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HR1: Expectations · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: And thank you very much for being with us in
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: the locker room today with Max Starks and Willie Colon.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: I'm Rob King.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Man, oh man, do we have a lot going on today.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Dan Hoard, the play-by-play guy at the Cincinnati Bengals, is
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: going to join us. We have a ton of injury news,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: which Jerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette is going to fill
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: you in on coming up in about 20 minutes or so.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Roster questions as well. And before we start, I would
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: like to, on behalf of all of us, extend A
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: happy birthday wish to, I think, a guy that many
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: would consider the greatest, certainly the most important stealer of
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: them all, Mean Joe Green, turning 80 years old today.
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: Max Starks, that is a guy who changed.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Accredited, along with Chuck Knoll and, of course, Dan Rooney,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: everybody that was involved. You obviously have Bill Nunn, the
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: great scout, but as far as the guy on the field,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: that is credited, I think, with turning around the Steelers' fortunes,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: turning around their attitude, and, of course, a great, great
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: player as well. Mean Joe Green, happy birthday.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: Absolutely. Happy birthday, Mean Joe Green. And, you know, it's funny.
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: Willie and I actually did a joint video to send
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: to Joe. And, you know, he means so much because,
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: like you said, he created the identity that we know
• 1:56
  Speaker 5: as the Pittsburgh Steelers today. Like he was the contemporary–
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: original of that him and that steel curtain line. And
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: of course, you know, the linebackers, they brought a toughness
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: and a certain level of tenacity and ferocity to the game.
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: That is iconic. I mean, it's literally stood for 50
• 2:16
  Speaker 5: plus years. The identity of the Steelers was based on
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: what a guy by the name of Joe green did
• 2:22
  Speaker 5: when he came here. And then all of his buddies
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: embody that as well. And so that's what you say.
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: Tough as steel. You know, that comes from his origin. And,
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: you know, those teams from 1970 and beyond have all
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: tried to live up to that ideal.
• 2:39
  Speaker 6: Also, I got to tell everybody, Mean Joe Green is
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: really mean in real life. Like, he's very on brand. Like,
• 2:49
  Speaker 6: it's one thing to have a nickname. And people are like, oh,
• 2:51
  Speaker 6: maybe he's just mean on and off the field. Maybe
• 2:53
  Speaker 6: he's just mean on the field. Off the field he is.
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: But I say that respectfully and playfully. If you ever
• 2:58
  Speaker 6: see Mean Joe Green, he's very to the point. He'll
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: give you a nice smile. He's a gentleman. But don't
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: waste his time. Don't waste Mean Joe Green's time. He
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: understands that you love him, and he loves Steeler Nation.
• 3:12
  Speaker 6: But if he says get out of his way, then
• 3:14
  Speaker 6: get out of his way respectfully. So he was always
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: awesome with me, man. Anytime I would see him in
• 3:20
  Speaker 6: the locker room or just see him walking around the building,
• 3:22
  Speaker 6: he goes, Willie, we love you, but you got to
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: stop fighting. And I'm just like, you're the reason why
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: I fight. I'm trying to live up to your standard.
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: I was like, what are you talking about?
• 3:31
  Speaker 6: Every highlight I saw of you, you was getting jumped
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: or you was beating all the Browns. So we would
• 3:36
  Speaker 6: always have kind of a back and forth and chuckle.
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: But I always admired him from afar. And any interaction
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: I had with him, it was like talking to your uncle, man.
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: He was hard. He was hard-nosed. He was awesome. But
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: he always left you with a gem or two. I
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: feel highly privileged that I had an opportunity to meet
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: him and say I know him as well.
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: You know, it's not his legacy. It's just a little
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: tiny piece of his legacy.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: But it seemed to capture a little bit what Willie's
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: talking about, the iconic Coke commercial that he was.
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: In where, you know, the guy's like, hey, the kid's like,
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: you okay, me? Joey's like, get out of here, kid.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: And then he gives him a Coke and then he
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: tosses the kid his jersey.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, first of all, that has got to be,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: in the advertising world, one of the greatest ads in
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: the history of American television. And secondly, it seemed to,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it captured something about Mean Joe
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: or not, or what Willie's talking about, Max.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I mean, yeah, he's limping into the locker room,
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: and this kid's asking him after a hard game, you know,
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: trying to get his attention, and then all of a sudden,
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: a Coke is offered, and then a smile comes right
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: after it, and next thing you know, it is truly,
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: you know, I would say sports news and commercial gold. Like,
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: it's the iconic thing. And I'm sure every commercial is
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: trying to capture the magic of that moment. And just
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: to kind of reiterate what Willie said, I mean, you know,
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: we are blessed and fortunate and slash spoiled to be
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: a part of the Pittsburgh Steelers as we were because
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: we did get to come in contact with greatness, such
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: as Joe Green, such as Franco Harris, right? I mean,
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: Mel Blunt. Lynn Swan, John Stallworth. You know, I think
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: about the late great Dwight White, Elsie Greenwood, and like
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: all of these people, you know, Craig Bingham, Donnie Shell,
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: Rocky Blyer, you know, John Cole, right? We have all
• 5:39
  Speaker 5: of these just mythical guys in the lore of football
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: that we have to come in contact with it. We
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: were blessed because Mean Joe was right on the field.
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: He was watching one-on-ones when me and Willie were rookies. Right.
