Tag: Damontae Kazee

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick with perfect 3-word solution for injuries

The Steelers could be without DeShon Elliott this week versus the Eagles.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, stopping the run will be a top priority. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley might be the best running back in the NFL. Now it looks like the Steelers will have to try to stop Barkley without arguably their best run defender.

It sounds like strong safety DeShon Elliott could miss Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury that surfaced just after last week’s game. But free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick offered up the perfect solution for how the Steelers will adapt to the loss of Elliott.

“Next man up,” Fitzpatrick said. The next man in this case would be Damontae Kazee who started for the Steelers last season. Elliott supplanted Kazee in the starting lineup but Kazee is a fearless hitter who is strong in run support.

We could also see defensive back Cameron Sutton play some safety as well as he’s listed as the No. 2 free safety. This would put rookie Beanie Bishop into a heavy workload as the team’s nickel cornerback.

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Former Steeler could be back in the Steeler lineup vs Raiders

Terrell Edmunds could start for the Steelers on Sunday.

This week the Pittsburgh Steelers will be without safety Damontae Kazee Kazee suffered an ankle injury last week in warmups before the Steelers took on the Dallas Cowboys and tried to play through it. The injury got worse this will force him out of this week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Without Elliott in the lineup, former and current Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds could be pressed into action. The Steelers signed Edmunds to the practice squad just over a week ago but his familiarity with the defense could allow defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to get him on the field more quickly.

On Wednesday, Kazee missed practice along with starting strong safety DeShon Elliott who is dealing with an ankle injury of his own. If Kazee and Elliott miss Sunday’s game, Edmunds could start alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick.

The Steelers selected Edmunds in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. He started 75 games over six seasons with the Steelers. Edmunds bounced around between three teams since then but he’s back and could be a big part of the Steelers defense on Sunday.

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3 Steelers on the roster bubble after the loss to the Texans

Multiple Steelers played poorly enough vs the Texand they are on the roster bubble.

Friday night’s preseason loss to the Houston Texans did not go according to plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Texans had a one-game head start on the Steelers and it really showed.

There were a few excellent performances from guys like rookie linebacker Payton Wilson and backup running back Diajun Edwards but there were also several guys who did nothing to hold their spots on the roster.

Here are three guys who were bad enough they could find themselves on the roster bubble this week.

WR Quez Watkins

If you are not going to have any impact in the passing game, you have better not mess up two punts if you want to make the team. Quez Watkins was pretty awful against the Texans and might not make it to the start of the season.

C Nate Herbig

A pair of bad snaps when you are being pushed by rookie Zach Frazier is not how Nate Herbig wanted the night to go. Herbig had a miserable game while Frazier was rock solid. Herbig makes too much money to play so poorly.

S Damontae Kazee

Kazee is another guy making too much money and with too much competition around him to play as badly as he did. Kazee struggled and is facing stiff competition to stay on the team.

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Steelers S DeShon Elliott on an 18-game regular season: ‘They don’t pay us enough’

Most players would only support an 18-game season if they were paied more.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made it clear he would prefer if the league played 18 regular season games and only play two preseason games. He considers that a zero sum swap that would benefit the NFL. And by benefit, he of course means it would make the league a lot of money.

But how do players feel about the idea of playing another meaningful game? The NFL just expanded from 16 to 17 regular season games in 2021 and now just three years later we are talking about adding another. The NFL expanded the regular season from 14 to 16 way back in 1978 and the league was fine with it for decades.

ESPN polled a variety of players around the NFL including Pittsburgh Steelers safeties Damontae Kazee and DeShon Elliott. The two had very different responses to the idea of an 18-game regular season.

“Whatever the league gives you, man, you just got to adjust to it,” Kazee. “I got to this point in my life, I’m an old head now, about to be 31. You just got to adjust to everything and go on from there. … Them giving us 18 games, I mean, I wouldn’t complain about it.”

Elliott adamantly disagreed. They don’t pay us enough,” Elliott said.

Money is exactly what it’s all about. There’s no way you could justify paying players the same but subbing out a meaningless preseason game with a regular season replacement. Plus there would have to be serious logistical changes including the potential of a second bye week for all 32 teams.

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NFL Network calls new Steelers safety most underappreciated player on the team

The Steelers quitely added safety DeShon Elliott in free agency.

When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers, there are a handful of guys on either side of the football who get all the praise heaped on them. Defensively, we hear about T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Patrick Queen, Joey Porter Jr. and Minkah Fitzpatrick all the time. But who is the most underappreciated guy on the Steelers defense?

