Steelers notebook: James Pierre appears ahead in battle for No. 3 CB
Share this post:
Through the first four weeks of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, the hottest position battle for a starting spot was at nickel cornerback between Arthur Maulet and Antoine Brooks.
The answer — if Saturday’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions is any indication — neither.
For the first snap in which the Steelers deployed five defensive backs, it wasn’t Maulet or Brooks who came onto the field. It was second-year former undrafted player James Pierre. Pierre played on the outside, and Cameron Sutton moved to the slot in the nickel package.
The personnel decision comes with the caveat that Brooks did not play. Brooks sat out more than a week’s worth practices this month because of a lower-body injury. Brooks had returned to practice this week, though, and he was not getting first-team reps at nickel.
Maulet, incidentally, suffered an injury to his right ankle during the Steelers’ fourth defensive series of the game Saturday.
When veteran cornerback Joe Haden was shut down after one defensive series Saturday, Pierre took over as the outside cornerback in his place. Justin Layne then became the next man up in the rotation when the Steelers needed a DB in the slot. Sutton, again, played that role with Layne taking Sutton’s place on the outside.
In March, Sutton re-signed with the Steelers on a two-year, $9 million contract.
He had spent most of the previous four seasons as the backup at the nickel and outside cornerback and as the hybrid dime linebacker. A 2017 third-round pick, Sutton has publicly — and politely — expressed a desire to play outside cornerback.
Most accounted for
Other than Brooks, the only Steelers players spotted who were not in uniform nor available to play Saturday were defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt, outside linebacker T.J. Watt, receiver Chase Claypool and running back Benny Snell. Neither Tuitt nor Watt has practiced throughout the duration of camp, and Claypool suffered an ankle injury at the end of the most recent practice Thursday.
Starters play
Aside from Tuitt, Watt and Claypool, all of the expected starters on offense and defense took the first snaps of Saturday’s game. That included right tackle Zach Banner, who still is ramping his way back up from a torn ACL suffered last season.
Rookie Kendrick Green continued to play center, and it’s clear Kevin Dotson has re-claimed the starting left guard spot after a minor injury put that in question earlier in camp.
Veteran Chris Wormley started in place of Tuitt on the defensive line, with Tyson Alualu taking his expected spot at nose tackle in the base defense.
Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and Banner made their preseason debuts.
First sellout
The game marked the first sporting event in Pittsburgh in more than 17 months in which every seat was sold. Only 45,374 showed up, however, meaning 20,000 seats were empty by choice.
Still, that 45,374 number represented roughly three times the combined official attendance of the nine Steelers games played at Heinz Field since a December 2019 regular-season game against the Buffalo Bills. A combined 15,949 were announced as the attendance for the three 2020 regular-season games in which state regulations allowed for paid fans amid the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been almost a year since the injury,” Banner said, “and the only thing that put me at ease was the fans. I don’t say that to burst their bubble. I say that to let them know how much they truly mean to us and myself. Coming out of the tunnel, hearing them roar.”