The Steelers have placed defensive lineman Tyson Alualu on injured reserve, per a club announcement. There’s no word on his timetable just yet, but the veteran will be out for a minimum of three weeks. 
Alualu was forced out early on Sunday and fitted for a cast later that day. The Steelers went on to lose to the Raiders, 26-17. They’re now at the .500 mark heading into Week 3 when they’ll face the rival Bengals.
It’s a rough break for the Steelers’ D-Line since Alualu is their starting nose tackle. As you may recall, the 34-year-old was moments away from leaving the Steelers for Urban Meyer and the Jaguars in the spring. Instead, he had a change of heart and re-upped in Pittsburgh.
Alualu was the 10th overall pick of the Jags way back in 2010. He’s never lived up to his draft status, but he’s still been a solid player up front. That includes some quality work last year when he played on ~44% of the team’s defensive snaps and finished with 38 tackles, two sacks, and five passes defended. He received very strong marks from Pro Football Focus for his work as a run defender.
For now, the Steelers will turn to Isaiah Buggs and Carlos Davis for help. And, to further fill in, they’ve promoted defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux from the practice squad.
Alualu has quietly turned into a big part of that defense. His absence will be a big one, especially so because they’re already missing Stephen Tuitt. They’re relatively deep on the defensive line, as Buggs, Davis and Mondeaux all got experience last year and all had their moments. But the defensive depth is already getting severely tested: Tuitt, Alualu, Haden, Bush and Watt all missing time. Not good.
I don’t think I would call them “deep” on defense line depth. I haven’t been impressed with any of buggs, Davis, or Mondeaux. Alualu being out is going to hurt big time
They really like Davis and supposedly see him as Alualu’s eventual successor, but he’s very raw. Buggs is talented but inconsistent and not always in shape. Mondeaux has great energy and not much else. Chris Wormley to me is mostly a waste of space, I haven’t seen him contributing much of anything. We’re now going to see Isaiah Loudermilk sooner rather than later. All in all, the line is Cameron Heyward and a bunch of question marks right now.