Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR1: Game Preview

Transcript

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

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio brought to you
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: We're looking forward to Thursday night football.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's going to be It's incredible.
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: Thursday night, I've never not experienced an atmosphere that you
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: love to compete in.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: It'll be that way when we get to Cleveland.
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: It's going to be a battle. It's the Steelers versus
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: the Browns. We know what that means. I grew up
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: with that. I'm looking forward to playing in my first
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: Pittsburgh-Cleveland football game.
• 0:54
  Speaker 5: Aren't we all? The Cleveland Browns, no pushover in case
• 0:59
  Speaker 5: you're not playing along. They have looked pretty good the
• 1:03
  Speaker 5: last couple weeks. Thanks for being with us in the
• 1:05
  Speaker 5: locker room. I have Willie Colon, Max Starks, Jerry Dulac
• 1:08
  Speaker 5: is going to be joining us in just a little
• 1:10
  Speaker 5: bit as we get you ready for the Steelers and
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: the Browns. Willie, before we kind of get into some
• 1:17
  Speaker 5: of the matchups and some of the keys to this
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: game and some of the other things that we like
• 1:20
  Speaker 5: to look at on a Friday, because it's kind of
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: like a Friday, no show tomorrow for us, what is
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: the body recovery like on a Thursday night game. I
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: know it's a road game. Hopefully the short travel to
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: Cleveland won't be that big of a deal. You know,
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: Mike McCarthy talked about investigating whether you could go up
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: the day of just to get another night in your
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: own bed, and you have to be there 19 hours
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: before kickoff, so you can't do that. But your thoughts
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: on just the body recovery portion of getting ready for
• 1:52
  Speaker 5: a Thursday night game.
• 1:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah, the biggest turnaround is, from a physical standpoint, is
• 1:58
  Speaker 6: really trying to flush out your legs. You know, you
• 2:01
  Speaker 6: build so much lactic acid buildup that that's where you
• 2:05
  Speaker 6: get the tired legs. So you really just worry about
• 2:07
  Speaker 6: how can I get more life in my legs, especially
• 2:10
  Speaker 6: from an offensive line standpoint. I mean, obviously, you know,
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: the Steelers run the ball and we do what we
• 2:15
  Speaker 6: have to do. They do what they have to do.
• 2:17
  Speaker 6: But it really comes down to how do I get
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: my legs back to, you know, monitor my weight, in
• 2:24
  Speaker 6: the process because, listen, after a long game and a
• 2:27
  Speaker 6: hard-fought game, you want to eat, you want to kind
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: of relax a little bit. And hydration is key. And
• 2:32
  Speaker 6: so really it's just how can I get my legs back,
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: make sure I monitor my weight during the short span,
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: whether it's trying to gain more weight or trying to
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: make sure you're not packed on too much. And at
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: the top of that is really about hydration, you know,
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: because that's the biggest key. You lose so much water.
• 2:49
  Speaker 6: Your water weight, you know, you lose so much of
• 2:51
  Speaker 6: it while you're playing. you really try to focus on hydration.
• 2:55
  Speaker 6: And then really you, we talked about it as we
• 2:58
  Speaker 6: started the show, Mike McCarthy, that was it's the rest
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: is important, man. A lot of guys really don't come down.
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: You don't feel good until Wednesday, as far as like
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: you're ready to take on another week. So, you know, Monday,
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: you're kind of recovering Tuesday. It feels like that's when,
• 3:14
  Speaker 6: you know, you hear a lot of players say they
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: feel like they're wearing a car crash. They usually hit
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: you on Tuesday. So a day like this is when
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: you're kind of walking around the building sore and So
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: you're trying to get your massages, flush your legs. Hydration
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: is key. And then, honestly, trying to get a proper
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: nice rest. Those are all things you try to expedite
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: before you go again on Thursday night.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: Same, Max?
