The month of September has officially started which means the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting set to play regular-season football again. It has been a long while since the upsetting Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans, and a lot has changed in the Steel City since then. Head Coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Omar Khan recently had the task of putting together the initial 53-man roster, which is set to switch up quite a bit prior to a Week 1 contest against the Atlanta Falcons. For now, preparation mode is in full swing and a lot of decisions will be made in the coming weeks.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy stands on the field and looks into the distance with his play sheet in hand as the team works out during a 2026 training camp practice at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
There were a few surprises on Sunday evening when the Steelers had to meet the league's deadline of cutting the roster down to 53 players. The release of inside linebacker Elandon Roberts was quite a shock; however, something else stole the headlines along the way. Starting safety DeShon Elliott was placed on the Injured Reserve (IR) - Designated to Return list. This requires him to miss at least four games.
Elliott suffered a serious injury in 2025 that led to surgery and a lengthy recovery process. Despite that, he played in Pittsburgh's second preseason matchup versus the New York Jets. It came as a surprise to the fan base when he was later announced as a guy who wasn't fully healthy. This is catching some attention from those who cover the franchise.
The Pat McAfee Show's Mark Kaboly had some thoughts on the Steelers' recent moves in a post on Tuesday morning. Elliott was top of mind, and not for a good reason. The beat writer thinks something is going on behind the scenes.
"Seemingly out of the blue, DeShon Elliott was placed on the injured reserve/designated return list that will keep him off the field until at least Week 5 against the Colts, if not longer. Something just isn’t adding up in my brain," Kaboly wrote. "Elliott is coming off a serious injury 11 months ago, but deemed himself healthy even though he was limited throughout the majority of training camp."
The Steelers are a little light at Elliott's position, and that fact makes things all the more strange. Kaboly detailed why he is questioning the current situation with the safety.
"Elliott played 19 defensive snaps and one special teams snap in the second preseason game against the Jets and was seemingly fine coming out of it," Kaboly noted. "Even so, the Steelers decided to shut him down for the first month of the season anyway? That’s especially weird when you consider the safety position is thin as it is and the Steelers must get off to a quick start, with the second half of the season seemingly much more difficult than the first half."
It is fair to note that the Steelers could have genuinely decided to give Elliott some more time, but him performing in the exhibition showdown against the Jets becomes a head-scratching decision, even if his injury flared up afterwards.
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Pittsburgh Steelers safety DeShon Elliott (25) during 2026 training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Kaboly would then go on to directly quote what Khan had said during his press conference on Monday. Overall, it was a lot of general manager speak and there wasn't too much to go off of.
"We just said, ‘Hey, let's be smart about it,’" Khan said. "There's been nothing to tell us that things have regressed or there was any type of setback, but he played in the Jets preseason game, and we were able to see how he came out of that and just felt like the right thing to do was to be smart and have him ready to go," Kaboly reported.
The Steelers really do need Elliott out there. He is a veteran leader in the back end of the defense and has played well when healthy. Now, the main hope is that he will only miss the minimum of four games.
Steelers Could Be Planning Some Kind Of Significant Move
While the practice squad in Pittsburgh is nearly set, the real sign that the team has concerns about Elliott will be what potentially happens on the trade market. Khan has never been afraid to be active in that area, so it shouldn't surprise anyone if the Steelers start to call around. The depth at the position is thin, and the organization can't afford to have vulnerabilities on defense.
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