The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off yet another win in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers, bringing them to 3-0 in the 2024 season. The road through three games has not been smooth, as they have battled injuries and questions at quarterback. Before the season began, starting quarterback Russell Wilson suffered a calf injury, which allowed Justin Fields to step up and take over. Fields seems to have improved each game, as it appears that new Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith continues to trust him as each week goes on.
While the Fields situation has worked out well so far, the injury to Wilson wasn't the only one. The team also lost starting left guard Isaac Seumalo, who has missed the first three games with a pectoral injury. Second-year guard Spencer Anderson made his first start in Week 1. Fans got even worse news on the injury front when rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu was ruled out with a knee injury and placed on Injured Reserve.
The Steelers' tackles have had issues staying healthy all season. Broderick Jones, a 2023 first-round pick, had a shaky start, but managed to get himself on solid ground.
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.