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: And judging us. And, you know, if you could incite
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: a feeling where he felt like he wanted to go
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: and face you one on one, that was the greatest compliment.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: Because he's like, I want to challenge this dude. Now,
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: to our chagrin, we're like, man, you know, especially like
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: when Joe was younger, you know, and this is it is,
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: you know, it is late 50s and early 60s that
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: his handshake was one of those where it was like
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: these these guys back then were built different. It was
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: one of those, like Willie said, he's like talking to
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: not only your uncle, but your favorite uncle. Because you
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: knew your favorite uncle was going to slap you in
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: the back of your head when you mess up, but
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: also pat you on the back when things go well.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: And that was just a blessing to have that kind
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: of history, that kind of lineage, that kind of success
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: around you. And it made you work harder. We didn't
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: have to look for inspiration on a day-to-day basis inside
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: of ourselves. All you had to do was walk in
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: the halls. You saw those four Super Bowl trophies. And
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: you saw that and you wanted to expand that case.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: And Kevin Colbert kind of talked about that yesterday. And
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: I think it just holds true. When you have these
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: type of legends walking the hallways, sitting at lunch with you,
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: and you have access to them, that knowledge bank, why
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: would you not take advantage of it? And they provided,
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: like you said, those jewels and those gems that you
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: just didn't expect to happen. And now you're like, okay,
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: I can now go forward with my day. I know
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: what the marching orders are. I don't have to ask
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: what the standard is. You know, when Mike Tomlin talked
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: about the standards of standard, We knew what the standard
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: was because we saw it walking around us, coming in
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: the locker room after practice, being around us at training camp,
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: and having those one-on-one meetings, the rookie meetings, right, Willie,
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: where you bring in six Hall of Famers. Not a
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: lot of teams can do that, and they're answering your questions,
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: and you don't have to pay a fee to get
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: into this type of master class meeting. It was just
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: such a blessing and such an awesome thing. But once again,
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: it starts with Joe Green, and he is the standard.
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: And he is the level of success that you only
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: hope to get to one day.
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: Yep.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: Happy birthday, Joe.
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: Happy birthday, the man.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Number one in Steelers history as far as I'm concerned
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: and many others. And there's a lot to choose from, man.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: There are a lot of great players in Steelers history. So, guys,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: some injury news. We're going to get to the Steelers
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: injury news, who's in, who's out, in a little bit
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: with Jerry Dulac and, you know, if there's anything on,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Joey Porter Jr. and these reports about Spencer Anderson being
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: injured in the game.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: But, Willie, you know, when you think.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: About the Cincinnati Bengals, and this is the opponent we're
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: diving into, Dan Hoard, their play-by-play guy, is going to
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: be joining us next hour. But, you know, you think
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: about that passing attack and Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: obviously Joe Burrow, the guy pulling the trigger.
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: Andre Josuvash, their fine third receiver. Now, again.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: We cautioned this at the beginning of the year when
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: we were talking about Roman Wilson or Jeremy Bernard, who's
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: going to be that three. In the more explosive offenses
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: around the league, that third receiver is good for 35-ish,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: 30-35 catches a year. So it's not like Higgins is
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: going to be out or Chase is going to be out,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: but Andre Yosevash, out of this game, maybe we'll see
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: who he's replaced with, maybe just one weapon kind of
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: taken away from Joe Burrow.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: No, it's not Chase.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: No, it's not Higgins, but It's not inconsequential, I don't think,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: that Yosef Ash is missing this game.
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: No, but I think it's bigger than him. I think, obviously,
• 9:23
  Speaker 6: it comes down to being able to disrupt Joe Burrow's
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: rhythm and timing and the chemistry he has, obviously, with
• 9:31
  Speaker 6: those two other receivers and Jamar Chase and T. Higgins.
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: I think Joe Burrow's at the point right now where
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: he seems like a man on a mission, and I
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: think the team is starting to follow that energy solely
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: because of what their defense is. has been able to
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: do led by Dexter Lawrence. And when it comes down
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: to the Bengals, there's, you know, the benefit of playing
• 9:47
  Speaker 6: in this division, and Max can attest to this, there
• 9:52
  Speaker 6: are no secrets, right? Like when you play the Browns
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: and the Bravens and the Bengals, this isn't one of
• 9:57
  Speaker 6: those divisions or games where you try to out-scheme or like, oh,
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: I got you this time. Like, this is the type
• 10:03
  Speaker 6: of game where you roll the ball out and everybody
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: gets on the field and say, hey, here we go again.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Let's get it.
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: And it's imperative for the Steelers going against their passing
• 10:14
  Speaker 6: attack that this is the game, if you're Patrick Graham–
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: where you want to see the onslaught of our linebackers
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: and our edge rushers really, for lack of a better word,
• 10:27
  Speaker 6: turn into monsters. Because if we're able to get Joe
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: Burr out the pocket, make him use his legs more,
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: and he's willing to run now, so that's another weapon.
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: He's not one of those guys that, yeah, he'd rather
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: sit in the pocket and deliver the football, but if
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: he has to use his legs, he will. He's been
• 10:42
  Speaker 6: able to do it over the last two weeks. Nevertheless,
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: it's going to be imperative that our front seven and
• 10:47
  Speaker 6: our linebackers make it extremely uncomfortable for Joe Burrow. You know,
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: he's an extremely accurate quarterback, plays with great anticipation. You know,
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: their receiving core, I mean, their catch radius, it doesn't
• 10:58
  Speaker 6: matter where it's at, they can go get it. So
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: it's about what we can do from a scheme standpoint
• 11:03
  Speaker 6: as far as attacking him, getting him to play in
• 11:06
  Speaker 6: third and long. And also, you know, like I stated
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: earlier in the week, it's going to be up to
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: our offense to keep him on the bench. This is
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: a big, big game, and I know I'm not trying
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: to pivot, but I just got to throw this out there,
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: for our offensive line. This is the type of game,
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: and it's not just about rebounding from last week, but
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: there's some matchups between Zach Frazier and Marcus Lawrence. You're
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: talking about our guards. We have to win this one.
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: This is the one we got to establish dominance. and
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: really start punching back. Because it's not just about being
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: able to put points on the board. It's about keeping
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: Joe Burrow on the bench. So I go back to
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: week one, Giants, Cowboys, and how John Harbaugh attacked that
• 11:55
  Speaker 6: second half of that game, but pretty much keeping Dak
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: Prescott on the bench. You know, Dak Prescott only had
• 12:00
  Speaker 6: two swipes at the ball. And what John Harbaugh was
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: able to do, he pretty much deflated the football by
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: running it, right, and playing it heavy. and owning the
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: time of possession and staying in third and five and
• 12:13
  Speaker 6: just pretty much meticulously pushing the ball down the field
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: to the point where you looked up, the game was over.
