PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers lost another member of the interior of their defense when inside linebacker Elandon Roberts left his team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday after taking a hard hit in the second quarter.
Roberts made the tackle on a first-down pass from Bengals quarterback Jake Browning to rookie wide receiver Andrei Iosivas. He was slow to get up after making the tackle. Roberts was taken to the medical tent on the Pittsburgh sideline and then to the Steelers locker room for further evaluation. Trainers were working on his left shoulder area.
The team first announced that Roberts is doubtful to return to the game with a pectoral injury, before later downgrading him to out.
Roberts started the season as the team’s third inside linebacker behind Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander, but had become a critical member of the team’s defense after Holcomb and Alexander were lost to season-ending injuries in consecutive weeks back in November.
He had been playing nearly ever snap on defense, even though he played through a groin injury over the last few weeks, and wearing the green dot as the chief defensive communicator.
The team had rotated Blake Martinez, Mark Robinson and Mykal Walker alongside him, searching for another answer at the position. For Saturday’s game against the Bengals, Myles Jack was called up from the practice squad for his first game of 2023. The Steelers called Jack out of retirement after their rash of injuries.
Martinez is scratched against the Bengals. Jack, Robinson and Walker will man the position with Roberts likely out for the remainder of the game.