• 3:37
  Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I echo exactly what Willie's talking about. I mean,
• 3:40
  Speaker 7: it's really the big– and then treatment. You know, the
• 3:43
  Speaker 7: treatment that he talked about, I mean, whether it's massage,
• 3:45
  Speaker 7: whether it's actually getting those bumps and bruises looked at, right, getting–
• 3:51
  Speaker 7: getting some electro stem, getting some ultrasound, like all those things, A,
• 3:58
  Speaker 7: because the name of the game is recovery. It's not
• 4:03
  Speaker 7: about getting stronger. We're not trying to strength build. You're
• 4:07
  Speaker 7: just trying to create a new 100 that's as high
• 4:09
  Speaker 7: as possible. And if your new 100 is at 82, well,
• 4:13
  Speaker 7: you need to get as close to 82 as possible.
• 4:15
  Speaker 7: And so that's where all of those modalities, all of
• 4:19
  Speaker 7: that stuff is key And, you know, electrolysis, vitamins and minerals, right?
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: Getting it in your system, allowing it to do its work. Rest.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: Rest is a key component.
• 4:29
  Speaker 7: Sleep as much as you can because that's when your
• 4:31
  Speaker 7: body does the bulk of its recovery and repair. So,
• 4:36
  Speaker 7: you know, there's no magic bullet that's going to make
• 4:39
  Speaker 7: you feel 100%.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: Day one all over again.
• 4:41
  Speaker 7: So you have to do all these other things to
• 4:44
  Speaker 7: create what your new highest level is. especially when it
• 4:48
  Speaker 7: comes to Thursday, especially when it's an away game on
• 4:51
  Speaker 7: a Thursday night.
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: What about, Max, the game planning aspect of it? You know,
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: usually you have a few days. You have the install
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: day for all the different things, like Mike McCarthy likes
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: to talk about that, all the different things you're going
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: to run and all those other things. It doesn't feel
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: like there's enough time. I mean, I'm guessing there's advanced
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: scouts that have, you know, have done extra work to
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: get you ready for a short week and, you know,
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: done the cutups for you so you can look at
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: tape and all that stuff. But it would seem to
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: me to be very difficult to get a fully integrated,
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: a fully installed game plan on a short week.
• 5:36
  Speaker 7: Listen, Rob, you are an indie band that is, is
• 5:42
  Speaker 7: jumping on stage before the headliners. All you can do
• 5:45
  Speaker 7: is play your hits. And you have to play them
• 5:48
  Speaker 7: in success. You might not even get the second verse.
• 5:50
  Speaker 7: So let's bang out the hits. Keep it bare bones.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Keep it clean.
• 5:55
  Speaker 7: What we saw Sunday, clean communication as simple as possible
• 6:01
  Speaker 7: and get through the game and then just try and
• 6:02
  Speaker 7: install what nuances that the opponent has and try and
• 6:06
  Speaker 7: scale some things into that that you've already done. But
• 6:09
  Speaker 7: you're not coming up with the bye week. I have
• 6:12
  Speaker 7: two weeks to scout this team and pick it apart
• 6:15
  Speaker 7: and talk myself.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: In and out of things no no no no no
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: you got two days.
• 6:19
  Speaker 7: It's fast it's dirty you're just trying to get you're
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: just trying to get to thursday so it's going to
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: be a very minimum style of base now you've done
• 6:29
  Speaker 7: all your work prior because the pre and advanced scouts
• 6:31
  Speaker 7: have watched week one week two and week three and
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: giving you an idea of what that team is and
• 6:37
  Speaker 7: you just match what you have what they got it's
• 6:40
  Speaker 7: almost like like like at the middle of the week
• 6:42
  Speaker 7: like tomorrow wednesday Like when you go in the cover,
• 6:45
  Speaker 7: it's like, hey, listen, we're going to have a potluck tonight,
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: and it's going to be lucky if I can get
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: it in the pot.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: That's what you're trying to get to for Thursday.
