Steelers Starting Cornerback Out vs. Jaguars

PITTSBURGH — Cornerbacks James Pierre and Joey Porter Jr. are active for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Levi Wallace is not.

All three were listed as questionable to play coming into the game. Wallace suffered a foot injury during the team’s Week 7 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Porter (calf) and Pierre (ankle) were injured during the week of practice.

Rookie Darius Rush will make his Steelers debut, replacing Wallace on the active roster. The Steelers did not call up a player from the practice squad this week.

Wallace and Patrick Peterson have been the top outside cornerbacks for each of the first six games, though Porter has been eating into their playing time, particularly while Wallace was banged up last week. Porter played 78% of the defensive snaps against the Rams, the first time he played more than half a game. He played 40% of the team’s snaps in Week 5.

Wallace has 24 tackles, seven passes defended and two interceptions in six games. Porter has nine tackles, three passes defended and one interception so far in his rookie season after the Steelers made him the No. 32 overall pick in the second round out of Penn State this spring.

Pierre has played almost exclusively on special teams this season, except for a handful of snaps last week. He has one tackle this season. An undrafted free agent out of FAU in 2020, Pierre has settled in as a backup outside cornerback and special teams option.

Rush was a fifth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts out of South Carolina this spring. He is on his third NFL team. The Colts cut him after training camp and he joined the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs, from which the Steelers poached him on Oct. 18. He was inactive last week.

The Steelers made healthy