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Brooke Pryor, ESPN Staff WriterNov 12, 2024, 01:53 PM ET
- Previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and Oklahoma University for the Oklahoman.
PITTSBURGH — After sustaining an ankle injury late in the Steelers‘ Week 10 win over the Washington Commanders, outside linebacker Alex Highsmith will be out for Pittsburgh’s opening divisional game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.
Highsmith, who had an MRI on Monday, suffered the injury trying to avoid driving quarterback Jayden Daniels into the ground. Highsmith has a low ankle sprain, his father wrote in a social media post on X. Sam Highsmith added that his son didn’t have any broken bones and would probably be out two to three weeks.
“Excited about getting [Highsmith] back to us ASAP, but he won’t be available this week,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “But it makes it even cooler that we have a guy like Preston Smith under those circumstances. Pretty comfortable that [Nick Herbig] is going to be back this week. He was at the doorstep of it a week ago, so I think it’s reasonable to be able to include him and some other guys that have missed some time.”
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Smith, acquired at the trade deadline after he requested a trade from the Green Bay Packers, played 22 snaps, about 37% of defensive snaps, against the Commanders in his first game with the Steelers and was credited with three tackles, a sack and a quarterback pressure.
The Steelers also expect to get help from second-year pass rusher Herbig, who is set to play for the first time since he injured his hamstring against the Cowboys on Oct. 6. Before his injury, Herbig was having a productive season with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 2.5 sacks in five appearances.
The Steelers will need all the help they can get against a Lamar Jackson-led offense that leads the league in offensive output with 440 yards per game this season.
And while Tomlin detailed the offensive threats on the Ravens’ roster, including Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, Zay Flowers and Derrick Henry, he didn’t mention former Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, whom the Ravens acquired Oct. 29 in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, until the coach was specifically asked about Johnson later in Tuesday’s news conference.
“To be honest with you, I hadn’t thought a lot about it,” Tomlin said of Johnson. “He’s not on a lot of their video and so at this stage of the week, I don’t know that I’ve weighed what he might mean to the matchup. They got more significant pieces with larger roles that are occupying my attention at this part of the week.”
In two games with the Ravens, Johnson has played just 22 total offensive snaps. He recorded his lone catch for six yards against the Cincinnati Bengals in the Nov. 7 game where he was targeted twice.
