Steelers Injury Report: Secondary could get a boost in Week 5

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ secondary has been in a constant state of flux this season. At safety, Sean Davis has been the only consistent face, with Terrell Edmunds and the oft-injured Morgan Burnett sharing duties at Strong Safety. Joe Haden has missed one of the first four games and Mike Hilton’s elbow injury had him watching on Sunday night when the Baltimore Ravens picked apart the Pittsburgh defense.

Have no fear, though, the secondary could be getting a boost and hopefully some consistency for the Week 5-game vs. the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday at Heinz Field.

According to Mike Tomlin at his weekly press conference, he’s hopeful to get both Burnett and Hilton back onto the practice field. Clearly, their practice participation will dictate their overall availability for the contest on Sunday.

While getting Burnett and Hilton back at practice should help the defense, they lost Nat Berhe for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Brian Allen was promoted from the practice squad and he’ll add an extra cornerback to the roster in case of an emergency.

Other injuries listed by Tomlin were Darrius Heyward-Bey’s ankle injury and Vince Williams’ hamstring. Heyward-Bey’s special-teams role on coverage units would be difficult to fill, but Tomlin isn’t closing the door on him being in the lineup this Sunday. As for Williams, his ability to get onto the practice field will be the deciding factor in his overall availability, but Tomlin did state Matthew Thomas could see some reps at inside linebacker in his stead, if Williams can’t play.

Tuesday is the first reported practice of the week, so stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers heading into Week 5.