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In discussing the unfortunate circumstances that landed DeShon Elliott on injured reserve to open the season, Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan on Monday motioned to an open spot on the floor in front of him in a room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “He’s a warrior,” Khan said of Elliott. “I mean, if he walked in here and I said, ‘Hey, give me 1,000 push-ups,’ he’s going to give us 2,000 right there.” Elliott could probably offer up those 2,000 push-ups right now — but he is not, by rule, allowed to participate in a Steelers practice. At least for a few weeks. Elliott was placed on the injured reserve list to open the season, the Steelers announced Sunday in conjunction with final cuts that set the 53-man active roster. Elliott suffered a significant knee injury during a game early last season that necessitated surgery and prevented him from practicing fully until the third week of training camp at Saint Vincent. Elliott returned to full practice participation and appeared in the Steelers’ second preseason game Aug. 21 against the New York Jets. But he had been missing practices since. “He had a significant injury last year,” Khan said, “and it’s been less than a year so we just said, ‘Hey, let’s be smart about it.’ “There’s been nothing to tell us that things have regressed or there was any type of setback, but … we were able to see how he came out of (the Jets game) and just felt like the right thing to do was to be smart and have him ready to go. But excited to have him on the roster, and when he’s ready to go, we’ll have him back up.” Elliott was projected as a starting safety, leaving veteran Rayshawn Jenkins as the player most likely to pick up the slack and play alongside Jaquan Brisker and Jalen Ramsey. Rookie Robert Spears-Jennings also impressed during camp. Jenkins joined the Steelers a week into camp. When asked if the Steelers might add a veteran safety, Khan said that was possible — to the practice squad — but re-directed his answer to praise seventh-round pick Spears-Jennings. “He’s done a really good job,” Khan said, “and I expect him to contribute this year.” ‘Positive’ injury news Brisker was among a host of players who have been afflicted by injury in recent weeks whom Khan gave a positive diagnosis for Monday. “All these guys are trending positively,” Khan said, “and expect them to be available to us for Atlanta.” Backup quarterback Will Howard and receiver/special-teamer Ben Skowronek suffered concussions during last week’s preseason finale at the Buffalo Bills, Khan said. “They’re in the protocol,” Khan said, “but I see them clearing in the next couple days here.” Khan said rookie fullback Riley Nowakowski (ankle) is “good to go.” Starting receivers DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. (undisclosed) will be “eased in” to practice this week. “But, don’t foresee any issues there,” Khan said. Brisker was grouped with defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day (undisclosed) in what Khan termed “trending positively.”