Steelers Hint at Potential Big Change to Secondary

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers’ secondary is in flux after Minkah Fitzpatrick suffered an injury. They chose not to make a move at the deadline after a spirited push for Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson. But what will they do at safety to try and cover up the significant loss of Fitzpatrick? There could be one surprise move.

Patrick Peterson has started to spread his wings and play across the secondary rather than stick outside. Pittsburgh is seeing him more in the slot and giving him some reps at safety. But could the move to inside and safety be more plentiful without Minkah Fitzpatrick? Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin says that Peterson could factor into that rotation, making for fascinating wrinkles.

“He could be. He’s done some of that for us,” Austin said. “Again, we’re going to try to get our guys and get them in the best positions possible this week to kind of make up for Minkah (Fitzpatrick) not being there, so if it requires him playing some safety, then we’ll do it.”

Mike Tomlin has consistently compared Peterson to former Steelers cornerback Cam Sutton, who now plays for the Detroit Lions. He has been used similarly the last two weeks, with Joey Porter Jr. now starting full-time on the outside. The most significant leap would be finding who plays across from Porter, and whether that would be Levi Wallace or the Steelers would try to see what they could have in some of the younger guys.

“Pat (Peterson) has been very versatile,” Tomlin said. “He displays really, really good football intellect. That’s one of the things that attracted us to him. As I mentioned last week when we lost Cam Sutton in free agency, that made him an attractive option because of his flexibility, positional flexibility and his football intellect that will allow him to move around and do some of the things that Cam was able to do when he was here.”

The Steelers have been comfortable with multiple slot options in years past, so it’s not as if the battle is for ultimate primacy. Last season, Art Maulet played run downs while Sutton moved in from outside cornerback on passing downs. In the past, before Sutton was a starter, he and Mike Hilton similarly split the slot role. Peterson and Chandon Sullivan could be rounding into that heading into the second half of the season. But the safety wrinkle could allow for even more diversification of the secondary with Fitzpatrick out on a short week.