After bringing home their first victory of the 2023 NFL season Monday night at Acrisure Stadium against the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers have their first of what fans hope to be many players of the week for the 2023 season. The first player to receive the honor is outside linebacker Alex Highsmith who was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 2.

Alex Highsmith has been named AFC Defensive Player of the Week‼️

📝: https://t.co/bm0bgvTZfH pic.twitter.com/MQhUvJT7Wh

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 20, 2023

For the game, Highsmith had seven tackles along with 1.0 sacks and two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and an interception return for a touchdown. Highsmith was a primary factor in both Steelers defensive touchdowns as it was his strip sack which T.J. Watt returned for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

Paired with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith forms the edge rushing duo that many consider to be the very best in the NFL. On Monday night, T.J. Watt added another sack to his total for the season and became the Steelers all-time leader in sacks. Even the reserve outside linebackers got into the action as Markus Golden tallied 1.0 sacks and Nick Herbig would have had one of his own had he not been taken to the ground by the facemask by quarterback Deshaun Watson. In all, the Steelers outside linebackers had a fantastic game on Monday night and were the key ingredient in the Steelers victory.

This past offseason, Highsmith signed a four-year, $68 million extension with the Steelers after coming off a career high of 14.5 sacks in 2022.

Congratulations to Alex Highsmith on what Steelers’ fans hope to be the first of many AFC Defensive Player of the Week awards.