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: I would ask this too, Willie. You know, Mike McCarthy–
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: And if you have something else, I'd like to have
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: you say it. But, you know, Mike McCarthy talked about
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: the first four weeks of the season, you get like 35%
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: of unscripted looks. Like, you know, from a strictly mad
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: scientist game plan kind of thing, this would be nice
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: if you'd worked on a few different things kind of,
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: you know, in a practice setting that you haven't really introduced,
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: and all of a sudden springing on a team, right? Like,
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: they've got very little time to scout you, and now
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: you're out there throwing a completely different look at a team.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: On the one hand, I say that, but on the
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: other hand, I wonder, is there enough time for you
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: to feel confident to install something that you haven't, you know,
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: maybe you've worked on in practice but really haven't shown
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: in a game setting, or do you just have to
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: do what you do? I mean, forget about the other team.
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: You just have to concentrate on what you do in
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: a short week.
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: Well, one, you have to, one, clean up whatever you
• 7:59
  Speaker 6: messed up Sunday, right?
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 8:00
  Speaker 6: Whether that's motion, whether that's alignment, whatever it is, you've
• 8:04
  Speaker 6: got to make sure you kind of dial those things
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: back and make sure you cover those things up so
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: you're more efficient come Thursday. on top of adding anything new, man,
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: you know, from a schematic standpoint, you know, this is
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: why me and Max talked about the bread and butter.
• 8:17
  Speaker 6: You want to take what you've done really well and
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: assess those things and see how you can build upon those.
• 8:22
  Speaker 6: And building upon it really just comes down to motion,
• 8:25
  Speaker 6: different blocking assignments. It's really you trying to fine-tune and
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: kind of tweak some of the details that make those
• 8:33
  Speaker 6: plays more effective. And And then you also try to
• 8:36
  Speaker 6: look at different personnels you just haven't been able to
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: use as of late, right? You know, Mike McCarthy talked about,
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers talked about, you know, the first two weeks
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: they were in 11 personnel solely because they weren't able
• 8:47
  Speaker 6: to win on first and second down. Well, now you
• 8:50
  Speaker 6: go into this game understanding that, like, all right, what
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: can we dial up and what personnel, what packages can
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: we use on first and second down that we can
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: be better on third down? And so this is when
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: you have to lean on Mike McCarthy. And, you know,
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: I kind of mentioned that he was, it felt like
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: he was in his bag early in that game. And
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: a lot of things we didn't necessarily see, uh, we
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: was able to see on Sunday, but now if Thursday
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: comes along, you want to fine tune those things that
• 9:15
  Speaker 6: you displayed on top of that, adding different, uh, tweaks
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: to that, to those things. So I think that the
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: Steelers are, are, you know, thank God. I think there
• 9:24
  Speaker 6: was no significant injuries if I'm wrong, excuse me. Um,
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: I know Jalen Ramsey was dealing with an injury, uh,
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: shoulder or something like that, but overall you got to,
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: You really just got to really, to Max's point, you're
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: not going to implement nothing that's going to throw anybody off.
• 9:38
  Speaker 6: You're not going to dial up more things where people
• 9:40
  Speaker 6: feel like they're kind of pressed. You really want to
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: kind of fine-tune what you have and add different tweaks,
• 9:45
  Speaker 6: whether that's motions, alignments, shifts. Maybe you want to do
• 9:49
  Speaker 6: more misdirection in this game. You know the Browns have
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: a really good defensive tackle. Mason Graham, who had a
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: breakout game, you know, jab versus the type of player
• 9:57
  Speaker 6: that adds concentration. pressure on your quarterback. So you try
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: to skew up things that can kind of neutralize those
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: type of guys. And that's mostly what your focus goes
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: into Thursdays. How can we neutralize their game records? Because
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: that's what it comes down to. So It's about building
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: upon your bread and butters and neutralizing those guys who
• 10:20
  Speaker 6: cause havoc.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: Fight. Fight as hard as you can. That's all you got.
• 10:30
  Speaker 7: You got fists, you got elbows, knees, and all you're
• 10:37
  Speaker 7: trying to do is kick them in the butthole. I mean,
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: that's essentially what it comes down to. You know what
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: I'm saying? You're just trying to kick their butts. And
• 10:45
  Speaker 7: it's like as simple as we can make it to
• 10:48
  Speaker 7: where you can just unleash the dogs on Thursday, that's
• 10:52
  Speaker 7: the concept that you're going with. And when you talk
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: about the identity of your team, these are those moments
• 10:57
  Speaker 7: where it's like, hey, it isn't pretty.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: It isn't perfect. It isn't, you know, the scenario that
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: we like.