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: So I think this is the type of ball game
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: the Steelers have to play. I would not try to
• 12:25
  Speaker 6: get in a shootout, even though this is kind of
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: what Mike McCarthy and Raj does, that they don't run
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: from a shootout. But I think until we get this
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: offensive line solidified, until we get a run game that
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: we feel like we can lean on, this has to
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: be a little bit of let's deflate the football or
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: win the time of possession and get out the building
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: with a.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: W.
• 12:47
  Speaker 5: It's a grinder game, no doubt, Willie, and I think
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: you're absolutely right. You have to limit possessions because the
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: greatest tool in Joe Burrow's bag is opportunity. Anytime that
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: offense gets a chance to step on that field, there's
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: a chance for a big play to happen. We saw
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: it when we when we went to Cincinnati a year
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: ago and played them on Thursday night and a Joe
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: Flacco who had one game under his belt recently traded
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: in the division, you know, one, one, the dual fresh,
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: you know, fresh, fresh out of a new, fresh on
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: a new team and thrust into the starting role. So no,
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: you're absolutely right. And I think Willie made, made some
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: excellent points that this is exactly what it is. This
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: is the guy to have it. Who are you like?
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: Draw the line in the sand. and say, I dare
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: you to come take the ball from me. And we
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: want to see a phone booth match. So you're talking
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: about this physicality is at a premium. And if any
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: time for a run game to need to rear its head,
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: it's this game. It's this game because you've got to
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: shorten the game. You've got to take the air out
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: of the football, as Willie said, and make this a
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: fist fight. Like this is one where, you know, you're
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: going to come into, it's the dark alley. You know,
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: one team's backed against a corner, the other team's walking
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: into the alleyway. Only one's going to walk out. And
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: so this is that moment where you have to define
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: who you are and no better time than this type
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: of competitive test to see where you truly stand. The
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: first two weeks of the first two weeks, it's like
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: the extension of preseason game number four and week one.
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: You know, I equate to the first two weeks because
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: a lot of teams are doing things that we haven't
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: seen them do, but yet You know, the cream will
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: always rise to the top. And also, unfortunately, you know,
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: poop floats to the bottom. So it's one of those
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: things where you have to make sure that you're on
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: top of your game and you're locking in. And we'll
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: hear about the injuries, Rob. But this is one where,
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: you know, you get all the winks of sleep you
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: need because it's going to be a long day Sunday.
• 14:55
  Speaker 5: And whatever you need to motivate yourself, get it done.
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: Whatever treatment you need to get done, get it done.
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: Wrap up extra tight on game day. spat the ankle,
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: you know, take the ankle, spat the ankles, wrap the wrist,
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: spat the wrist and make sure you got your mouthpiece in.
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: Even though Willie never wore a mouthpiece and mouth was
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: always bloody after every game, you put your mouthpiece in
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: and you grit down hard.
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: Okay. That that's all. That's all. I understand all that, Max.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: I do. And that's the history of this rivalry. But
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: are you talking about going into an alley? And this
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: is why I really sense. And it, you know, there's,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: it's a sense sort of thing. Um, some, you know,
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: some Steelers fans are fidgety right now because you're going
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: into that alley right now and you're patting your pockets
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: and you're looking for, do I have any brass knuckles?
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: Do I have any weapons at all?
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Because right now your offense has not shown any weapons
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: at all through two games. You're going into that alley
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: and you don't know whether you're running the football or
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: throwing the football. And so, yes, I.
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: Understand what you're saying.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: And yes, the offensive line's got to get going and
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: it's got to start there. But This Steelers offense needs
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: to find something that it hasn't found yet, and that's
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: a rhythm, an identity, an ability to do something, run
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: the ball, throw the ball. Neither has really been successful
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: thus far. So it's going to be a big test,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: and we're going to dig more into that test when
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Jerry Dulac joins us. Jerry's going to give us the
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: latest on some Steelers injuries, Joey Porter Jr.
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: 's situation.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: He would come in handy in a game like this
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: with all those weapons that they have. and more coming
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: with him when we continue in the locker room here
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: And that sound can only mean one thing. It is
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: the cool breeze. And cool here, a little cool here
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: in western Pennsylvania.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: It's a cool breeze that brings Jerry Dulac and blows
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: him into the locker room with us every Thursday. Jerry Dulac,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: of course you know him as the great insider and
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: the guy who's got the information for you that we
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: are looking to get. And he's brought to you by
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Frank B.
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Fuhrer Wholesale. Jerry joining us now.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Hey, Jerry, there's a lot of questions about Who's going
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: to be lining up on the right side of the
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: offensive line for the Steelers? Obviously, who's going to be
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: in and who's going to be out of the lineup?
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: I guess let me start there. There's some expectations that
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: we might see changes at right guard and right tackle.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I suppose we'll find out more during practice today. I'm
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: not even sure whether we'll know for sure before Sunday,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: but it seems to be, talking about the cool breeze blowing,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: it seems to be blowing in that direction, but seems
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: to be, is that your sense as well?
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: You know, Rob, I was told Monday morning that they
• 18:05
  Speaker 7: were contemplating changes on the offensive line. And, you know,
• 18:09
  Speaker 7: no surprise that, you know, it involves Max Ahanachor. It
• 18:13
  Speaker 7: was only going to be a matter of time before
• 18:17
  Speaker 7: he gets into the lineup. And so that's certainly not
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: a surprise. But when you look collectively, the line has
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: not played well. They haven't been thrilled with the play
• 18:27
  Speaker 7: of their guards. And so it's possible that you know,
• 18:30
  Speaker 7: they can make a move there as well on the
• 18:33
  Speaker 7: right side with Brock Hoffman, who played, you know, for
• 18:36
  Speaker 7: two seasons with Mike McCarthy in Dallas. So, you know,
• 18:40
  Speaker 7: when we talked to Mike McCarthy today, he wasn't as
• 18:45
  Speaker 7: emphatic about continuity. Yes, we know continuity is a big
• 18:50
  Speaker 7: factor in the offensive line, as your.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Two co-hosts will tell you.
• 18:53
  Speaker 7: But it wasn't the same as it sounded on Monday
• 18:56
  Speaker 7: when he made it sound like, no, we're no change.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: He didn't say this, but no, there's.
