Steelers start the 21-day clock for Damontae Kazee coming off IR

The Pittsburgh Steelers have dealt with a lot of injuries in their secondary through the first six weeks of the regular season. Minkah Fitzpatrick missed Week 6 with a knee injury, Ahkello Witherspoon’s hamstring injury has kept him out since the Thursday night game vs. the Cleveland Browns and Levi Wallace and Cam Sutton have both missed time due to injury.

But there was another member of the secondary who also missed time, but it started before the regular season began. That would be safety Damontae Kazee. Kazee, the free agent acquisition this offseason, broke his wrist during the team’s Preseason Week 3 game at home vs. the Detroit Lions putting him on Injured Reserve (IR) to start the season.

After missing the first six weeks, the Steelers have started the 21-day clock on Kazeee’s potential return.

The team having Kazee to return to practice doesn’t mean he’ll be returning to the starting lineup anytime soon. In fact, he has 21-days from today, October 20th, before he has to be reinstated onto the 53-man roster. If, for some reason, Kazee isn’t able to return during that three week time span he would be placed on season-ending IR.

Kazee’s tenure with the Steelers has been odd, mainly because he also served a 3-week suspension while on IR for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. With that behind him, the hope is Kazee could return along with Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds to deploy the three safety look which has been discussed since the start of training camp.

Be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 on Sunday Night Football.