Earlier Tuesday, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin revealed that stalwart defensive end Aaron Smith’s shoulder injury “potentially could be significant.”
In NFL coachspeak, that translates to a three-month absence.
Jim Wexell of Scout.com reports that Smith will undergo surgery for a torn rotator cuff that will knock him out until January. Tomlin will have to decide whether he can afford to carry Smith on the roster that long, especially if injuries continue to pile up.
Smith’s loss is sigificant. He’s probably the most underrated defender on the team over the last decade, although the Steelers do have quality depth behind him.
First-round pick Ziggy Hood and Travis Kirschke should pick up snaps with Smith out.
The Steelers will still battle to the death. And, we won’t make any excuses like some other fans do. Like the Seattle Seababies, who are still crying about the officiating from a Super Bowl that the Steelers clearly won.
The length of an NFL season will show which teams have the best depth, as injuries always play a factor in a team’s success at some point. Hate to see them, but its part of the game.
Wow, drafting a DE in Round 1 is starting to look like a brilliant move …
I feel for Aaron Smith. Can’t stand the Steelers, but he’s always been a great player that should have been voted into a lot more Pro Bowls.
But Aaron always made me shiver
With every forearm shiver he’d deliver
This bad news got on my last nerve
Aaron might be placed on Injured Reserve
And I can’t remember if I cried and stuff
When I read about his torn rotator cuff
But something touched me sure enough
The day the music died.
He is the cornerstone of the Steelers’ D. This by far worse than Polamalu being out for 6 games.
this is a bummer…and Hedley, you pretty much got it there. Here’s to hoping Ziggy can step up.
Just what we needed.
I’ll tell you what, the Steelers better get their 4th quarter act together. And you can’t tell me that it’s just one person that’s causing them to do this poorly in the 4th quarter. Troy is a great player, no two ways about it, but to be giving up that many points that late is not because we are down that one man. They need to pick it up and finish teams off. This injury won’t help.
Roboto – You do realize that you’re the one complaining right? You are obviously complaining about the fact that some think maybe the Steelers didn’t deserve that title.
I think you have some issues to work out yourself before you go after Seahawk fans. Why don’t you announce to everyone how humble you are too?
Hate to see Smith go down, but I think they will be fine Kirschke and Hood will be fine in that spot , I noticed sunday that Ziggy was in there a good bit. Hope Aaron gets wellsoon. He will be missed out there.
Roboto says:
October 13, 2009 4:14 PM
The Steelers will still battle to the death. And, we won’t make any excuses like some other fans do. Like the Seattle Seababies, who are still crying about the officiating from a Super Bowl that the Steelers clearly won.
haha!
your kidding right? Fight to the death???
This team gets a lead and then the defense tries to coast home to a victory…
Tough to lose Smith though…solid player and certainly under-rated. And I agree with “the villian112″…about not liking the steelers
Roboto-
yes, the steelers will battle to the death and they will indeed die. also, seattle fans still have every right to complain about the horrific officiating in that super bowl.
Big loss for Pittsburgh. I had surgery for a torn rotator cuff last December and the god damn thing still is bothering me to this day. January seems pretty optimistic, and don’t count him being anywhere near 100% even if that’s the case.
Seriously,This really really sucks.
But the Stillers will prevail,Ziggy better get ready
This one hurts. Smitty’s the best there is.
That’s football for ya. This sucks, but you gotta suck it up and move on.
Fear not, Steelers fans.
While, the defense completely fell apart without Polamalu’s presence in the secondary and Smith’s in run support in ’07, there’s a HUGE difference here.
A) LaMarr Woodley is in the next line of defense this season, NOT Clark “Whiff” Haggans.
B) Ziggy Hood has shown to be pretty solid in spot duty so far and he’s actually a better pass rusher than Smith.
C) Polamalu comes back this week (duh).
The defense could actually start to look better in some aspects from here on out, particularly the pass coverage (their Achilles heal so far).
Not saying Smith won’t be missed, because he certainly will, but the Stillers are just in great shape depth-wise right now. Mr. Tomlin has been the freaking man when it comes to the depth department. They’re in good shape.
This will hurt the Steelers big time. I’m not sure who is more indespensible to the Steelers’ D- Polamalu or Aaron Smith. Looks like we’re going to find out.
Ohhhhhh shit.
@ bubby brister – sweet name btw.
“A) LaMarr Woodley is in the next line of defense this season, NOT Clark “Whiff” Haggans.”
=
AMEN brother. Everyone thinks things are going to be exactly like 2 years ago when Smith went down. Woodley is a million times the OLB that Clark Haggans was.
Smith is key cog on the defensive line, but last year Keisel went down and LeBeau used a rotation of players to fill the void. (I know last year’s defense is last year…derp derp) All I’m saying is these guys have experience (multiple super bowl championship experience!) and Ziggy showed he could get to the quarterback…what did he have 3 sacks in the preseason? And the D-end’s job in the 3-4 is to occupy blockers so the linebackers can run free.
i’m going to pay very close attention to how teams attack the steelers over the next two weeks. I’ll be looking to see if teams run more often to test the steelers left side of the line. Also, if more double teams come James Harrison’s way. If so, Woodley has to show that he can bring the pressure w/out Smith occupying blockers.
It was the refs fault that Sean Alexander didn’t score a touchdown and was held under 100 yards after a record breaking season, it was the refs fault
Willie broke a super bowl record with a 75 yard touchdown run, it was the refs fault Big Ben converted a 3rd and 28 to set up his “questionable touchdown,” it was the ref’s fault Hasselback threw an interception to Ike Taylor (he cant even catch!), it was the refs fault that Randle El threw a touchdown pass to Hines Ward, it was the refs fault that Jeramy Stevens has hands of stone. The whole game was the refs fault in Super Bowl XL. Wwwhhhhhaaaaaaaa!!!!
Aaron Smith isn’t replaceable. One of the best, and most under-the-radar, players in recent Steelers lore.
Pittsburgh will feel his absence. Among the top fourth-round picks in history.
Get better soon, A. Smith. Go UNC Bears.
The loss of Aaron Smith is going to be a real test for the Steelers. One of the things they excel at is having excellent depth. Ziggy has been pretty good, especially at spot duty, but the loss of Smith will also hurt the depth because these young guys who don’t have the consistency will have to play more, and so will the older guys who might not have the stamina. The rotation is good, but I think it will hurt the line a little. If anyone can overcome it, it is the Steelers. Hopefully for them they will overcome this loss better than the Polamalu loss.
When AS was out in 07 the defense changed completely.. Different supporting cast this year, better backups and better LB’s so Pit should be able to step up without to much of a loss in overall D toughness.. but Smith is a beast and outside of Pit and football fans in the know, not many people understand how good and important this guy is to their D..