• 19:01
  Speaker 7: Not going to be any changes, but we just need
• 19:03
  Speaker 7: to get more laps together. He was a little less
• 19:07
  Speaker 7: emphatic about that today, which makes me think that what
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: they have been contemplating has a good chance of probably occurring.
• 19:18
  Speaker 7: The strange thing about all this is that Max Ahanachor
• 19:22
  Speaker 7: has only played four snaps in two games. I mean,
• 19:25
  Speaker 7: I thought for sure we would see them work him
• 19:28
  Speaker 7: in a couple, three, four snaps every game, just to
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: get them accustomed to the speed of the regular season
• 19:34
  Speaker 7: of the NFL, you know, as a tackle eligible. Well,
• 19:37
  Speaker 7: one of the things we've learned about Mike McCarthy, he
• 19:40
  Speaker 7: doesn't believe in tackle eligible because he hasn't used it
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: in two games. So, you know, if Max Ahanachor was
• 19:46
  Speaker 7: missed some time in the preseason and in training camp,
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: he hasn't exactly had a lot.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Of time here in the regular season.
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Jerry, that's super interesting because I thought, you know,
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: like you said, there would be kind of a ramp
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: up or if you're going to do it, you know,
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: usually traditionally think, hey, we get to the bye or
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: an injury kind of forces the issue. But like you said,
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: having pretty much, you know, a healthy player in Dylan
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: Cook and potentially making that. I wonder if that signals
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: that maybe this is pushed on. You know, where are
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: we at with Troy Fatano? I know he was spotted
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: in a boot leaving the game on Sunday, you know,
• 20:26
  Speaker 5: took the, took the spill in the fall and week one,
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: that's what allowed for Maxiana tour to come in was
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: they bumped Dylan to left. Cause he's your, also your
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: swing tackle, you know, where are we at with Troy
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: Fatano as well? And how, and how has he been
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: at practice?
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: Well, as you know, Max, we don't have the luxury
• 20:45
  Speaker 7: of watching practice like.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: We used to.
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: We don't see anything but stretching and drills. So it's
• 20:51
  Speaker 7: very difficult to tell just from practice what they might
• 20:55
  Speaker 7: be thinking because we don't see any of that now.
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: It's completely different under Mike McCarthy. But Troy Fartano, he's
• 21:01
  Speaker 7: been out on the practice field, and I anticipate him playing,
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: but I don't know that it's going to be an
• 21:08
  Speaker 7: issue with him. I think there's maybe a bigger issue
• 21:12
  Speaker 7: with what's going to happen on their right side. But
• 21:17
  Speaker 7: I'm not thinking that Baton is going to be a problem,
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: at least at this point in time.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Question for you.
• 21:26
  Speaker 6: It seems like you talk about the continuity in chemistry. Obviously,
• 21:31
  Speaker 6: we're all looking for that. But have there ever been talks,
• 21:35
  Speaker 6: have you heard of anything, of just putting Troy back
• 21:37
  Speaker 6: at right tackle and putting Dylan Cook at left tackle
• 21:39
  Speaker 6: and just putting them back to their regular position to
• 21:42
  Speaker 6: kind of speed up and expedite the chemistry and continuity
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: they're looking for?
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: You know, Willie, that's a good point because I've kind of,
• 21:50
  Speaker 7: you know, thought that myself a week ago, you know,
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: that maybe instead of moving all the parts, taking, you know,
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: right tackle and right guard and moving them to left
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: tackle and left guard and taking left tackle and left
• 22:03
  Speaker 7: guard and moving them to the right side instead of
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: just juxtaposing the entire line, Why not just make one
• 22:09
  Speaker 7: change there? And I think Troy is still adapting to
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: left tackle.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: But I don't know that there's been any discussion of that.
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: But to me, it would seem to make sense. But
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: then again, you're moving the line around again. And Troy
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: Furtado has spent the entire offseason in training camp at
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: left tackle after the uncertainty that was surrounding Roderick Jones.
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: So I don't expect that to happen again.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: But I don't, you know, again, two games, hard to
• 22:40
  Speaker 7: judge after two games. But I think Troy Fontana would
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: look more comfortable at right tackle than he does at
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: left tackle.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: Again, only two games.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems to me now if Hanachor starts at
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: right tackle, like, you know, and again, I think we
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: talked about this yesterday, Jerry, that expectations and forecasting what
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: it's going to be and what it is now there's
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: often a gulf between those two things. I think the
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: expectation is that Fautana will wind up being a very
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: good left tackle, McCormick a very good left guard, Ahanachor
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: a very good right tackle to go with Zach Frazier,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: but you've got to get there too.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: You've got to play the games and get the team there.
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: It would be wonderful to.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Be able to count on that group to give Aaron
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: Rodgers time and to open up some holes in the
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: running game because they're going against Joe Burrow and this
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: explosive Bengals offense, and this is the type of game, Jerry,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: you would love to have all your pieces out on
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the field, and of course I'm referring to Joey Porter Jr.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: I know Yosef Ash is injured and won't play, but
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: they've still got a very formidable group.
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: It would be great to have Joey Porter Jr. out there.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: Is there anything new to report on that front at all?
• 23:52
  Speaker 7: Well, you know, I'm not, you know, this thing just
• 23:54
  Speaker 7: continues to drag on with Joey Porter. I will tell you,
• 23:59
  Speaker 7: if he's not on the field this week, you're going
• 24:02
  Speaker 7: to see this whole situation, dilemma, charade, whatever you want
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: to call it, come to an end relatively soon because
• 24:09
  Speaker 7: they're not just going to continue along this way. A
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: couple of things about Joey Porter, even if he would play,
• 24:16
  Speaker 7: you know, this isn't going.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: To be Joey Porter from 2025.
• 24:18
  Speaker 7: He's done nothing in the spring, in training camp and
• 24:22
  Speaker 7: in training camp and very little out here on a
• 24:25
  Speaker 7: practice field, at least within team drills, from what we understand.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: And Mike McCarthy continues to be very vague about, um,
• 24:33
  Speaker 7: you know, how, uh, what he's able to, what he
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: has been doing and, and where is he, you know,
• 24:39
  Speaker 7: through this whole situation. So Fonte Samuel has been really solid. Look,
• 24:44
  Speaker 7: would they like to have Joey Porter on the field,
• 24:46
  Speaker 7: you know, from the beginning?
