These are the options the Steelers have been forced into.
With Elandon Roberts' status uncertain for Thursday's game against the Patriots with his groin injury, Teryl Austin is, again, reconfiguring his inside linebackers room. Roberts labeled himself as "questionable" for Thursday, leaving unique replacement options as Week 14 of the season begins.
The options beyond Roberts are a who's who of football past.
Mykal Walker, who was thrust into green-dot duties on Sunday against the Cardinals, was plucked off of the Falcons' practice squad the day before Halloween. Blake Martinez retired from football in 2022, began to sell Pokemon cards, was called out for allegedly scamming buyers of those cards, and returned to football in August. Myles Jack retired in August, became a plumber, became the majority owner of an ECHL hockey team, went to pilot school, and was signed off of his couch on November 20 to fill a depth need.
Alas, Austin moves forward with Martinez and Jack as legitimate options for Thursday night's kickoff.
"What I've learned about Blake since he's been here is he's really sharp, really attentive," Austin said Tuesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "I think -- again, until you get him on the field, you don't know -- but I think he's got a pretty good football aptitude, blends in well with our guys. And so all of that stuff is positive moving forward. As far as Myles Jack, Jack's getting back into shape. We know about Myles, Myles as a football player. Obviously the things that have held Myles back are the in-season, longterm injury stuff. But as a football player, I have no doubt about him as a football player."
Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander are not walking onto the field for the remainder of the season, and Mark Robinson is not, in Austin's words, a three-down linebacker. What was once, in Mike Tomlin's words, a "luxury" to have is now being held together by glue.
"I was just told to be ready to go, and so that's what I'm doing at this point," Martinez said after Tuesday's practice. "What ever that turns into, I'm ready for it."
The defense was gashed for 150 rushing yards (out of a total of 282 allowed) by the Cardinals Sunday. James Conner burst for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, and Arizona was able to convert 10 of 17 third downs after failing to execute on their first five of the game.
No sequence of Sunday's game was larger than the Cardinals' 15-play, 99-yard drive to gain a 10-3 lead at the end the first half. On that drive, the Cardinals converted five third-down plays and gained 77 yards off of such instances.
Walker was thrust into the green-dot role once Roberts aggravated his groin injury on the second play of that drive, and he took liberty of permitting some big plays in that stretch, primarily to tight end Trey McBride. McBride caught passes of 17, 12, and 15 yards before securing the five-yard touchdown.
"I think the communication point is a huge starting point is huge, and then just understanding situations," Martinez said. "Understanding when they're trying to attack, what players they're trying to attack in certain areas of the field on first down, second down, third down, things like that."
The Patriots present hardly any challenges offensively as a whole. They are rotating between Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, and Malik Cunningham at quarterback while running backs Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) and Ezekiel Elliott (thigh) remain uncertain for Thursday. Additionally, wide receiver Demario Douglas (concussion protocol) did not practice Tuesday while JuJu Smith-Schuster (ankle), Kayshon Boutte (shoulder), and Devante Parker (knee) were limited.
"Obviously they've struggled on offense, but they have a quality running game, I think their offensive line is outstanding, they really put hands on you and move you in the run game," Austin said. "We've got to really make sure that we stack up against the run. We did not do as good of a job as we needed to last week, and this week we have an opportunity to be better."
The Patriots' tight-end trio of Hunter Henry, Mike Gesicki, and Pharaoh Brown have combined for 60 receptions on 88 targets for 665 yards and five touchdowns -- half of the Patriots' receiving scores -- this season.
"They've got some dynamic tight ends in the passing game that are potentially challenging for us, particularly given some of the things that we've given up in the interior portions of the field as recently as (Sunday)," Tomlin said Monday. "We've got to be real solid versus that dynamic, tight end group and the multitude of things that they do with that group."
Entering Thursday, the Patriots boast the NFL's 28th-best total offense (290.4 yards per game) and the league's worst scoring offense (12.3 points per game). This matchup theoretically paints the Steelers' defense at a sizable advantage, but the poor results from Sunday are hard to ignore with just days to prepare for that game.
A safe haven with Martinez and Jack lies within their experience. The 29-year-old Martinez led the NFL in total tackles in 2017 with 144, and he racked up four consecutive seasons with 144 or more tackles across his eight-year career including a career-high 155 tackles in 2019 and 151 in 2020.
Perhaps some luck is afoot with that experience brought in, but the locker room doesn't want to make any reasonings about Holcomb and Alexander's injuries, the latter of which occurred three weeks ago.
"I think when you look at Cole and Kwon, I think their types of injuries are completely off the minds right now," Roberts said. "Theirs both were freak accidents. I've had an ACL before, it's like a freak accident. There's no way to really protect that all the time, especially -- you've seen Cole's situation. ... I think (Martinez), Myles, Mark, Mike have done a great job just trying to take it in, get it in as much as possible. It's hats-off to them."
After signing with the Steelers on Nov. 21, Martinez could be in a prominent role on Thursday.
"For me I've always had -- no matter what new place I've went to, a certain preparation of how I go and do things," Martinez said. "Going through the playbook, writing it out, writing formations, different things like that. Going through the checks on white board, notebook, anything, to make sure I was ready to go."
The 28-year-old Jack led the Steelers with 104 total tackles last season. He was the only Steeler to achieve triple digits in that category.
"It's the same system as last year," Jack said. "They've been kind of running the same things every year, but I know what to do."
Neither of those two are the players they once were, but having 187 combined games of experience matters to an extent.
Communication lines have been disrupted at three points this season with Holcomb, Alexander, and Roberts' injuries. More miscommunications came afloat Sunday, and if Roberts cannot go Thursday, the green dot of this defense will not have been on this roster at the start of the season.
That is where Martinez and Jack's experiences come into play.
"I think it helps," Cam Heyward said before Tuesday's practice. "Myles, he was here last year, so he understands the playbook. Blake's a smart guy. as well. Having those guys that have had that experience definitely plays a part, but we've just got to grow in these next two days. Meetings have go to be locked in, walkthroughs, practice, so got to take advantage of this time and get all of the questions and answers out there."
