Steelers Bring Back Promising CB Mark Gilbert, Replacing OT Ryan McCollum On The 16-Man Practice Squad

The Steelers originally signed Gilbert as an undrafted free agent after the 2021 NFL Draft, a guy they really liked coming out of Duke. He was eventually cut, but then the team brought him back at the beginning of this September. Just over a week ago, he was cut again to make room for wide receiver, Jaquarii Roberson. Now, he’s back again.

This move was likely made due to the ongoing issues in the Steelers’ secondary. Ahkello Witherspoon is a big question mark for this weekend’s Week 4 matchup against the New York Jets. The starting corner suffered a hamstring injury in the Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns and was unable to return. Witherspoon didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday, so his practice availability on Friday will be a telling sign if he’s made any progress.

Head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t completely shut the door on him playing against the Jets though. The team has dealt with injuries for a few months at the corner position, as Levi Wallace suffered a minor ankle injury early in the season. Cam Sutton picked up an injury in training camp as well, but he didn’t miss any significant time.

Gilbert is unlikely to be elevated to the 53-man roster, even if Witherspoon is out, but this seems to just be a precautionary signing. With the NFL upgrading practice squad sizes to 16 players this year, it allows teams the flexibility to do just this. It should be noted that the Steelers do have two other corners on the practice squad in  Quincy Wilson  and former second-rounder, Josh Jackson.