PITTSBURGH — Steelers fullback Roosevelt Nix has a knee injury that could cause him to miss multiple games, head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday.
Nix did not participate on offense in the Steelers’ season-opening loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. Tomlin said that Nix was injured early in the game, which must have occurred on a special-teams play.
“He has a knee injury that’s being evaluated,” Tomlin said. “He may miss this game and another, or two.”
The Steelers’ play on Sunday suffered for the loss of Nix, with short-yardage plays hurting the offense, particularly early in the game. At one point, the Steelers had three straight possessions end on an unconverted third- or fourth-and-1.
“No excuses in that regard,” Tomlin said. “We had a poor short-yardage plan and poor execution of it in the game.”
Nix is the only player listed as a fullback on the team’s roster. The only other player that worked at fullback during training camp was linebacker Sutton Smith, who was released. Tomlin said that the team will utilize a player from another position, perhaps defense or tight end, if Nix is unavailable.
“We have some candidates,” he said. “We spent some time, as we always do, looking at options in areas we don’t have a lot of depth. Fullback position is an area that we don’t have a lot of depth.”