Teryl Austin will have at his disposal Sunday a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a collection of players at outside linebacker who might not even be household names in their own household.
With injuries to Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and converted defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal, Austin won’t have one starter and two top backups available Sunday when the Steelers play the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
Expected to start opposite T.J. Watt is Jeremiah Moon, who made his Steelers debut last Sunday fresh off a four-week stint on injured reserve. The only other outside linebacker-capable player on the 53-man roster is defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk. Three players on the practice squad — Eku Leota, Ade Ogundeji and Jacoby Windmon — are candidates to be activated for the game to round out the depth chart.
Asked what Austin has up his sleeve this week, the defensive coordinator flashed a smile and said, “What have you got for me?”
“We’re going to be short-handed,” Austin said, “in the sense of guys that haven’t played for us here, but we’ve got a couple of young guys that will possibly available for us.”
The 6-foot-7, 293-pound Loudermilk is an option when the Steelers are in run defense mode.
“I know he’s not going to rush from the outside like the other guys, but in terms of the run game, he’ll be fine,” Austin said. “We’ll count on probably a couple of these young guys to kind of step up.”
Moon joined the Steelers in the offseason after being released by the Baltimore Ravens. He appeared in eight games, making one start, for Baltimore last year.
After being activated from injured reserve Saturday, Moon was expected to be the last man off the bench against the Cowboys. When Herbig and Leal joined Highsmith on the sidelines, Moon played 28 snaps.
“He played a little more than we thought he was going to play last week coming out of the bullpen,” Austin said.
Leota joined the Steelers after being released by Carolina earlier this season. He appeared in two games for the Panthers this year and eight in 2023. Ogundeji started 27 games for Atlanta in the 2021-22 seasons but missed all of 2023 with an injury.
“Those guys have played NFL football before, and they are here just for that reason,” Austin said. “If we do get banged up, we can bring them up and they can play, and they’ll give us a good day’s work.”
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.