With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense in a slump, one of their young cornerbacks who is currently on the reserve/injured list could soon be activated and potentially help the team upon his return.

Ahead of their Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers have announced that they’ve opened Cory Trice Jr.’s 21-day practice window while he remains on IR.

Should he not be added to the 53-man roster before that window closes, Trice Jr. will be forced to miss the rest of the season.

Last week, head coach Mike Tomlin responded with a simple, “He is,” when asked if the third-year corner was nearing a return to the practice field.

Trice has dealt with a littany of injuries going all the way back to his days in college at Purdue. He suffered a season-ending ACL injury with the Boilermakers in 2021, and he then slid in the 2023 NFL Draft as a result.

Pittsburgh landed him in the seventh round that year with the No. 241 overall pick, but his rookie campaign was wiped out before it could even truly begin after he tore his ACL during training camp.

Trice Jr. recovered in time to participate in both OTAs and training camp last summer while also appearing in all three preseason contests, earning a 53-man roster spot in the process.

He suited up in each of the Steelers’ first three games of the 2024 season, but he suffered a hamstring injury that kept him on IR until Week 17.

Pittsburgh added a slew of cornerbacks this past offseason, including Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay Jr., Brandin Echols and Donte Kent, but Trice was still in position to earn a roster spot heading into training camp.

His hamstring affliction, which he suffered on August 1, kept him sidelined during the entire preseason before he was placed on IR at final roster cuts.

The Steelers’ secondary has struggled for essentially the entire season up to this point, but they’ve begun switching things up. They first benched Slay in favor of Echols during their Week 8 matchup with the Green Bay Packers before acquiring Kyle Dugger in a trade from the New England Patriots after DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury that resulted in him being placed on IR.

Ramsey, Slay, Echols and Joey Porter Jr. are still entrenched as Pittsburgh’s quartet at the cornerback position at the moment, but Trice Jr. has the potential to develop into a useful player for Pittsburgh.

It remains to be seen if he’ll see the field much on defense when, and if, he returns, but he’d be a nice depth piece to have down the stretch.

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