The Pittsburgh Steelers will have both rookies Kaleb Johnson and Derrick Harmon dressed for Week 3 against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Harmon will be making his NFL debut. The defensive lineman missed the first two regular season games because of a knee sprain.
The first-round pick was trending toward returning soon. So, Harmon dressing for Week 3 shouldn’t come as major news.
However, it’s surprising Johnson will also dress. On Saturday, the Steelers elevated veteran running back Trey Sermon from the practice squad.
With Sermon’s promotion, some pundits expected Johnson not to be active for Week 3. Johnson lost his kickoff return role in Week 2 because of a muff which directly led to a Seattle Seahawks touchdown.
NFL teams typically only have three running backs dressed on game days. But Johnson will dress, which gives the Steelers four active running backs against the Patriots.
For Week 3, the Steelers included cornerback Joey Porter Jr., safety DeShon Elliott, edge rusher Alex Highsmith, guard Andrus Peat and defensive end Esezi Otomewo on their inactive list.
Here’s what else you need to know about the Steelers-Patriots showdown in Week 3.
Steelers Missing 3 Defensive Starters
Part of why the Steelers have started the season poorly on defense has been health. While the unit gets back Harmon for the Patriots matchup, the defense is still missing key pieces.
For a second straight week, Porter and Elliott will not play. Porter is still recovering from a hamstring issue while Elliott has a knee problem. Both injuries occurred during Week 1 versus the New York Jets.
Highsmith won’t play Sunday against the Patriots either. Highsmith was banged up entering Week 2 but dressed. He exited the contest, though, with an ankle injury.
None of those three players practiced at all this past week.
Without Porter and Elliott, veterans Brandin Echols and Chuck Clark will continue to play bigger roles on the Steelers defense.
At edge rusher, Nick Herbig will start instead of Highsmith. Herbig had a strong 2025 debut last week with two tackles for loss, one pass defense and an interception against the Seahawks.
Steelers RB Rotation With Kaleb Johnson as RB4?
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers carried the Steelers offense in Week 1 with four touchdown passes despite little running game support. However, he wasn’t able to repeat that performance with his offense failing to generate much on the ground again during Week 2.
The Steelers want to win with a ball-control offense and strong defense. To do that, the team must get a ground game going.
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will have four running backs at his disposal to try and do that Sunday.
In the first two games, Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell split backfield snaps. Warren played 51.69% of the team’s offensive snaps while Gainwell was on the field for 47.46% of them.
That’s likely to be the case again versus New England. But over the past week, though, pundits have argued Warren should play more.
If Warren does play more and Sermon receives some snaps, it’s not clear how much Johnson could play on offense. But he will be available in reserve.