The Pittsburgh Steelers have a new starter at inside linebacker. Officially.

And it’s not their old starter at inside linebacker.

Mykal Walker was listed as the first-team left inside linebacker on the team’s depth chart distributed to media in advance of Sunday’s game at the Cincinnati Bengals. Walker joined the Steelers via the practice squad Oct. 30, was promoted to the active roster Saturday and made his game debut Sunday.

Walker started and played 63 of the Steelers’ 74 defensive snaps during a 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns. The man listed as the “starter” at LILB on the depth chart last week, Mark Robinson, did not play a single snap on defense against the Browns. Robinson is now listed as the backup to both inside linebackers, Walker and Elandon Roberts.

The Steelers on Monday signed their 2022 starter at inside linebacker, Myles Jack, to their practice squad. Jack appeared in 15 games and started 13 during his only season with the Steelers, but he was released in March. Coach Mike Tomlin was short in his assessment of Jack’s acquisition this week.

“He’s a guy that has experience here,” Tomlin said during his weekly news conference Tuesday, “(but) he’s here in (merely) a practice squad capacity and so I won’t say too much.”

Walker, though, was the target of some Tomlin praise. A four-year NFL veteran who started 12 games for the Atlanta Falcons last season, Walker joined safety Trenton Thompson as players who began last week on the practice squad but ended up having significant roles for the Steelers defense in Cleveland.

“I was really pleased with the level of communication and the quality of that communication, particularly guys in the interior portions — the communication portions — of our defense,” Tomlin said. “Guys like ‘Mike’ Walker, guys like Trent. And I thought they did a really nice job. It’s not easy, but I thought we particularly after the first couple of series, we really settled down and operated, were really good fluidity from a communication perspective, and I’m thankful for that.”

Robinson entered training camp as the No. 3 ILB on the team behind Roberts and Cole Holcomb, but Kwon Alexander was signed and became a co-starter. Season-ending injuries to Holcomb and Alexander, though, did not lead to much more playing time for Robinson.

Robinson might be tumbling down the depth chart even further. ESPN reported Tuesday that the Steelers were signing veteran inside linebacker Blake Martinez off the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers. Martinez, 29, has 84 regular-season games of expereince over the past seven NFL seasons.

One player who will not be part of the ILB corps going forward is Tyler Murray, who was released off the practice squad Tuesday when the Steelers added defensive back Henry Black.

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