It's been a busy 24 hours for the Pittsburgh Steelers. On Monday, Pittsburgh has placed Ben Roethlisberger on season-ending IR, promoted fellow quarterback Devlin Hodges to the 53-man roster, and traded for former Dolphins' safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers' hectic week continued on Tuesday, as Pittsburgh signed quarterback Paxton Lynch to their practice squad while placing starting free safety Sean Davis on injured reserve. Davis, a 2016 second-round pick who is on the final year of his rookie contract, is eligible to return to the team after Week 8. Davis is currently dealing with a torn labrum.
The 26th overall pick in the 2016 draft, the 6-foo-7, 244-pound Lynch went 1-3 in four starts with the Denver Broncos. During his time in Denver, Lynch completed 61.7 percent of his throws for 792 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. He threw for a career high 254 yards with two touchdowns and two picks in his last NFL start, a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 of the 2017 season.
Lynch, 25, was released by the Broncos before the start of the 2018 season. He spent the entire season as a free agent before signing with the Seattle Seahawks this past January. He remained with Seattle throughout the offseason before failing to make the team's initial 53-man roster.
Lynch enjoyed a prolific college career at Memphis, where he completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 8,863 yards with 59 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. In 2015, his final season with the Tigers, he threw for 3,776 yards with 28 touchdowns against just four interceptions while leading Memphis to a 9-4 record.
Pittsburgh (0-2) will look to get their first victory of the season this Sunday at San Francisco. The 49ers are 2-0 after posting road victories over Tampa Bay and Cincinnati. Sunday's game will be the first career start for quarterback Mason Rudolph, who went 12-of-19 for 112 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in last Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