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 24:48
  Speaker 7: But this new coaching staff does hasn't seen him at all.
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: And so it's not like Joey Porter is going to
• 24:54
  Speaker 7: magically play and make a difference in, in the football
• 24:57
  Speaker 7: team because after two games, uh, You know, that hasn't
• 25:01
  Speaker 7: been the problem. I mean, the defense hasn't been the
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: problem at all. And whatever issues they've had haven't been
• 25:06
  Speaker 7: because of their cornerbacks. You know, Asante Samuel and Joey
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: Porter Jr. are different types of players. There's no question
• 25:12
  Speaker 7: about it. But I don't think Joey Porter, if he
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: would play, is going to magically make a difference. But
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: to your question, Rob, I wouldn't understand it all. why
• 25:26
  Speaker 7: he would return to the field, because then that makes
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: what he did in the spring and at minicamp and
• 25:32
  Speaker 7: at training camp, that's all for naught then. And then
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: foregoing $ 27 million this year. After going through all that,
• 25:43
  Speaker 7: I don't understand why would he go play at this point?
• 25:46
  Speaker 7: He has nothing to gain by going out there and playing.
• 25:50
  Speaker 7: And if he wants to say his back is hurting
• 25:53
  Speaker 7: and it's going to continue, they could put one injured reserve.
• 25:56
  Speaker 7: And then after four games, I believe he accrued, you know,
• 25:59
  Speaker 7: on injured reserve, he accrues a season. So I'll be
• 26:03
  Speaker 7: surprised if Joey Porter plays at all this year for
• 26:06
  Speaker 7: the Steelers. Obviously, I can't guarantee that. I can't predict that.
• 26:11
  Speaker 7: But based on everything that's transpired and what I know,
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: I would just be surprised if he would play.
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and that would be such a shame. I mean,
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: that's a bomb to digest right there, right? that if
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: you don't see him, we could possibly not see him
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: at all. And, you know, could we have seen the
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: last of Joey Porter in a Steelers helmet would be
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: something that would be a little bit of a shock.
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: But I get it. You know, if we talked about
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: Maxi Onature not being up stamina-wise to playing the right
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: tackle position, Joey Porter would definitely be further behind him
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: on that progression chart. So it would probably provide more
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: questions than answers for this team. But.
• 27:01
  Speaker 7: Hey, Max, let me say one thing real quickly, too,
• 27:07
  Speaker 7: about Joey Porter Jr.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: And the Steelers.
• 27:10
  Speaker 7: They like Joey. You know, and we all like Joey personally.
• 27:14
  Speaker 7: I mean, I certainly do. The Steelers like Joey. They
• 27:18
  Speaker 7: came up on their offer to him, which was slightly
• 27:20
  Speaker 7: north of $ 27 million.
• 27:21
  Speaker 6: Well.
• 27:23
  Speaker 7: His people wanted something that began with a three, and
• 27:27
  Speaker 7: $ 27 million wasn't going to be enough. Yeah, was there
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: an issue with probably guaranteed money? I'm sure there was,
• 27:33
  Speaker 7: because there always is. You know, that's always a big
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: negotiating point of any contract discussion. But the Steelers like
• 27:44
  Speaker 7: Joey Porter. They want to sign him. That's why they
• 27:46
  Speaker 7: even came up on their offer. But obviously, and apparently,
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: it wasn't enough. you know, for what they, you know,
• 27:54
  Speaker 7: when I say they, he and his representative are seeking.
• 28:01
  Speaker 6: Jerry, go ahead, Max, sorry. Well, I'll say, Jerry, I'll go. Question,
• 28:09
  Speaker 6: how do you feel, listen, you know, me and Max
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: and Rob wear multiple media hats and You know, the
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: current state of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know, a lot
• 28:20
  Speaker 6: of people, it's gray days it seems like in Pittsburgh.
• 28:23
  Speaker 6: How do you think Mike McCarthy has handled all the
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: criticism about the offense and how this team has played
• 28:29
  Speaker 6: thus far? And how do you think he's received some
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: of the kind of, you know, lack of a better word,
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: you know, bad feedback? You know, I'm trying to be
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: nice here, and I'm fumbling over words, but the criticism
• 28:45
  Speaker 6: over it, the negative criticism.
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: Yeah, you don't have to be nice, but I know
• 28:49
  Speaker 7: exactly what you're asking, Willie.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: Because, you know, I like Mike.
• 28:56
  Speaker 7: I've known him for a number of years before he
• 28:58
  Speaker 7: got here. I like everything he has said and stood
• 29:01
  Speaker 7: for here since he's replaced Mike Tomlin, and I would
• 29:06
  Speaker 7: hate to think that what we saw the first two
• 29:09
  Speaker 7: games from the offensive is going to happen again Sunday
• 29:12
  Speaker 7: because if we do, I think that crowd is going
• 29:15
  Speaker 7: to be antsy. And I'm not going to sit here
• 29:18
  Speaker 7: and say they're going to turn on them, but if
• 29:20
  Speaker 7: they start to see what we've seen, to your point, yeah,
• 29:24
  Speaker 7: it's going to get a little uncomfortable. It's going to
• 29:27
  Speaker 7: start with DK Metcalf. He obviously can't afford to do
• 29:31
  Speaker 7: what he did the first two games. You saw the
• 29:32
  Speaker 7: reaction in the very first game when he dropped two passes,
• 29:35
  Speaker 7: and he did it again last week. So, yeah, I
• 29:38
  Speaker 7: think the crowd's going to be... a little apprehensive, antsy,
• 29:43
  Speaker 7: and I'm afraid ready to pounce.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: And I hate to see.
• 29:46
  Speaker 7: That for Mike McCarthy because, you know, Willie, I'm a
• 29:49
  Speaker 7: firm believer. I don't care if they won both games
• 29:51
  Speaker 7: 50 to nothing. Or lost them 50-0. My reaction is always, look,
• 29:57
  Speaker 7: it's two games.