• 11:05
  Speaker 7: But can you go out there and fight? You know, Willie,
• 11:09
  Speaker 7: I saw your IG story this morning right after I
• 11:13
  Speaker 7: dropped the girls off. And the Mason McCormick single leg
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: takedown technique, that's pretty.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: Much the ethos of what it's going to be Thursday night.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Everybody's been there.
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: You've done it.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: We've all used that.
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: Other hand and dropped a big fat D-line around his butt.
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: We've all done it.
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: Okay, so tell us what you're talking about here, guys.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: So, Willie, you want to describe it? It's your clip.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: I'll let you go.
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: So, yeah, it's not a big deal. So a lot
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: of people are talking about Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: They had Dexter Lawrence. He was playing the one technique,
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: which is the outside shade, the inside shade of the center,
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: if you will. But he was on the left side. Anyway,
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: he was kind of cocked. And so there was a
• 11:55
  Speaker 6: double team block. They were trying to get vertical. And
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: Mason McCormick, they got in there really good. And Dexter,
• 12:00
  Speaker 6: you know, hunkered down there. And they were starting to
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: roll him off the ball. Well, Mason McCormick, being now
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: a savvy vet, said, hey, man, we got to get
• 12:09
  Speaker 6: this big fella up out here. He takes his left hand.
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: and he grabs the back of the thigh of Dexter
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: Lawrence while they're combo blocking him up, and they damn
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: near get him in the air, and they pull him
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: off the ball for about one or two yards, and
• 12:20
  Speaker 6: they almost get him, but Dexter Lawrence, he stopped worrying
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: about the block and realized his feet was off the air,
• 12:25
  Speaker 6: so he had to get back on the ground, and
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: then once they finished the block, Dexter was looking to
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: the refs like, man, that's not legal.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: How is this legal?
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: There's no such thing as illegal and illegal in the trenches, right?
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: It's what you can get away with without getting a flat.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: So.
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: It's gone viral. A lot of people are talking about it.
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: And it really goes to what Max is talking about.
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: It's about fight. It's never going to be pretty. When
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: you watch the Steelers' offensive line this past Sunday against
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: the Bengals, and I love, and me and Max have
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: talked about this. You hear a lot of offensive line
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: talk about this. Sometimes, a lot of times when an
• 12:59
  Speaker 6: offensive line is struggling to get movement, it's because they're
• 13:02
  Speaker 6: focused on the linebackers, right? They're focused on not taking
• 13:05
  Speaker 6: care of the down linemen first, and then they're looking
• 13:07
  Speaker 6: to get off to the second level. which leaves creases.
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: And a lot of these modern day defensive linemen are
• 13:12
  Speaker 6: quick and strong, and they can hold anchor, wait for
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: a guy to slip off, and then penetrate back and
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: then stop the play. So you tell it was a
• 13:20
  Speaker 6: conservative effort from the Steelers' office line, from Mason to
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: Zach to Brock, that they weren't going to worry about
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: the linebackers. They were going to move the down linemen
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: into the linebackers, and if they got caught up in
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: a wash, that so be it. And so which allowed
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: Jalen Warren, which I've said redundantly on the show, goal
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: for office linemen is to get the running back's feet
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: to the line of scrimmage. And when you have talented backs,
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: once they get to the line of scrimmage, they know
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: how to wait patiently, pick holes. They know how to
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: get busy. And so you saw the office line of
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: the Steelers saying, hey, man, we're not going to let
• 13:54
  Speaker 6: this front four wreck the game. We're not going to
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: let them dictate how we're going to run the ball.
• 13:58
  Speaker 6: And you saw these guys put more focus on rolling
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: those guys off the ball. I mean, there's some great
• 14:05
  Speaker 6: teach tape that the Steelers put on display, man, and
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: It was just a conservative effort of saying, hey, you
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: know what? If the linebacker shoots, I'll grab him. If not,
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: we're just going to stay on this guy, stay on
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: this guy. And that's how me and Max during our
• 14:19
  Speaker 6: time when we played, we just hunkered down, man. We
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: worried about the first line. And then the second line,
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: if they got caught up in the wash, so be it.
