Unemployed for the entire month, Tre Flowers was wrapping presents when he got the call from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Eve.
D’Shawn Jamison has been on the team’s practice squad all season long.
Each defensive back could be in line to play a prominent role for what potentially is a significant game for the Steelers on Sunday.
The Steelers will be without cornerbacks Brandin Echols and James Pierre and could be without Jalen Ramsey for Sunday’s game at the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers are in line to clinch the AFC North this weekend and might need a victory in northeast Ohio to put on those celebratory hats and T-shirts.
And to beat Cleveland, they might be deploying a secondary that includes Flowers and Jamison, who before Thursday had combined to spend a grand total of three days on a 53-man active roster for an NFL team this season. Those three days were all as practice-squad elevations for separate games in which Flowers and Jamison combined to play all of 12 defensive snaps (all by Flowers during a pair of October games while he was on the practice squad of the Detroit Lions).
“It’s just an opportunity to make the most of,” said Flowers, a 30-year-old who has appeared in 97 NFL regular-season games for six teams over the past eight seasons.
“I always pride myself on just trying to study (the game), so I always try to start fresh. And that’s exactly how I’ll attack it here. This defense is a little different than all the other places I’ve been. So I guess this will be a little bit more of a challenge.”
The 6-foot-3, 203-pound Flowers was signed to the active roster Thursday. Though he broke into the league as a starter at outside cornerback, in recent seasons Flowers has played at myriad spots around the secondary.
It’s anyone’s guess exactly where he might play — or even if he plays — for the Steelers on Sunday. The team has experienced so much attrition amongst its defensive backs that the schematics have been adjusted frequently.
Pierre had been a starter on the outside since the release of Darius Slay, but Pierre will miss a third consecutive game because of a calf injury that prevented him from even practicing Friday.
Ramsey has missed the past two days of practice because of an illness and is listed as questionable to face the Browns. Ramsey, who was named to the Pro Bowl this week, had primarily been the Steelers’ free safety for two months until he bumped into the nickel/slot during this past Sunday’s win at the Lions. That came after Echols suffered a groin ailment that kept him out of practice all week and has him with an “out” designation for the Cleveland game.
That means the only healthy defensive backs on the 53-man roster were starting outside CBs Joey Porter Jr. and Asante Samuel Jr. and safeties Kyle Dugger, Chuck Clark, Jabrill Peppers and Sebastian Castro (the latter a rookie who has played only on special teams).
The plan if Ramsey cannot play Sunday is for Jamison to play the slot/nickel with Dugger and either Clark or Peppers (moreso, Clark) the safeties.
“Like Coach (Mike Tomlin) says, ‘One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity,’” Jamison said. “So, I kind of take this as an opportunity to go out there and show out and do what’s best for the team.”
Jamison has been with the Steelers since September 2024, but during the past two regular seasons has remained on the practice squad. Though he appeared in 15 NFL regular-season games with one start as an undrafted rookie for the Carolina Panthers in 2023, since then his only action came via four special-teams snaps during the Steelers’ Nov. 16 home win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“The older guys on the team,” Jamison said, “they see the potential in you (during practices). They see what you can do. And they just always just let you know, ‘Just be ready, be ready, be ready.’ And once your name is called, you go out there and just do your thing, no matter what. Just having these older guys just constantly instilling that in your head … that’s what keeps me motivated all throughout the season as a practice squader.”