The Pittsburgh Steelers elevated veteran inside linebacker Mark Robinson and defensive back D’Shawn Jamison to their active/inactive roster ahead of Sunday’s Week 11 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium.
The team announced the moves Saturday afternoon. With linebacker Cole Holcomb and cornerback Darius Slay ruled out due to illness and a concussion, respectively, the Steelers needed a boost at the positions. Robinson gets another game with the Steelers after he was elevated last week against the Chargers, while Jamison gets a shot, too.
Robinson played one special teams snap last week against the Chargers and spent time with the New England Patriots and the New York Jets this season before returning to Pittsburgh. Robinson spent the previous three seasons with the Steelers before being a part of final roster cuts in late August, losing his spot to rookie Carson Bruener.
As for Jamison, he played 41 special teams snaps and 64 defensive snaps in the preseason with the Steelers before being cut and landing on their practice squad.
While Robinson and Jamison were elevated, veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. won’t be making their Steelers debuts in Week 11 against the Bengals after all.
The Steelers, who signed Valdes-Scantling to their practice squad two weeks ago and added Samuel on Wednesday to it, did not elevate the pair of veterans to the active/inactive roster Saturday.
The Steelers’ decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise after hearing some of the comments made by head coach Mike Tomlin, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin last week leading up to the AFC North showdown.
While Tomlin stated he was open to elevating not only Valdes-Scantling but others on the practice squad, the Steelers didn’t make the move.
Valdes-Scantling could have given them a boost, especially after Pittsburgh’s wide receivers struggled to separate and get open quickly against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 10. Due to his history with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it made sense that Valdes-Scantling was an elevation option, but his Steelers debut will have to wait at least another week.
The decision to not elevate Samuel isn’t all that surprising, considering he just signed on Wednesday and hasn’t played football in more than a calendar year after suffering a season-ending injury last year and then having spinal-fusion surgery in April.
Samuel was cleared for all football activities in early November, but only recently returned to football activities on Wednesday with the Steelers, fully participating in practice. There are no restrictions on him, but stepping into a new defense and needing to get into game shape makes sense as to why he wasn’t elevated this week, even with a matchup against the high-powered Bengals passing attack.
The veteran cornerback stated earlier in the week that he felt he was ready to play right away and didn’t need any time to ramp up. The Steelers, obviously, felt otherwise.
The Steelers signed Samuel to their practice squad on Tuesday, giving Pittsburgh a big boost defensively, at least on paper. He wasn’t elevated this week, but figures to have a role at some point. How much he’ll play remains to be seen, though. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin preached patience with Samuel.