When the Steelers signed Patrick Peterson during the offseason, the veteran cornerback's ability to play anywhere in the secondary was something both he and they openly talked about.
But the Steelers wanted to use Peterson all over the defense out of choice, not necessity.
Last Saturday against the Colts, necessity arose.
With the Steelers losing safeties Damontae Kazee and Minkah Fitzpatrick on back-to-back plays in the second quarter of the loss to the Colts, Peterson was forced to play 30 snaps at free safety, his most at the position this season.
"That was what was exciting about him and he was excited about the opportunity to do some different things," Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
"And he had done some as I'm sure everybody knows, he played a little bit of safety in some of our dime package. So we had those extreme circumstances and he was naturally moved there because he had done some things there. He does have a skill set for it I think moving forward. I mean, I still see him as a corner-nickel-slash kind of guy that does it all. And I think moving forward, we're set to play it by ear and see where we are in terms of our depth in terms of what we need from that."
Fitzpatrick is out with a knee injury Saturday when the Steelers (7-7) host the Bengals (8-6) at Acrisure Stadium, while Kazee has been suspended by the NFL for the hit that led to his ejection in the second quarter against the Colts.
Compounding the issue at safety is that two other players at the position who began the season the 53-man roster, Keanu Neal and Elijah Riley, are on injured reserve – though the Steelers activated Riley's 21-day practice participation window on Tuesday and he could return to the 53-man roster in time for Saturday's game.
Trenton Thompson, who aligned next to Peterson at safety at times against the Colts, also suffered a stinger during that game and has been slowed in practice this week because of that issue.
There are a lot of candidates to play safety this week. Austin just isn't sure who will be available.
"Can I sit here and say I can definitively tell you who we have?" Austin said. "No. We'll figure it out when we get to Friday."
One other option at the position could be practice squad player Eric Rowe, a nine-year veteran who has made 56 career starts. The Steelers added Rowe to their practice squad Nov. 20 with Neal and Riley on injured reserve.
"We know that he's played some football in this league, some good football in this league," Austin said. "And if you get to a situation like this that you know he would be a guy that you could probably lean on. He's a guy that, depending on how this thing shakes out, probably you may see him out there this week and doing some stuff for us, and I would have a comfort level with that because I know I've seen him across film. I've never coached him until he got here, but I've seen one cross film and you know that he's a football player that understands what goes on in this league and will have a skill set that helps."
Much like the Steelers have been doing at inside linebacker after the losses of Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander, it will be about finding the right mix of players to put at the position to produce a winning effort.
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But Austin also knows that with so many new bodies potentially on the back end of his defense, he has to adjust the way he calls the game.
"I think if you had your normal guys that had a lot of reps there a lot more different things (he can do)." Austin said. "I think when you don't have guys that maybe have the experience back there, I think you kind of tailor things a little bit more, a little bit tighter with what you do and the things you do. So, I don't think we'll have as much or as many different things like we could do, but we'll have enough."
