tightness. Tomlin did not mentioned the injury following Sunday’s 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Elliott is expected to be limited early in week, but Tomlin is hopeful that he’ll be good to go for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He is also hopeful for defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (groin).
“Some guys that are probably in a little bit of a better standpoint from a participation standpoint, Larry Ogunjobi with his groin and DeShon Elliott with some hamstring tightness,” Tomlin said. “We’ll watch those guys, particularly in the early part of the week and, again, hopefully there’s some uptick in their participation and the quality of it as we push forward toward game time.”
Elliott isn’t the only Steelers playing dealing with a hamstring-related injury, as wide receiver George Pickens has a Grade 2 hamstring injury and is considered doubtful for Sunday’s game against Philadelphia.
Elliott had a team-high 13 tackles and a pass breakup in Sunday’s win against the Browns. Elliott had eight stops against Cleveland, according to Pro Football Focus. Stops are characterized by PFF as tackles that result in failure for the opposing offense. He has 28 stop on the season.
“DeShon Elliott, I think is tackling at a high level from the safety position,” Tomlin said on Tuesday.
Elliott is second on the the team in tackles with 96 (63 solo), but he’s also been elite in coverage. PFF has Elliott tabbed with a 66.0 grade in coverage. Elliott is PFF’s No. 3-graded safety in run-defense (89.7) and No. 4 in tackling (89.9), having missed only 2% of tackles this year.
The Eagles (11-2) are playing elite football, winning a franchise-record nine in a row and they have a league MVP candidate in running back Saquon Barkley who is on track to break the NFL single-season rushing record. He needs 483 yards in the final four games to break the record.
Philadelphia’s offense has gone six straight games with more rushing than receiving yardage. Having Elliott active for the Eagles’ vaunted rushing attack will be crucial.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
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