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: It's a long season. Let's just see how it plays out.
• 30:01
  Speaker 7: I know the fans. Fans don't look at it that way.
• 30:05
  Speaker 7: And I'm just a little concerned, if you will, for
• 30:08
  Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy's sake, that if it doesn't go well Sunday, offensively,
• 30:13
  Speaker 7: it's going to be a little loud grumbling.
• 30:16
  Speaker 6: Max?
• 30:21
  Speaker 5: Max? Oh, you know, for me, it's one of those things,
• 30:28
  Speaker 5: like you said, it's not the most tenable situation to have.
• 30:33
  Speaker 5: But this is what change normally looks like. And I
• 30:36
  Speaker 5: know I think the reason why we have a lot
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: of this with Steelers fans is you haven't had to
• 30:43
  Speaker 5: deal with much change, right? You know, we've gone Hall
• 30:47
  Speaker 5: of Fame coach to Hall of Fame coach to Hall
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: of Fame coach.
• 30:50
  Speaker 7: And.
• 30:51
  Speaker 5: you know, we have to remember history like Chuck Knoll
• 30:55
  Speaker 5: went through some bad years. He, they went through some
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: rough starts getting things going when you're making changes, you know,
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: and his were more material changes, you know, to the
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: offense and defense with personnel guys aging out and having
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: to get new guys. But for Mike McCarthy, the challenges don't,
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: don't go away because it's a new coach. It doesn't
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: automatically bring a magic wand with it. Um, Jerry, as
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: we kind of talk about kind of these slow starts
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: for the Steelers, I mean, they were 1-1 a year ago,
• 31:24
  Speaker 5: and they were able to turn things around. And, you know,
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: knowing the history of this Cincinnati rivalry, just kind of
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: some of your thoughts about when you see, you know,
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: even a good Cincinnati team, you know, can run into adversity,
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: and a Steelers team that might feel like it's middling
• 31:39
  Speaker 5: or taking a step back can find inspiration. Like, how
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: have you seen this rivalry play out over the years?
• 31:46
  Speaker 7: Well, you know, it's diminished. from when the Bengals were
• 31:50
  Speaker 7: good because of the Ravens being more their chief rival.
• 31:57
  Speaker 7: But the Bengals replaced the Browns, though, as their number
• 32:01
  Speaker 7: two rival. We've seen the Bengals going back, having some
• 32:07
  Speaker 7: success here in Pittsburgh. You remember the T.J. Hushmanzada wiping and.
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: Cleaning his cleats. with the terrible tower.
• 32:15
  Speaker 7: Back at one was that back in 05, Max, I think.
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: That was 05.
• 32:18
  Speaker 5: And so, yeah.
• 32:21
  Speaker 7: And you know, and then you had the whole Vontaze
• 32:22
  Speaker 7: Burfitt issues and then with Pac-Man Jones. So it became nasty.
• 32:27
  Speaker 7: You know, the, the, the Baltimore rivalry was, yeah, they
• 32:30
  Speaker 7: didn't like each other.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: There's no question, but it was there.
• 32:33
  Speaker 7: It was kind of built on some type of mutual respect.
• 32:36
  Speaker 7: That was not the case with the Bengals during the
• 32:39
  Speaker 7: Vontaze Burfitt. And the funny thing is, is, you know,
• 32:42
  Speaker 7: Marvin Lewis being a Pittsburgh guy, very likable guy, everybody
• 32:45
  Speaker 7: liked Marvin. And yet he, those two guys were out
• 32:48
  Speaker 7: of control. And so that changed the temperature of, of
• 32:52
  Speaker 7: the rivalry. And so, you know, I think it is
• 32:56
  Speaker 7: obviously hit as eased since then, but you know, Vontaze
• 32:59
  Speaker 7: Burfitt was a big part of the nastiness and the
• 33:03
  Speaker 7: animosity that existed between the two teams. So yeah, But, yeah,
• 33:08
  Speaker 7: I mean, the Bengals come in unbeaten, and I think
• 33:11
  Speaker 7: it's going to be a good test for the defense,
• 33:15
  Speaker 7: and I think it's going to be a good test
• 33:16
  Speaker 7: for the offensive line because I'm sure you guys have.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: Looked at this.
• 33:19
  Speaker 7: The Bengals pressure. They had 44 pressures last week against
• 33:24
  Speaker 7: the Texans. They sacked C.J. Stroud four times in the
• 33:27
  Speaker 7: fourth quarter. They've rebuilt that defensive line, you know, with
• 33:32
  Speaker 7: Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and Boye Mafu, which I love, Mafe,
• 33:36
  Speaker 7: which I love that name. he had 10 pressures himself
• 33:40
  Speaker 7: against the Texans. So if you're thinking about making some
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: changes on the offensive line, I don't know if this
• 33:46
  Speaker 7: was the right time or the wrong time, but nonetheless,
• 33:49
  Speaker 7: they're going to have to be ready for something we
• 33:51
  Speaker 7: don't typically see from the Bengals, and that's pressure.
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: And final question, Jerry.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: Jerry Dulac is with us, and he's our guest. He's
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: brought to you by Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale every Thursday
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: here in the locker room. It just feels suddenly like,
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: And I think that, you know, I use the word
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: fidgety for fans. You used antsy. It feels antsy and fidgety.
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: I suppose it's always that way. But there's some.
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: Uncertainty, you know, new coaching staff.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: And then all of a sudden you have these two
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: AFC North games, you know, in the past few years,
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: those AFC North games, the first ones have come so
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: deep into the season. This suddenly feels like, wow, you know,
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: the next, you know, six or seven days are really
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: important here for the Steelers.
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: With a one-on-one mark and two division opponents on the slate.
• 34:39
  Speaker 7: You know, we know what Mike Tomlin used to always
• 34:41
  Speaker 7: call it, you know, is AFC North football. And that's right,
• 34:45
  Speaker 7: back-to-back games in four days. And I think it's going
• 34:49
  Speaker 7: to be, you know, incumbent on the Steelers to, you know,
• 34:54
  Speaker 7: make some improvements. You know, the defense has been, you know,
• 34:56
  Speaker 7: fairly solid, let's face it. But we can't say the
• 34:59
  Speaker 7: same for the offense today. And I always remember the
• 35:04
  Speaker 7: words of Dick LeBeau, who said, I've seen sicker dogs
• 35:07
  Speaker 7: than this get well in a hurry.
