After making the move to safety for the Week 9 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers veteran defensive back Jalen Ramsey will remain at the position moving forward.
Head coach Mike Tomlin stated that Ramsey will continue to work “exclusively” at safety, especially since the Steelers have more depth at cornerback than safety.
“With that collective, Jalen will continue to work exclusively at safety. We value his play, his positional flexibility. It’s an asset to us,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “It gives a lot of people things to work on, but certainly under the circumstances, that we’re under right now, we deemed that appropriate as we did last week in terms of nailing him down there. And so, that provides opportunities for guys like Brandin Echols to step up, which he did, and play more snaps as a nickel, et cetera.
“And even guys like James Pierre had an opportunity to get some snaps outside. We’ve got more depth at corner than we do at safety, and so, we’re just simply pivoting and doing what’s required to keep the train rolling.”
The decision to play Ramsey at safety against the Colts was made out of necessity with the DeShon Elliott landing on injured reserve, Jabrill Peppers out with an injury and Chuck Clark a late scratch Saturday due to an illness. That left just Juan Thornhill and new trade acquisition Kyle Dugger as the only healthy safeties.
So, the Steelers made a move with Ramsey, putting him in a familiar position full time.
It paid off in a big way as the Steelers kept a lid on the Colts and played a season-high percent of snaps in split-safety looks, changing things up against Indianapolis.
Ramsey played every snap Sunday, and while he did miss one tackle early in the game, he was sound, providing a physical element while helping the Steelers communicate well.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ramsey allowed three receptions on four targets for just 28 yards in coverage against the Colts while playing all 59 snaps. He did have one penalty, which came on a big hit across the middle on wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., but other than that he was quite good.
So good, in fact, that the Steelers are keeping him at safety, rolling with that defensive look for another week.
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