3 key safeties with Elliott out to start the season

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The best laid plans, the Steelers already adjusting without a key member of the defense for the opener against Atlanta and at least three more games after that.

The hope all preseason was safety DeShon Elliott would be ready to return at the beginning of the season. Recovering from a serious knee injury, Elliott did some reps in training camp and played a little in the preseason giving the coaches hope, but he just isn’t ready.

It’s not due to effort. Steelers GM Omar Khan said Elliott did everything he was told, worked hard, ‘if you ask for him to give you 1,000 push-ups, he’ll give you 2,000’.

“I don't look at it as losing him,” said Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy. “I mean, he needs just a little more time. So, I think we all have a clear understanding of the injury and his timeline getting back here. I think what

he has done has been remarkable. I just know in my time here, watching him go through the rehab, the way he's attacking, the progress he's made — and he's on top of it. I mean, we sat down and talked a number of times in training camp about just what it looks like as far as his recovery once we got into the padded work. I think some of this was, you were hopeful we were further down the line, but I think some of it is just where he is coming back.”

Knowing about the injury during training camp allowed them to prepare for the potential of Elliott not being there when the season starts on Sunday. Rookie Robert Spears Jennings was getting first-team reps from the beginning, not exclusively, but a number of early opportunities he wouldn’t have had.

“I’m a plug-and-play type of guy, put me anywhere, I will do my job,” Spears-Jennings said adding he knows he’s a better player than where he was drafted in the seventh round.

“A lot of talent, if he focuses and does what he should do, he’ll have a long, successful career.”

That comment comes from a late addition to the roster, 10-year veteran Rayshawn Jenkins who was an unsigned free agent as training camps began, coaching his son’s U10 football team. Jenkins knew that about Spears-Jennings because when he played video games he would have Oklahoma as his college defense, so he feels like he knows the strengths of the rookie safety.

Jenkins has had over 7,000 NFL snaps, playing 139 career games. He said football is the same, it’s just learning the terminology.

“As quick as you can connect those wires and coaching staff can create that chemistry, the faster you will be,” Jenkins said. “Me, being on a few teams now, I was able to do that just from my experience.”

Jenkins played in all of the Browns last year, starting three with 45 tackles, a pass breakup and an interception. In 2023, he started every game with Jacksonville finishing with 101 tackles, nine passes defensed, two interceptions and seven tackles for loss.

He has a history of playing anywhere, which works with how the Steelers want to play this year. It’s a secondary of interchangeable parts, which should make it harder for offenses to figure out.

“It gives me more snaps than I intended to get,” Jenkins said. “I came in here, just put me in I can play wherever-dime, strong, free, nickel, with him being out, there is a hole, a void in the defense. I’m a guy that’s trusted in this league that can come in.”

“For someone who's had a lot of experience, a lot of success, I don't see a guy

coming in there saying, "Hey, I've done it a certain way. This is how we're going to do it,” said Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. “I see a guy coming in who is a really diligent worker, mindful. Whether we do walkthroughs, talk-throughs, whatever it may be, really diligent and mindful about what we're trying to get done.”

In the offseason Khan and McCarthy were able to get a local to come back home, signing safety Jaquan Brisker to a one-year, $5.5 million deal. He was going to be the steady next to Elliott, but in a new defense, he’ll be one of the leaders.

“The challenge is just everyone stay together because DeShon is a great player,” Brisker said. “He’s very smart and when he’s healthy, he’s great. Just stay together, play as one and just continue to play our type of defense.”

Brisker sees a lot of versatility. He believes you can plug people in anywhere with the defense which is what makes it unique.

“The coaches are so smart and they are going to put us in the right positions,” Brisker said. “You are not going to know what we do and that’s the great part of playing on this defense. We are going to have the offense on their heels.”

But to do that initially they are going to need someone who played with the Browns, another with the Bears and a third who was in college last year to be able to communicate with additional pieces Jalen Ramsey and Joey Porter, Junior, who have had little practice time. They have days to make it look like they’ve known each other for years.