Familiar Face Fills Big Hole in Steelers' Defense
If the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense maintains its level of play Sunday without one of its top performers, the Tennessee Titans will have themselves – in part, at least – to blame. After all, they are the ones who brought Robert Spillane into the NFL.
Spillane will make his first career start when the Titans face the Steelers in a matchup of the AFC’s lone remaining unbeaten teams. But it was in Tennessee that his professional career actually got started.
A third-year inside linebacker, Spillane steps in for Devin Bush, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in the last game, and he is someone the Titans know well. As an undrafted rookie in 2018, he was their leading tackler that preseason who spent five weeks on the practice squad and two more on the active roster before he was cut.
“I remember him being here as a tryout player, and [general manager] Jon [Robinson] and I telling him that we wanted to sign him to the team,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “It was Mother’s Day. He was excited to be able to call his mom and tell (her) that.
“Really enjoyed working with him but sometimes you can’t stick with everybody. I’m happy for Robert, and we’ll have to prepare for him (on defense) as well as on special teams.”
Pittsburgh's defense leads the AFC and is second in the NFL with an average of 66.2 rushing yards per game allowed. It also has a league-high 24 sacks.
The 10th overall pick in 2019, Bush is one of Pittsburgh’s leading tacklers with 26 through the first five games. He also has one sack and two passes defensed. In 2019, he was named to the NFL All-Rookie team after he started 15 games, made 72 tackles, recovered four fumbles and forced one.
A product of Michigan, his loss balances out the loss of Taylor Lewan for Tennessee’s offensive line. Lewan, coincidentally, also is from Michigan and also sustained a season-ending knee injury Sunday.
While the Titans have experienced options to replace Lewan, Spillane’s opportunity this week will be his first.
"In this business, you've got to be ready when your opportunity is called upon," Spillane said this week, via AllSteelers. "… [I have been] keeping ready and believing in myself because the moment you don't believe in yourself, you're going to start going downhill from there.
“I've always had a belief that I belong here, and this is what I've been meant to do. I go out there every day and work to achieve my goals and good things happen."
Spillane has been a member of Pittsburgh’s active roster since the middle of 2019 and has appeared in 13 games for the Steelers, including all five this season. Before Sunday, he had been credited with two tackles on defense. After Bush was injured, he made five stops.
Undrafted out of Western Michigan, he took part in the Titans’ rookie orientation on a tryout basis and his performance that weekend earned him a contract that gave him an opportunity for the remainder of the offseason and the preseason. He finished his preseason debut with a game-high eight tackles in addition to one sack and ultimately finished the preseason with a team-high 24 stops.
“He was able to get some league experience down in Tennessee,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “We just had an opportunity to acquire him when he was available. We thought he was a guy that could play football, that could add depth and competition to our fold. He’s proven that over the course of his stay here. He’s continually gotten better and continually worked to carve out a role for himself.
“Now, he will get an opportunity to display that readiness and that work in a significant amount of play time opportunity.”
