Steelers carry on without LB Bush
PITTSBURGH — The collective body language of Devin Bush’s teammates said it all.
Moments after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-year linebacker began writhing on the ground clutching his left knee after breaking up a pass in the second quarter against Cleveland on Sunday, the rest of the starting defense took a knee a few yards from him, quietly offering support for a player who has been every bit as good as advertised since being taken with the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draft.
Shortly thereafter, Bush limped his way back to the Pittsburgh sideline before eventually walking to the locker room, his No. 51 jersey fading from view indefinitely.
The image was one of the few true setbacks the Steelers have endured during their first 5-0 start in 42 years. How they respond to the loss of the defense’s most indispensable player will go a long way to determining how far they climb in 2020.
“You’ve got to go into the process of next-man mentality,” cornerback Cam Sutton said Monday. “We have guys who are capable and ready to fill those spots and keep this thing rolling.”
Starting with Rob Spillane, who filled in capably during a 38-7 victory over Cleveland on Sunday. A special teamer by trade, Spillane had six tackles while playing 30 defensive snaps, nine more snaps than he’d seen in his brief three-year career.
Spillane did it while wearing the green dot given to the player in charge of relaying the play call to the other 10 defenders on the field.
“Spillane more than answered the bell but we have a great deal of confidence in him,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s a capable guy. Guys that make plays in special teams, that’s usually a precursor to them making plays in defense.”
Good thing, because the internal options — at least from an experience level — with Bush out are limited.
Pittsburgh cut veteran Mark Baron in a salary cap move during the offseason, leaving Bush and Vince Williams as the starters and Spillane, Ulysees Gilbert and Marcus Allen — a converted safety — as the backups, a trio that entered Sunday with nine defensive snaps combined in their careers, all of them by Spillane.
While Spillane lacks Bush’s pedigree, the undrafted free agent signed off waivers from Tennessee in February 2019 doesn’t necessarily have to do a Bush impression for the Steelers to keep rolling.
Considering the experience along both the defensive line and in the secondary, defensive coordinator Keith Butler is free to find creative ways to make up for Bush’s absence on passing downs.
What the Steelers need Spillane or anybody else who lines up at inside linebacker to do is remain stout against the run. Pittsburgh faces Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards and Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott over the next three weeks.
Stuff the run and force opponents to pass — as the Steelers did so effectively against the Browns, who were held to 75 yards on the ground, 113 below their average coming in — and the NFL’s best pass rush gets a chance to go to work.
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