After injuries at inside linebacker, Steelers will 'lean on' veteran Elandon Roberts

Elandon Roberts was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency because of his proficiency at stopping the run.

After significant injuries to Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander in back-to-back games, the Steelers will see how capable Roberts is at defending the pass when given a full week of preparation.

Coach Mike Tomlin had an inkling of those coverage skills when the Steelers signed Roberts in March, but when Holcomb and Alexander were healthy, there was little need to see it on display.

Now, the Steelers have no choice as Roberts is the last man standing — figuratively and literally — among that veteran trio heading into an AFC North game Sunday at Cleveland. Holcomb will spend the rest of the season on injured reserve with knee injury, and Alexander joined him after leaving in the first half Sunday with an Achilles issue.

“Obviously, we’re going to lean on Elandon,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “That is why we brought him here.”

An eighth-year veteran, Roberts was the second piece added when the Steelers decided to revamp their inside linebacker room and passed on the chance to bring back Devin Bush, Myles Jack and Robert Spillane. Roberts signed a two-year contract a day after the Steelers gave Holcomb a three-year deal.

Alexander came aboard after the start of training camp on a one-year contract.

Although Roberts had never played 60% of the defense snaps in his four seasons with the New England Patriots and three with the Miami Dolphins, he was a captain in Miami under Brian Flores.

“He is a defensive quarterback in mentality,” Tomlin said. “He’s a really good communicator, a really good above-the-neck player. He does a really good job in those areas. We haven’t played him in situational and possession down moments, so his role might expand in those areas for the benefit of communication and fluidity.”

Roberts had played as many as 50% of the defensive snaps in a game just once this season before Holcomb’s injury against Tennessee. When Alexander went down in the first quarter Sunday, Roberts left the field for just three of 68 snaps. He finished with eight tackles to take over the team lead.

He also wore the green dot in his helmet and called the defensive signals for the rest of the game, and Tomlin admitted communication was an issue in a game in which the Packers totaled 399 yards, including 289 passing.

“You’re talking about second- and third-level defenders on the interior portion of the defense who provide a lot of communication,” he said. “Playmaking is going to happen. It was challenging from a communication and experience standpoint as the game unfolded.”

Roberts dropped into coverage 40 times against the Packers. To put that into perspective, he was used in coverage just 48 times combined over the previous four games and 90 for the entire season. Packers quarterback Jordan Love completed all five of his attempts with Roberts in coverage. Although Roberts contained running back Aaron Jones, he did allow a 28-yard reception by tight end Luke Musgrave.

“We didn’t deem him as good as Holcomb or Alexander, and that’s why he hasn’t (played much pass coverage), but he has,” Tomlin said. “He has been an everydown player. We knew having all three of those guys was somewhat of a luxury. We divvied things up to highlight the skill set of all three and spread their talents over two positions.

“Just because we haven’t used Elandon in that area doesn’t mean he’s deficient. It’s just how we chose to divide the labor up in an effort to utilize the luxury of three very capable guys we had at two positions.”

With that luxury gone, the Steelers turned to second-year linebacker Mark Robinson as the second member of their base defense. Like Roberts, Robinson is known for his ability to play the run. Against the Packers, the lone pass in his vicinity was a 20-yard completion to Romeo Doubs.

Robinson started the final two games of his rookie season ahead of Bush, but with the three veterans ahead of him on the depth chart, he had totaled just four defensive snaps until Sunday.

“He’s grown really fluidly and consistently the way you would expect a guy in Year 2 to grow,” Tomlin said. “Thankfully, he had an opportunity to rise up and experience some legitimate growth at the latter part of last year and got some quality defensive play.

“I liked the trajectory of his play in the team-building process, but we’ll see where it leads us. He’ll be at the front of the line in getting an expanded role as we prepare for this one.”