PITTSBURGH -- During training camp, Channel 4 Action Sports asked defensive end Aaron Smith what the Steelers need to do to win the Super Bowl again.
Smith's answer? Stay healthy.
If Pittsburgh does win back-to-back championships, Smith won't be a part of it. He'll have surgery for a torn rotator cuff and be sidelined for the rest of the 2009 season.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Smith hurt his right shoulder in the team's 28-20 win at Detroit on Sunday. The Steelers placed Smith on injured reserve on Wednesday morning.
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The thought of Smith sitting out for an extended period of time is a scary one for Steelers fans.
Smith is second on the team with two sacks and first in quarterback pressures with 14.
Steelers Insider Bill Hillgrove notes that Smith suffered a season-ending injury against New England in 2007, and Pittsburgh went on to drop three of its final four games that year -- including a home playoff loss to Jacksonville.
The void left by Smith will be filled by several players instead of just Evander "Ziggy" Hood, the Steelers' first-round draft pick, who Tomlin said is "by no means a potential replacement" for Smith.
"He's a young guy that's on the come. He's got a lot of talent. He's not out of the oven, if you will," Tomlin said of Hood. "He acknowledges that, we acknowledge that, and as long as we continue to do that, he'll move in the right direction."
Travis Kirschke, Nick Eason and Hood are among the "committee of bodies" that Tomlin said could step in for Smith.
Ra'Shon "Sonny" Harris, a sixth-round draft pick from Oregon, was signed Wednesday to take Smith's place on the Steelers' roster.
Harris got cut during training camp and was claimed by the Carolina Panthers, who released the 6-foot-5, 300-pound rookie early this month.
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