The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the hunt for an AFC North title despite one of the franchise’s worst defenses in years.
Pittsburgh enters Week 13 at 20th in the league in points allowed and 28th in yards. That’d be the worst marks since 2021 and on pace for the worst defense by those stats in the Mike Tomlin era in Pittsburgh. Much of that can be chalked up to injuries as all levels have been hit hard, including defensive line.
Veteran rotational players and starters alike have missed time, including veteran free agent signee Daniel Ekuale. The seven-year veteran came to Pittsburgh this offseason and suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 8 against Green Bay. He’s missing time and, as of today, will be missing paychecks for the next month.
The NFL has suspended Ekuale for five games without pay due to violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy, per multiple reports.
This is the second time Ekuale’s been suspended for violating the performance-enhancing substances policy. He was suspended for the first two games of the 2022 season because of a violation while playing for the New England Patriots.
Ekuale, 31, signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns in 2018. He was removed from the team’s practice squad after violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy in December of that year. He resigned with the Browns for 2019 and played in seven games that year.
Ekuale signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020 and notched his first career sack that year in Week 13. He spent the next four years with New England and played in 41 games, including 16 starts last season. He’ll be a free agent next offseason.