Injury update on Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith left Thursday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings with an injury. Luckily for the Steelers, it appears that Highsmith has avoided a major injury. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided an update on Highsmith on Friday morning.

“Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith, who left last night’s game early, is not believed to have suffered a major injury, sources said,” Rapoport tweeted. “He’ll have more tests today, but early indications are that it’s a bad contusion above the knee.”

Highsmith, a 2020 third-round pick out of Charlotte, is in his second season with the Steelers. As a rookie last season, he totaled 48 tackles with two sacks, one interception, and one pass defended. Through 12 games this season, Highsmith has 54 tackles and three sacks.

Highsmith wasn’t the only defender the Steelers lost on Thursday night

In addition to Highsmith, the Steelers also lost linebacker TJ Watt with an injury on Thursday night. Watt suffered a groin injury. Losing Highsmith and Watt comes at an inopportune time for the Steelers, who have struggled as of late.

Highsmith ranks sixth on the Steelers with his 54 total tackles this season. Watt is seventh with 48 tackles. As a Charlotte 49er from 2016-2019, Highsmith racked up 185 tackles, 47 tackles for loss, 21 sacks, five passed defended, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

The Steelers have one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL, and that has been very apparent over recent weeks. Pittsburgh is allowing 139.5 rushing yards per game, which is only better than the Houston Texans (144.2) and Los Angeles Chargers (141.2).

Dalvin Cook ran for over 200 yards and two touchdowns on Thursday night. Two weeks ago, Bengals running back Joe Mixon had a monster day on the ground with 165 yards and two touchdowns. In a tie with the Lions, the Steelers allowed D’Andre Swift to run for 130 yards.

The Steelers have seemingly avoided a long-term injury with Hightower. That is important for a team that is in the midst of a contested playoff push. Especially when you consider that the Steelers are already without cornerback Joe Haden and linebacker Robert Spillane on defense.

The Steelers are now 6-6-1 on the season, sitting in third place in the AFC North. Pittsburgh’s final four games of the season includes two AFC North matchups to end the year.