The Pittsburgh Steelers have placed defensive lineman/outside linebacker DeMarvin Leal on injured reserve, the team announced on Saturday morning. Leal suffered a neck injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys and did not return. The injury was initially categorized as a stinger.
Leal is expected to be out for the season, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Leal, who’s a hybrid at defensive end/outside linebacker, dropped a ton of weight this offseason so he’d be better suited at OLB.
“I came in with a different mentality this year, a different weight, different body,” Leal told 93.7 The Fan. “This is an opportunity now and I just got to take advantage of it.”
Leal came out of Texas A&M measuring at 6-foot-3, 283 pounds. Now he sits at 290 pounds but looks slim. He is a classic “tweener” in a 3-4 defensive scheme.
“That’s a big thing with him in terms of how he approaches his job and the consistency with which he tries to do his job is a change,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “We kind of expected that when we drafted ‘Marv’. He was a young guy, 21-year-old guy who is coming in and going to have some growing to do. We figured there would be some growing pains along the way.”
With Nick Herbig (hamstring) and Alex Highsmith (groin) out, Jeremiah Moon is slotted to start at right outside linebacker opposite of T.J. Watt on Sunday. Defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk could provide depth as well. The Steelers also promoted Ade Ogundei Ade Ogundeji from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and elevated outside linebacker Eku Leota on Saturday.
“Moving forward, he’s just a versatile guy,” Tomlin said of Loudermilk during his Tuesday press conference. “He [Loudermilk] and Leal are defensive linemen that are participants in special teams. Both guys are on kickoff and I think that speaks to their unique skill sets and allows him to position flexibility to slide outside and give us some big man presence when lines get short, certainly.”
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.