The Pittsburgh Steelers, who were already operating at a deficit, are now down two more defenders leading into a Week 9 bout with the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium.
Safety Chuck Clark and inside linebacker Cole Holcomb, both of whom were listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week with illnesses, have officially been downgraded to out, per an announcement on X from Steelers senior director of communications Burt Lauten.
The #Steelers have downgraded LB Cole Holcomb (illness) and S Chuck Clark (illness) to OUT for Sunday’s game vs. the #Colts.
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) November 1, 2025
Considering Indianapolis’ offense has been the NFL’s best so far this season in terms of yards (385.3) and points (33.8) per game, the Steelers’ hands were going to be full no matter who they had available. Now, however, that challenge has been ramped up even further.
Pittsburgh’s safety room has gone through a ton of turmoil over the past week or so.
Starter DeShon Elliott went down with a knee injury against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, which landed him on the reserve/injured list and thus will keep him out for at least four games.
Jabrill Peppers popped up on the penultimate report with a quadricep injury and was a non-participant to close out the week, leading to him also being ruled out vs. Indianapolis.
With Clark now sidelined for this weekend’s contest as well, the Steelers currently have just two safeties on their active roster who are set to play against the Colts in Kyle Dugger and Juan Thornhill, the former of whom arrived via trade from the New England Patriots this week.
Clark had started each of the past two games next to Elliott and logged a total of 102 defensive reps over that span, meaning both Dugger and Thornhill will have quite the shows to fill vs. Indianapolis’ potent offense.
Thornhill has received consistent playing time throughout the season for Pittsburgh and is a seven-year veteran while Dugger has played in 81 games during his six-year stint in the league, so it’s not like the team’s new duo is inexperienced, but it’s still far from an ideal situation.
Aug 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb (55) reacts during player introductions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Holcomb, who missed the entire 2024 campaign with a devastating knee injury that he suffered in November 2023, has played 79 defensive snaps since Pittsburgh’s Week 5 bye while also holding down a sizable role on special teams.
The Steelers are in a better position to temporarily replace Holcomb than they are Clark, though, since both Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson are healthy while the team just activated Malik Harrison from IR after he went down with a knee injury in Week 1.