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By Reice Shipley
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to extend their three-game winning streak by beating the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. However, they will unfortunately be doing so without one of their team captains, who sustained a serious knee injury in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns.
Miles Killebrew has been a key fixture on special teams for the Steelers throughout his five-year tenure on the team, serving as a special teams captain since 2022 and making the Pro Bowl each of the last two seasons.
While Killebrew's main function comes on special teams as a gunner on kickoffs and punts, he also serves as a depth piece as a safety for the Steelers.
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Last week, Killebrew was forced to exit with a non-contact knee injury during a Browns kick return that appeared to be quite serious right off the bat. Unfortunately, this was confirmed by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on Thursday, just hours before the team's divisional matchup against the Bengals.
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According to Steelers beat writer Amanda Godsey, the Steelers have placed Killebrew on injured reserve prior to Thursday's game, with Tomlin referring to the knee injury as "significant" in his pregame press conference.
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Obviously, replacing a captain, even on special teams, is easier said than done for any team. Tomlin would further add that Killebrew's role would be replaced "by committee" instead of one singular player, which does show how meaningful he is to the Steelers' special teams operation.
On the bright side, the Steelers did receive some positive news in the secondary to help offset this loss, as starting safety Deshaun Elliott will be playing on Thursday night after previously being listed as questionable due to a personal issue. So at least Killebrew's absence may not be felt all that much on the defensive side of the ball as a rotational safety.
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