This is getting ridiculous.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost yet another cornerback yesterday when Curtis Brown was carted off the field after twisting his ankle defending a pass. I don’t know what ladder Brown walked under on his way to camp but this is his second setback already this camp. He just returned from a two day hiatus after pulling a hammy. Mike Tomlin had no details on the severity of this current injury and given his modus operandi, I don’t expect we’ll know exactly how bad it is until Brown either returns to the field or has season-ending surgery.
For those keeping score at home, Brown joins fellow corners Cortez Allen, Terry Hawthorne, and DeMarcus Van Dyke on the sidelines. Allen, the team’s intended starter, told reporters he expects to heal from last week’s knee surgery in time to play in the Black and Gold’s season opener on September 8th. Yeah, we’ve all heard that song before. Then again, he is significantly younger and less beat-up than James Harrison or Troy Polamalu so perhaps this once the Steelers will get lucky.
In the meantime, the defense will have to make due with William Gay playing opposite Ike Taylor. The nickel position is wide open with Josh Victorian probably the current favorite. The only options behind him are two practice squad cast-offs: Isaiah Green, who spent most of last season on the Colts’ taxi squad before landing with the Steelers towards the end of the year and newly signed Ryan Steed, late of the Jets’ practice squad. Oof, that’s uglier than a couple Browns fans fighting over the last jalapeno nacho. If push came to shove, I think the Steelers would try rookie safety Shamarko Thomas at the nickel rather than entrust the job to either of those two.