Teryl Austin shook his head in a combination of relief and recognition.

If not for some modifications made to the NFL’s practice squad rules in recent years, imagine where the Pittsburgh Steelers defence would have been this season by now?

Yeah, Austin, the Steelers defensive coordinator, said this week. “That would be a tough one.”

Three veterans who joined the organisation via the practice squad over the past two months are in line to start on defence for the Steelers in Sunday’s game at the Seattle Seahawks. Eric Rowe, Myles Jack, and Mykal Walker combined for 21 seasons and 260 regular-season games of NFL experience, but each was unemployed as this season approached its midway point.

All joined the Steelers, who were desperate at inside linebacker and safety because of a spate of injuries. And while each initially was signed for depth, each has been forced into action by further attrition at their positions.

“We didn’t have them on practice squad as developing players; we had them on the practice squad as capable players, guys that we could call upon and give us varsity-like work and effort,” coach Mike Tomlin said this week, referencing Jack and Rowe in particular. “And their play (during last week’s win against the Cincinnati Bengals) reflected that. Man, we got a sack from Myles Jack, and we got an interception from Eric Rowe.”

Jack and Rowe were among the NFL’s most reliable and trusted at their positions (Jack at ILB, Rowe safety) during the latter part of the 2010s. Now 28 and 31 years old, respectively, they’d probably admit they might not have the same athletic traits they had in their early 20s. But each has been able to extend his career in 2023 via practice-squad rules that have been heavily modified over the past four years.

Whereas for the first quarter-century of the NFL, the practice squad—introduced in 1993 — was intended as a developmental vehicle for rookies and younger inexperienced players, nowadays rules allow teams to hold onto grizzled vets such as Rowe and Jack as a sort of break glass in case of emergency contingency.

The new collective bargaining agreement signed in February 2020 called for a loosening of practice-squad rules and an expanding of their sizes. But when the covid-19 pandemic struck weeks later, for the NFL season that fall the league agreed to expand practice squad sizes to 16 spots per team and further liberalize rules as to which players can reside on them (six can now have any level of experience).