Inside linebacker play is crucial for stopping the run, and finding two consistent defenders has been a problem the entire season for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Monday night, when they face the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers will be trying to find two healthy players to man the position.

Devin Bush remains on the reserve/covid list with the game approaching in two days, and Joe Schobert joined him on Friday, leaving the Steelers thin at the position heading into the AFC North showdown.

The Steelers finished the practice week Saturday with Robert Spillane as one familiar starting option when the defense is playing its base package.

The other? It could be Marcus Allen, a converted safety whose playing time has come as a dime linebacker. Ulysees Gilbert, whose first defensive snaps of the season came last week at Kansas City, is another possibility.

Rookie inside linebacker Buddy Johnson won’t suit up against Cleveland with a foot injury, prompting the Steelers to sign Tegray Scales off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. Scales played four games with the Steelers in 2020 and was on their practice squad in 2019.

All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt wasn’t sure how the Steelers would handle the position when he spoke with reporters after practice Saturday.

“We always feel comfortable with our depth there,” Watt said. “It’s always been the next-man-up mentality. Spillane and whoever else is beside him will step. We just need to get off blocks and make life as easy as possible for those guys.”

The Steelers will enter the game having the designation of the worst run defense among the NFL’s 32 teams. They are allowing 142.7 yards per game. And the Steelers are faced with stopping the NFL’s third-ranked rushing offense. The Browns are averaging 144.9 yards per game.

The Browns also may have running back Kareem Hunt back to complement Nick Chubb, who is third in the league with 1,143 rushing yards. Hunt, the NFL rushing leader in 2017 as a rookie, has missed seven games this season with injuries and returned to practice this week.

“It’s the identity of that team,” Watt said of the Browns’ running game. “It’s gritty. The O-line moves guys off the ball, and they love to run the ball. They have guys that can be very physical in the run game and then 27 (Hunt) can also catch the ball out of the backfield and do some of the draw things. It doesn’t really matter who is at running back for them. They can run the ball and do it effectively. Those two guys make the job that much easier for them, so it will be a tough task for us.”

The Steelers are coming off a 36-10 loss at Kansas City in which they held the Chiefs to 127 yards rushing, the first time in three weeks they didn’t yield at least 200. The last time the Steelers held a team to under 100 yards rushing was Oct. 31 in Cleveland. The Browns had 96 yards rushing in that game but called just 23 running plays.

“There is still so much to improve on,” Watt said. “That’s the crazy thing about football in general and this game. No matter how far into the season you are, there are so many corrections to be made.”

To no surprise, Watt expects the Browns to try to exploit the lack of depth in the middle of the Steelers defense.

“We feel like every week teams are going to run the ball,” he said. “It’s a matter of how quickly and effectively we can stop it. To pin their ears back and be able to get after the passer. We’ve been singing the same song for a couple of weeks now. We have to stop the run game as soon as possible because it’s gotten away from us in a couple of games, and it’s not a good situation to be in when you can’t stop the run.”

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