Two Steelers Ruled Out vs. Cowboys

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed during his Tuesday press conference that outside linebacker Alex Highsmith (groin) and right guard James Daniels (Achilles) will be out for Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys at Acrisure Stadium.

Daniels being out is not surprising, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported on Monday that Daniels suffered a torn Achilles in Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts and will be out for the season. The Steelers will probably place Daniels on injured reserve soon.

Daniels was injured in the first half of the game and did not return. He was replaced by 2023 seventh-round draft pick Spencer Anderson for the remainder of the game. The Steelers finished the game with backups at both guard positions.

Rookie Mason McCormick is expected to start at right guard on Sunday against the Cowboys. Spencer Anderson will get the nod at left guard if Isaac Seumalo (pec) is not ready to return. Tomlin sounded optimistic that Seumalo will be ready to go, however.

“Excited about the potential of having Isaac back … real shot to make it this time,” Tomlin said.

Pittsburgh Steelers guard James Daniels wears a Guardian cap in a preseason game against the Houston Texans on Aug. 10, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

Injuries have been the story of the season for the Steelers offensive line, which has now lost three players to season-ending injuries. Nate Herbig, the team’s top interior backup who was battling Zach Frazier for the starting center job, was lost for the season to a preseason rotator cuff injury.

First-round draft pick Troy Fautanu will miss the rest of the season after injuring his right knee in a practice before the team’s Week 3 game. Backup tackle Dylan Cook is on the injured reserve list with a Lisfranc injury to his foot, and while he is eligible to come off the IR this week, is expected to still miss more time.

As things stand on Monday, the Steelers are without five of their top 10 offensive linemen, including three starters and two key backups.

Highsmith will not require surgery on his injured groin, but the Steelers edge rusher is still expected to miss multiple weeks. Highsmith suffered a reoccurrence of a training camp groin injury late in the second half of the Steelers’ Week 3 home win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He initially suffered the groin injury on Aug. 6 and missed the entire preseason as a result, seeing his first game action in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 8.

With Highsmith out, second-year outside linebacker Nick Herbig will make his second career start. Herbig, who’s an impressive pass rusher, struggled in the run game against the Colts on Sunday.

Tomlin said running back Jaylen Warren (knee), tight end MyCole Pruitt (knee) and running back Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle) have a chance to return this week.

Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.