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: It's only two games. I expect them. I do.
• 35:12
  Speaker 7: We saw Aaron Rodgers have two bounce-back performances last year
• 35:16
  Speaker 7: after so-so games. I expect that to happen again. We've
• 35:20
  Speaker 7: seen it a million times when everybody, you know, they're
• 35:23
  Speaker 7: kind of down in the dumps. They're ready to hit
• 35:25
  Speaker 7: the panic button. and then the team bounces back, and
• 35:28
  Speaker 7: then everybody gets excited about.
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: The Super Bowl again.
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: Right, yeah.
• 35:32
  Speaker 7: You've seen it happen a million times, and I do.
• 35:35
  Speaker 7: I expect them to bounce back Sunday.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: Jerry Dulac, brought to you by Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: Jerry, as always, thank you very much for being with
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: us in the locker room.
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: Appreciate it.
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: All right, boys. Always a treat to be with y'all.
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: That's Jerry Dulac.
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: We have....
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Dan Hoard is going to be coming up and joining
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: us at the top of the hour. He's the play-by-play
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: guy for the Cincinnati Bengals, so we'll get you some
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: first-hand intel on the Cincinnati Bengals. More on the game
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: coming up on Sunday, the first AFC North matchup for
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: the Steelers when we continue in the locker room here
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 36:42
  Speaker 8: I like Max a lot. You know, I think he's
• 36:46
  Speaker 8: got a real bright future. He's very.
• 36:49
  Speaker 8: In one sense, he's raw because he hasn't played football
• 36:52
  Speaker 8: that long. In the other sense, he's got a beautiful set.
• 36:57
  Speaker 8: You don't say that about every tackle. There's nice sets,
• 37:00
  Speaker 8: and then there's beautiful sets. I had two of the
• 37:04
  Speaker 8: prettiest sets of all time at left tackle for me,
• 37:08
  Speaker 8: Chad Clifton and David Bakhtiari. There's just something about the
• 37:12
  Speaker 8: way those guys set that.
• 37:14
  Speaker 5: Created very little.
• 37:17
  Speaker 8: lanes for a pass rusher and you know I think
• 37:21
  Speaker 8: when he hones his skills Max is going to have
• 37:23
  Speaker 8: a chance to be a long time staple on the
• 37:26
  Speaker 8: offensive line here.
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers talking about Max Ahanachor and again nothing official
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: yet it looks like the arrow is pointing in the
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: direction of Max making his first NFL start this week
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: again it's not official it just feels that way it
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: seems that way from reports In the locker room, it
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: was presented by your neighborhood Ford store and the Steelers
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Pro Shop on Steelers Nation Radio, part of the Steelers
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: Audio Network. Max, you know, it certainly looks like Max Ahanachor,
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: and you drafted him in the first round with the
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: expectation that he was going to play. And again, whether
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: it is the Mark Caboli report that Spencer Anderson has
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: got an injury to his to his leg, his right leg,
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: and is now going to have to play through what
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: appears to be some sort of fracture that is either
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: played through or you have surgery. Again, that's according to
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: Mark Caboli. I've not seen that reported anywhere else. Mark, obviously,
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: an excellent reporter. Or whether it's this idea that Brock Hoffman,
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: together with Max Ahanachor, because Mike McCarthy's talked a lot
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: about groups of players and not just one guy, but
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: how do they work together in tandem, and again, because
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: we don't see as much practice, I'm guessing, since they
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: were on the second team, that Ahana, Troy, and Hoffman
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: worked together a lot, so whether that's part of the
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: reason or not, will that help the continuity, Max, to
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: bring in two guys who have probably been at least
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: sharing second team reps since training camp ended?
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: Well, I think that's going to be the question. They've
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: had time together, and obviously the first two weeks of
• 39:12
  Speaker 5: the season they've been running the scout team unit together
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: and having to work together in those moments. So you
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: would think that they've kind of fast-tracked themselves working in tandem.
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: And you're right, Mike McCarthy talked about pairs. How do
• 39:27
  Speaker 5: pairs look together when they're next to each other? It
• 39:32
  Speaker 5: is going to be interesting, like you said, hearing the
• 39:34
  Speaker 5: reports that Spencer Anderson has been dealing with a boot
• 39:37
  Speaker 5: and any type of hairline fractures. Because I imagine it
• 39:40
  Speaker 5: has to be a hairline fracture. If it was a
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: full fracture, he'd be getting surgery, Rob. He would not
• 39:45
  Speaker 5: be dealing with it if it wasn't a hairline. So,
• 39:49
  Speaker 5: You know, that's one where, you know, can it exacerbate
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: said thing or will it be something that will take time?
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: That is what's left to, you know, for us to
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: kind of speculate on. But if they are going to
• 40:01
  Speaker 5: make a move, I mean, if it is a whole
• 40:03
  Speaker 5: sweeping type of move, that would be interesting. Something that's
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: not unprecedented. It's been done around the league before, but,
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: you know, this soon in the year to then look for,
• 40:17
  Speaker 5: those options would be kind of crazy. But listen, desperation,
• 40:22
  Speaker 5: you know, you hope breeds inspiration in a lot of
• 40:25
  Speaker 5: these instances to get guys, get your offense jump-started. You know,
• 40:31
  Speaker 5: I would love for an opportunity for this team to
• 40:33
  Speaker 5: continue to gel and this line to continue to gel.
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: But I also understand that there's a desperation. If you
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: see something that somebody does that is an attractive trait
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: to help you gain an advantage, then you have to
• 40:44
  Speaker 5: use it. you have to throw conventional knowledge out the way.
