The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2026 season believing that they had great depth at the cornerback position. That has already been worn through with Joey Porter Jr. getting traded and Jamel Dean suffering an injury in Pittsburgh's Week 4 loss. During Wednesday's practice, Dean did not participate, and his status for the upcoming Week 5 game is in jeopardy. There seems to be no indication that slot corners Jalen Ramsey and Brandin Echols will take some reps on the outside to help out on that front.
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Steelers cornerback Jamel Dean during a regular season game against the Falcons on September 13, 2026.
That led to the Steelers making a couple of moves early in the week, as they signed veteran cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting off of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad, as well as fourth-year corner Terell Smith off of the Washington Commanders' practice squad. Neither are expected to see a major role immediately, but they will have to fill in to help the starters catch a breather.
There is quite a bit of excitement around these moves despite the fact that both cornerbacks were on a practice squad. While making an appearance on Steelers Rewind, insider Nick Farabaugh spoke about what Smith told him and the other media members after his first-ever practice in Pittsburgh.
"Smith said he can do a little bit of everything, but special teams is a big pocket of his," Farabaugh said. "He feels like he can do that, and he said he's 100% after tearing his patella tendon last August. He is now 100% fully recovered -- feels like he's cutting, jumping, doing all those things really well... he feels like he has gotten a lot better, and he feels like he was earning opportunities and he thinks this could be something that comes to fruition."
Smith has yet to play in a game since 2024 due to the aforementioned patella injury, but he has been working his way back to full form. As Farabaugh said, the cornerback believes that he is completely healed up, and everyone will get to see first-hand how healthy he truly is. Even if he doesn't see the field on defense much, his agility and physicality will still be on display throughout the contest.
Smith spoke about how he believes he can be a core special teamer, and that's where he will earn the opportunities that he thinks he has. The former fifth-round pick will likely be utilized as a four-phase player, working the returns and the deep kicks. He will be running all over the field, showing off what he is truly capable of. From there, the Steelers will decide if the cornerback is truly ready to get back to playing the corner position.
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Former Chicago Bears defensive back Terell Smith (32) runs drills during a joint training camp at the Kettering Health Practice Fields, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in downtown Cincinnati.
In his rookie season with the Chicago Bears, Smith played half of the defensive snaps through 12 games while making four starts. In that time, he only gave up one touchdown and a respectable 63% completion rate against. The next year, he became more of a special teams ace, as his snap count there shot up while defensive snaps went down. The fourth-year defensive back may not be a great starter, but if he is completely healthy, he can be a solid backup.
Steelers Have To Trust This Cornerback Room Through The Adversity And Injuries
Through the first four weeks of the 2026 season, the Steelers have played a lot of soft zone to try and adjust for the loss of Porter. Over the previous two weeks, that coverage has allowed the opposing quarterbacks to make a lot of easy passes, which puts more strain on this group. Even though both projected starters from preseason are out, these cornerbacks need to play closer to the line of scrimmage and be aggressive to make life easier on the front seven.
What do you think about Smith's take on where he is after his injury recovery? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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