Asante Samuel Jr. has yet to make his debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers, leaving many fans wondering why the talented cornerback hasn’t been called up to the 53-man roster — but insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes that’s been the plan all along.

On Monday’s episode of Randy Bauman and the DVE Morning Show, Dulac revealed that the Steelers didn’t expect Samuel to contribute right away given his almost year-long absence from playing.

“I will tell you that when they signed him, they knew he was weeks away from playing because he hadn’t played in so long and they wanted to make sure,” Dulac said. “…They want to make sure that he’s up to some type of speed, not just what they do, but just being able to play football.”

On Tuesday, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin revealed that Samuel’s been working hard to get back into football shape and learn Pittsburgh’s defense, but it’s too early to speculate if he’ll be activated to the 53-man roster ahead of Week 13’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

With the Steelers’ top cornerback Joey Porter Jr. suffering a hip injury in the Week 12 loss to the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh may have no choice but to speed up Samuel’s arrival to the 53-man roster — an exciting move that fans have been clamoring for since the former Charger signed with the Black and Gold.

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This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers’ Asante Samuel Jr. debut delay was always the plan