NFL Network named the most underappreciated player on every roster and for the Steelers he went with new safety DeShon Elliott. Here’s what he had to say about Elliott:

Now on a fourth team in Year 7 of his professional career, Elliott’s vagabond existence might lead some to question his reliability, but that’d be a mistake. While injuries did impact multiple seasons at Elliott’s first NFL stop in Baltimore, whenever the man played for the Ravens, he proved dependable. And over the past two seasons, he capably started 13 games for the Lions and 15 games for the Dolphins, providing the kind of rock-solid returns at defensive back that should never be overlooked in today’s pass-happy league. Elliott’s ability to seamlessly transition between teams and schemes is a testament to his versatility. Boasting ample experience as a free safety, strong safety and nickelback…

Elliott was definitely an underrated addition in a very bus[lawrence-auto-related count=3]y offseason. His health will be the most important factor for his ability to impact the defense this season. This is even assuming Elliott can beat out incumbent Damontae Kazee for the starting spot at strong safety.

 

Steelers 2024 offseason roster – Safeties

Here is a look at the Steelers current group of safeties.

Last season the safety position was a nightmare for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Much like inside linebacker, the Steelers were hit hard with losses at safety which often forced some unusual pairings in the secondary.  Here is a look at the safeties on the roster heading into free agency.

Steelers announce multiple roster moves

The Steelers placed Trenton Thompson on IR and activated Damontae Kazee.

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced a handful of roster moves on Wednesday ahead of this week’s playoff showdown against the Buffalo Bills. First and foremost, the team activated safety Damontae Kazee after serving his three-game suspension.

The team also placed safety Trenton Thompson on IR. Thompson did a nice job filling in with the rash of losses in the Steelers secondary. Pittsburgh also brought back wide receiver Dan Chisena and signed him to the practice squad. To make room on the practice squad, the team released running back Jake Funk.

Pittsburgh won their final three games of the season and got some help from the Tennessee Titans to get into the playoffs. The Steelers not only got Kazee back but should have Minkah Fitzpatrick back as well against the Bills.

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Steelers S Damontae Kazee returns to work with team after suspension

The Steelers got safety Damontae Kazee back on Monday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been without strong safety Damontae Kazee for the past three games while he served a suspension imposed by the NFL. The suspension was a cumulative punishment for multiple borderline hits this season.

On Monday, Kazee returned to the team facilities and was back to work preparing for this week’s game. And just in time. Pittsburgh is working on prep to take on the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round of the playoffs and needs all hands on deck on defense. This is especially true after outside linebacker T.J. Watt went down with a knee injury on Saturday that will keep him out at least this week.

In another piece of good news about the safeties, Minkah Fitzpatrick said after Saturday’s win if the team made the playoffs he would play so look for Pittsburgh’s secondary to be in the best shape it has been in in over a month.

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Ex-Falcons DB Damontae Kazee suspended for rest of season

The NFL has suspended former Falcons safety Damontae Kazee for the remainder of the season for his hit on Colts WR Michael Pittman.

Former Falcons defensive back Damontae Kazee stirred up some controversy last week when he was ejected from the Steelers’ matchup against the Colts for his hit on wide receiver Michael Pittman.

Kazee, who has a bit of a reputation for borderline hits, was suspended for the remainder of the regular season. The NFL denied Kazee’s appeal and will uphold the suspension, the league announced on Wednesday.

Kazee could potentially return this season if the Steelers make the playoffs. Currently, Pittsburgh is currently 7-7 in the AFC South with three games left to play. Not everyone agreed that the Steelers safety deserved to be suspended, though.

While the play looks bad, some felt that Colts QB Gardner Minshew hung Pittman out to dry and that Kazee did nothing wrong. Judge the play for yourself below.

Falcons Twitter reacts to QB change

Falcons Week 16 injury report

Falcons sign DL Tommy Togiai

Heinicke to start final 3 games

NFL mocks Steelers with Damontae Kazee suspension appeal ruling

The NFL upheld the suspension of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee — with one minor tweak.

There’s been a minor change in Damontae Kazee’s suspension, which was handed down on Monday. The original sentence was for the safety to be suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season, including playoffs. While hearing officer James Thrash upheld it, he’s now eligible to return to the active roster for the playoffs. Only one problem: the Pittsburgh Steelers’ chances of making it to the postseason currently stand at 3%, according to the New York Times.

Yeah, thanks.

Kazee’s suspension stems from an illegal hit of defenseless Indianapolis Colts receiver Michael Pittman, Jr., for which he was ejected. The NFL’s statement specified Kazee repeatedly violated “playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players.”

The seven-year veteran has been fined four times by the league this season for similar violations and will forfeit an estimated $208,000 in game checks by missing Pittsburgh’s final three games.

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