With Myles Jack bothered by a groin injury and the Pittsburgh Steelers seeking an inside linebacker to stay on the field for every defensive snap the past two weeks, they did not turn to Devin Bush, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Instead, they turned to another player who also will be a free agent in March, a player whose efforts in recent games could be setting him up for a nice payday in the offseason.

While Bush played barely half the snaps against Carolina and less than that amount against Las Vegas, Robert Spillane never left the field in either game.

It was a sudden turn of events for Spillane, who had started just 12 of 46 career games with the Steelers until he got the call against the Panthers and again versus the Raiders. He could make his third start in a row Sunday when the Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

“I think Rob’s earned the opportunity to play a lot,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “I think we’ve had some leakage with some guys in terms of injuries and some nicks and different things like that. That opened the door for Rob, and I think he’s taken advantage of it.”

To the point that Spillane led the Steelers in tackles in each game — getting seven stops in a 24-16 victory against the Panthers and 12 in a 13-10 win against the Raiders, tying for the second-highest total of his career.

Spillane prepares each week to have a heavy workload in the defense even if it doesn’t always work out that way.

“It’s an understanding it can be any game that I’m asked to play 100% of the defense snaps,” Spillane said. “I keep my body ready to go for as many plays as I need to be ready for.”

Curiously, in the days heading into the first matchup against the Ravens three weeks ago that Spillane downplayed the notion that he is a starter-in-waiting behind the higher pedigree players ahead of him on the depth chart — Bush and Jack.

“They don’t see me as a starter here,” Spillane said. “But that doesn’t diminish what I think of myself and my abilities. I go out there with the mindset that I’m going to be a playmaker any chance I get to be on the field.

“I don’t get to decide when I go out there, but I get to decide what I do when I am out there.”

It was after the Ravens rushed for 215 yards — the most allowed by the Steelers this season — in a 16-14 loss that Spillane took on a larger role in the Steelers defense.

Several factors were at work. One was Jack’s groin injury that prevented him from playing at Carolina and limited him to 16 snaps against Las Vegas. Another was that the Steelers were facing quarterbacks that lacked mobility in Carolina’s Sam Darnold and Las Vegas’ Derek Carr, freeing up Spillane to focus on stopping the running backs and not a free-wheeling dual-threat passer.

A noted run plugger, Spillane helped the Steelers hold the Panthers to 21 yards rushing and the Raiders, led by NFL rushing leader Josh Jacobs, to 58.

“We just like what Rob has been doing,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He plays physical. Rob is a guy that has been in continual growth since he’s been here. Coming in as an undrafted guy and practice squadder and working his way through to making the team and becoming a core (special) teamer and part-time defender, and now increasingly an almost every-down defender.

“I just think what you’re seeing is the maturation and growth process of a quality professional.”

With the Ravens again starting backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, who isn’t afraid to tuck the ball and run, Spillane may face one of his biggest challenges of the season. Particularly since Jack remains questionable to play after practicing only on a limited basis this week.

“With that part of the run scheme, you’ve got to honor it,” Spillane said. “The play you don’t honor it is the play you see the quarterback run down the middle of the field. I think we’ve done a good job of understanding who has to take the quarterback in different circumstances.”

At times this season, Spillane has remained the only inside linebacker on the field when the Steelers go to their sub-packages on defense. So it’s not out of the question to think he will play every snap against the Ravens, too.

“I think a lot of it depends on personnel packages and what we’re trying to do, and a lot of it is that we have a little bit of leakage in there,” Austin said. “So that opened the door for him to get some more reps, and he took advantage of it.”

If Spillane continues to do so, he could cash in during free agency. After earning $2.43 million this season as a restricted free agent, he could be in line for a multi-year deal if the Steelers let him test the open market.

Asked about that prospect earlier this week, Spillane shut off the question immediately.

“I’m looking forward to (practice) tomorrow,” he said.

And, of course, how he can help the Steelers reverse that earlier loss to the Ravens and possibly keep their playoff aspirations alive.

“We have a better understanding of what we want to get done and a better game plan,” he said. “Our whole team really came together this week with showing that understanding. That only gives us a chance. We have to go out there Sunday and be physical for four quarters, attack downhill, get off blocks and make tackles.”

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