Steelers Make Huge Decision on Injured Veteran DL

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ 2025 training camp is running full speed ahead as the club prepares for the season. Unfortunately for Mike Tomlin’s crew and Teryl Austin’s defense, one player won’t be a part of the on-field picture moving forward.

Per the Steelers, defensive lineman Dean Lowry is going on the injured reserve list. Mike DeFabo of The Athletic confirmed the club’s procedural move, as well as its reunion with Breiden Fehoko, via X on August 2.

“The Steelers have signed DT Breiden Fehoko and placed DL Dean Lowry on the Reserve/Injured List,” DeFabo’s tweet began. “Lowry would have been on my projected 53-man roster. The D line has been hit by a number of injuries on the back half of the depth chart.”

https://x.com/MikeDeFabo/status/1951672263545102434

Steelers Place Dean Lowry on IR, Reunite With Breiden Fehoko

This marks the continuation of a brutal stretch of injury luck for the Steelers. Earlier in the week, head coach Mike Tomlin revealed injuries to the trio of Lowry, Jacob Slade and Esezi Otomewo. The Lowry situation is easily the most pressing of the bunch. Without a designation to return, this would mean his 2025-26 season is over. Injured reserve stints before the start of the regular season mean a player’s ensuing campaign is cut short.

Lowry, who was set to enter his 10th NFL season, debuted for the Steelers last year. Playing in 12 regular-season games, he ate up 159 defensive snaps and 31 special teams reps. In those contests, he amassed 5 tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Pro Football Focus gave him a solid 67.4 pass rush grade but a 34.3 overall grade that ranked 209th out of 219 interior linemen.

In Lowry’s place on the roster, Fehoko is back in the fold. He previously announced the move himself on social media. The former Los Angeles Chargers man first joined the Steelers back in 2023. Over the years, he’s bounced between the active roster and practice squad. He has yet to appear in a game for Pittsburgh.

With that said, Fehoko does have 19 regular-season contests on his resume. The nose tackle’s best year came in 2022, when he made three starts in nine appearances for Los Angeles. On 315 combined snaps, he set career-highs for tackles (23) and tackles for loss (1).

This week, Slade was given a waived/injured designation. He was replaced by Kyler Baugh, a former UFL standout. Defensive tackle Cameron Young was also hosted for a workout.

Other Pittsburgh Training Camp Injury Odds & Ends

According to DeFabo, that isn’t the only set of Steelers injuries to monitor. Tomlin revealed that cornerback Cory Trice Jr. and right tackle Calvin Anderson are also nursing ailments.

Both injuries occurred during Friday night’s practice. For Trice, it’s a hamstring issue. The second-year man played sparingly as a rookie but did get some valuable experience early and late in the 2024-25 campaign. In six games, he recorded 21 tackles with a pair of passes broken up. The former seventh-round pick from Purdue earned a sparkling 75.3 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, albeit in a limited sample size.

Tomlin said it’s a lower-body injury for Anderson. He’s now in year two with the Steelers after joining the fold fresh off a stint with the New England Patriots. The 29-year-old tackle didn’t see the field much a year ago but has experience at both tackle spots in his career. He’s serviceable depth behind players like Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu, whom are both facing serious expectations this year.

It’s a mixed bag of injury outcomes for the Steelers. With their preseason approaching, the team will look to get and stay as healthy as possible.