The Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed cornerback Darius Rush to their practice squad, the team announced on Tuesday.
Rush, 26, spent parts of the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Steelers . He was released from the practice squad of the Washington Commanders last week.
The Steelers have been playing without No. 1 cornerback Joey Porter Jr. , who aggravated his back injury in practice last week, and still has not reached a resolution on his contract dispute with the team. Doneiko Slaughter has been called up from the practice squad for the first two games of the 2026 season, and the Steelers can only call him up one more time this year.
A 6-foot-2 South Carolina alum, Rush first joined the Steelers when they signed him from the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad in the middle of the 2023 season. He played three games for the Steelers in 2023 and four more in 2024, playing 39 snaps of defense and 39 snaps of special teams.
"What I have on special teams is really going out there and showcasing what I can do, whether it's the gunner squad, jammer squad, kick-off, kick-off return, being a front line guy or anything like that, you know. So just to go out there and that's another way to carve my name in this organization," Rush said in 2024.
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Rush at training camp on July 26, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Rush was waived by the Steelers on Oct. 1, 2024, having lost his starting punt gunner job to James Pierre . Rush then re-signed with the Chiefs practice squad, where he finished the season without playing in another game.
He was waived by the Chiefs with an injury designation on Aug. 1 of last year. He signed with the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 11, 2025 but was waived in late August. He then joined the Commanders practice squad and signed a reserve/future contract with the team in January.
Rush began his professional career as a fifth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft, but he was cut coming out of training camp. He was then claimed off waivers by the Chiefs, released by Kansas City and added to the practice squad, where Pittsburgh plucked him away.
A native of Kingstree, South Carolina, Rush played college football at the University of South Carolina, where he racked up 75 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, 15 passes defensed and three interceptions from 2019-22.
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