• 40:48
  Speaker 5: And so, you know, with Mike McCarthy, with the way
• 40:50
  Speaker 5: that he's been innovative and he's had to do some
• 40:52
  Speaker 5: creative things over his illustrious career as a head coach
• 40:55
  Speaker 5: and play caller, you know, we just have to kind
• 40:57
  Speaker 5: of sit and watch and just pray that it comes
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: out the best. But obviously we won't know those things
• 41:02
  Speaker 5: until we get to the stadium on Sunday and see
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: who rolls out the starting lineup or who gets called
• 41:07
  Speaker 5: out the tunnel as a starter come Sunday. Cause I
• 41:10
  Speaker 5: believe it should be offensive introductions for this game. So,
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: It's going to be very interesting, and we'll keep you
• 41:17
  Speaker 5: abreast of it. We'll know more on Friday as things
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: kind of unfold, and we'll get Missy on the show
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: to kind of see if we can provide some more clarity.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: I think that the expectation has to be that there's
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: going to be some growing pains, right, and that fans
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: should understand that that's likely to be the case. It's
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: unlikely that Max Ahanachor is going to step into right
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: tackle and pitch a shutout for the rest of the year.
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: No sacks.
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: He's going to win every single, you know, run block.
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: That's just, that's not a realistic expectation. So fans are
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: going to have to be patient. Understanding that, you know,
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: I was really, you know, we were at the combine
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: and talking about this. I was really excited when they
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: drafted Max Ahanachor. It just felt like he was a
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: guy whose arrow was going up, up, up, up. And that,
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: you know, he could wind up potentially, and I don't
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: want to throw us too much on him, but potentially
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: being the best offensive lineman taken in this draft. You know,
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: even though he wasn't the first offensive lineman taken in
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: this draft because he wasn't as quote-unquote safe as some
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: others because he doesn't have a long history of playing
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: high school football, though he was a three-year starter in college.
• 42:28
  Speaker 4: But I'm excited. Understanding there's going to be some growing pains.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to however long those growing pains would take,
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: everybody getting healthy. I think there's been an adjustment on
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: the left side of the offensive line as well. But,
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: you know, we're talking about this with Jerry, Max. I
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: think that the full expectation is that those guys are
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: going to be able to handle the left side. Max McCormick,
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: Mason McCormick, and Troy Fountain are going to be able
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: to handle that left side.
• 42:57
  Speaker 4: With Zach Frazier, that's.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: Going to give you an anchor, maybe sooner than the
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: right side will, because those guys have been together. Now
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: they're adjusting not just to the NFL level, but they're
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: adjusting to the side. Max Ahanachor is adjusting to the
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: NFL level. So my expectation is that there's going to
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: probably be some bumps, and it's probably going to continue.
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: But my hope is that, you know, come December, people
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: are looking around and saying, you know what, man, this
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: Steelers offensive line is really good. It's really good. It's
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: really young. It's got a very– it's solid in the present,
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: and it's got a very bright future. That's what I
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: hope we're saying a couple of months from now.
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's good to keep hope alive as well, Rob.
• 43:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, sooner would be better. Yeah, sooner is always better.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: I think by expectation– I mean, you have to be
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: realistic about these things, Max, about the timing of these things.
• 43:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and I think that's what people– you know, we
• 43:56
  Speaker 5: always rush. And, you know, I think Jerry made a
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: very salient statement when he said, you know, all it
• 44:04
  Speaker 5: takes is a bounce-back game and everybody's back on the
• 44:06
  Speaker 5: Super Bowl train, right?
• 44:07
  Speaker 4: Exactly right.
• 44:08
  Speaker 5: So– Yes, you want to see it faster, but what
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: you want to see is a steady trajectory upward. You
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: don't want to see a flat lining. I mean, because
• 44:17
  Speaker 5: we're already pretty low. So I guess scoring zero points
• 44:22
  Speaker 5: would be the lowest that you could get. But it's
• 44:25
  Speaker 5: pretty low. So anything that gives an uptick is what
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: you're looking for. You want to swing up in production.
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: And will it be scheme being simplified? Will it be
• 44:36
  Speaker 5: new personnel? anything that's going to help your team get
• 44:40
  Speaker 5: that advantage. And for the Steelers, it's very imperative that
• 44:44
  Speaker 5: they figure this out because once you make this switch,
• 44:47
  Speaker 5: once you bench somebody or take somebody out of the
• 44:50
  Speaker 5: starting lineup that's capable of playing, you can't undo Pandora's
• 44:55
  Speaker 5: box once you open it, Rob. And that's the one
• 44:57
  Speaker 5: thing I want to make sure. They are fully prepared
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: for what the consequences are of that and what you're
• 45:05
  Speaker 5: now processing with moving forward is that this is one
• 45:10
  Speaker 5: of those where you can't undo it. Once you do it,
• 45:14
  Speaker 5: you have to make sure that the player stays mentally
• 45:16
  Speaker 5: into it because, like you said, you don't know what's
• 45:18
  Speaker 5: going to happen if you're going to need, just say,
• 45:21
  Speaker 5: if Dylan Cook is benched, when you'll need him again.
• 45:24
  Speaker 5: Because whether there's injuries to other positions and you need
• 45:28
  Speaker 5: his confidence to be there, to go out there and
• 45:31
  Speaker 5: not feel like he's walking on eggshells. Because I feel
• 45:33
  Speaker 5: like right now he's walking on eggshells and you need
• 45:36
  Speaker 5: him to play confidently and walk around chest proud, not
• 45:40
  Speaker 5: sunken in, head swooped down, looking at the ground because
• 45:45
  Speaker 5: you don't want to make eye contact, you need to
• 45:47
  Speaker 5: keep his confidence up and have a detailed plan for
• 45:51
  Speaker 5: how and when, if things do happen, that he'll be
• 45:53
  Speaker 5: prepared to step in that role.
• 45:55
  Speaker 4: For sure.
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: And I'll tell you one team that's walking around with
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: their chest puffed out and their heads held high, that
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: is the Cincinnati Bengals. And Dan Hoard, the play-by-play man
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: for the Cincinnati Bengals, is going to give you a lowdown.
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: The lowdown on that squad as we get you ready
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: for Sunday's game, the first AFC North game of the
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: season as the Steelers take on the Cincinnati Bengals when
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: Audio Network.