Steelers' Mike Tomlin Gives Definitive Answer On Injuries: 'Sucks For Alex Highsmith'

Both teams suffered injuries during Week 3. The Chargers' starting quarterback, Justin Herbert, re-aggravated an ankle injury. They also lost their best pass rusher and two of their top tackles. As for Pittsburgh, Head Coach Mike Tomlin pulled running back Jaylen Warren late, cornerback Cory Trice Jr. suffered a hamstring injury, and perhaps most devastating of all, edge rusher Alex Highsmith suffered a groin injury. 

During his postgame press conference, Tomlin offered his thoughts on Highsmith and praised his replacement, Nick Herbig. 

"It's good to be 3-0 as we sit here," Tomlin said. "Obviously we sustained some injuries prior to the game and in-game. But that's ball and life as well. We spend less time worrying about the unfortunate that got hurt and like to spend our time focusing on those who get an opportunity to elevate and contribute. It sucks for Alex Highsmith, excited for Herbig, for example, and none of us are surprised with the quality of work he gave us. Cory Trice had a hamstring, Alex Highsmith had a groin."

Highsmith has been partnered with TJ Watt since the Steelers drafted him in the third round in 2020. The duo is lauded as one of the NFL's best, and it will be interesting to see how much time Highsmith may miss. They are so impactful that there have been concerns over what would happen if Highsmith were injured. 

Fans saw what happened when Watt was injured in the 2022 season; the team was 1-10 without him. It is encouraging to know that Herbig came in and contributed two sacks in the Week 3 victory.

The Steelers face the Indianapolis Colts at Lucus Oil Stadium for Week 4. Hopefully, Tomlin will give more information about these injuries during his weekly press conference that will come on Tuesday.

Steelers' Broderick Jones Seemed To Bounce Back

The Steelers' offensive line appeared solid heading into the season. They had made back-to-back first-round selections at tackle and appeared to give Fautanu time to develop, as they did with Jones in 2023. But all the tackles suffered injuries, and that hindered the plans. 

Then, during the Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos, Jones made costly error after costly error. Tomlin benched him during his lone drive on the third possession. This led to Dan Moore Jr. staying in at left tackle and allowed Fautanu playing on the right side. 

This created worry among the fans, which seemed warranted when the Week 3 game began. However, Jones settled back into the performance he displayed in 2023 when he came in for the benched Chukwuma Okorafor.