DeMarvin Leal was activated off of the injured reserve list Saturday, clearing the way for the rookie defensive lineman to return to game action for the first time in eight weeks when the Pittsburgh Steelers play at the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Leal hasn’t played since Oct. 9 at Buffalo, and he’s been on IR since Oct. 15 because of a knee injury. Leal returned to practice Nov. 16, opening a 21-day window in which he needed to be activated or else he’d have been lost for the season. That meant Leal had an extra week to prepare if need be; apparently, the Steelers believe he’s ready now.
To make room for Leal on the 53-man roster, the Steelers placed veteran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon on IR. His season — and perhaps, Steelers career — is likely over.
Witherspoon has played only one half since suffering a hamstring injury during a Week 3 loss at Cleveland. IR rules stipulate a player must miss four games; there are only six games remaining in the Steelers’ season.
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Signed to a two-year contract in March, Witherspoon was benched in his initial return to action Oct. 30 in Philadelphia. His salary for next season is scheduled to be $4 million, but if the Steelers cut him they will owe him nothing and endure a relatively mild $1.482 million “dead money” hit.
A third-round pick out of Texas A&M, Leal had gradually been more a part of the Steelers’ defense over the first five games of his rookie season. He started and played a career-high 41% of the defensive snaps during the Oct. 9 loss to the Bills.
Though the 6-foot-4, 290-pound Leal is a defensive lineman, in the absence of outside linebacker T.J. Watt, Leal had at times been lining up as an edge rusher for the Steelers. The Steelers might consider that role again for Leal, particularly after news broke Saturday that their top backup outside linebacker, Malik Reed, was added to the official injury report because of a back injury.
Reed is listed as questionable to play against the Falcons.
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