It doesn’t come as a big surprise, but OLB Alex Highsmith is not expected to play on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith (pectoral) not expected to play vs Bears.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) November 22, 2025
Highsmith was already listed as doubtful on Friday’s injury report, so there wasn’t much of an expectation that he would suit up against the Bears. He also missed last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, while he also missed two games earlier this season.
There was no indication that Highsmith was dealing with an injury until he popped up on the injury report last week. In his place, OLB Nick Herbig started across from T.J. Watt and Jack Sawyer saw a bump in snaps. Highsmith was on a hot streak prior to getting injured, as he had two sacks in both Week 9 and Week 10, giving him 5.5 sacks on the year.
Injuries over the last two seasons have plagued Highsmith, as he played in just 11 games last season and has only played in seven so far this season. His injury earlier this season was an ankle injury, but recently he’s been dealing with a pectoral issue. OG Isaac Seumalo has also been dealing with a pectoral issue, but he was able to play last week against the Bengals and has no injury designation for Sunday.
Not having Highsmith will be a blow to Pittsburgh’s depth, but getting him healthy for the stretch run late in the season is important and the Steelers will hope he doesn’t miss much time beyond this week.
So far this season, Highsmith has 24 tackles, 5.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one pass breakup and 10 quarterback hits. When healthy, he remains a highly productive pass-rusher, but health has been more of an issue for him over the last two seasons, and it’s allowed Nick Herbig to get a bigger opportunity. Herbig has a sack in each of Pittsburgh’s last two games, and he has 6.5 sacks on the season, which leads the team.
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