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: If they shot the gap, we were there. So be
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: sure that the Broncos, excuse me, Broncos, be sure that
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: the Browns saw that. The Browns will be ready for
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: that type of physicality. So it was going to be imperative.
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: of the Steelers' office line to understand, like, yes, you
• 14:39
  Speaker 6: have to worry about the first wave, the first team linemen,
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: but them linebackers aren't going to allow those D tacklers
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: to sit there and get double teamed all day. Those
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: guys are going to try to shoot gaps. So it's
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: going to be interesting to see how the blocking assignment changes,
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: if it changes at all, and how, you know, we
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: can combat those shooting linebackers. And I promise you, the
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: Browns aren't going to let their defense tacklers just sit
• 14:58
  Speaker 6: there and get beat up all day.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: Oh, Mason Graham is watching that Dexter Lawrence film. Oh, yeah.
• 15:07
  Speaker 7: And then he probably saw them Aaron Donald memes, too,
• 15:10
  Speaker 7: from the Broncos.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: He's like, I'm not going to be this guy.
• 15:17
  Speaker 7: I'm not being their highlight tape or their teaching tape
• 15:20
  Speaker 7: for that manner.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: But you're right, Rob. I mean, you know, when you
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: look at this, the explanation is one thing.
• 15:28
  Speaker 7: But Willie and I, you know, living it. You know,
• 15:32
  Speaker 7: it's like, hey, listen, there is no second level until
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: you take care of the first level.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: And I think that's the issue that guys get so
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: worried about. Oh, the flow with the perfect combination. Hit
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: the hip, collapse the hip, drive the guy, lift him.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: At the end of the day, it's like, I need
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: to get him from here to there. How are we
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: going to do that?
• 15:52
  Speaker 7: We know leverage wins, and we know violence wins. So
• 15:56
  Speaker 7: as long as I have leverage, as long as I
• 15:58
  Speaker 7: have violence... Damn the technique at that point. Because technique
• 16:03
  Speaker 7: doesn't care that Ted Washington and Sean Rogers is in
• 16:06
  Speaker 7: front of you.
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying?
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: All right. I want to talk more about the softball. Yeah.
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: I watched back the tape, and I basically spent 80%
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: of the time watching Max Ahanachor.
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: I have to be honest with you.
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: I want to ask you guys what you thought about him,
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: if you had a chance to dive into it more.
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: Still on the way as well. We have the keys
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: to the game already on a Tuesday because Tuesday is
• 16:31
  Speaker 5: Friday this week. So we'll give you our keys to
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: the game on offense and defense, our big-time matchup of
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: the game as well. And coming up next, Jerry Dulac
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: is going to join us with the latest on the
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: Steelers as they get ready for the Thursday night game
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: in Cleveland when we continue in the locker room here
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: And that beautiful noise, beautiful sound, beautiful music.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: Noise beautiful music can.
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: Only mean one thing that means the cool breeze that
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: is jerry dulac is blowing through the locker room brought
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: to you by frank b fuhrer wholesale jerry dulac how
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: are you today my friend.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Rob uh i am well it's a short week for
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: everybody you me max willie the players the coaches the
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: only good news is it gives us.
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: A free weekend yes You, me, everybody. I thought you
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: were going to go Blues Brothers there when the Blues
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: Brothers take the stage.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: No, no.
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: You, me, everybody.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Everybody needs somebody.
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: Okay, anyway, I feel like, you know, remember those wind-up
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: dolls when we were kids, Jerry? You'd pull the string
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: in the back and it would be like, Mama! Or
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: it would repeat the same thing every time. I feel
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: like I'm repeating the same question, Jerry. But let's get
• 18:15
  Speaker 5: it out, over and done with. do you think Joey
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: Porter Jr. will play this week?
• 18:20
  Speaker 8: Oh, yeah.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: And I, I feel like the dog, except I feel
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: like the voodoo dog, because every time you ask, it's
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: like sticking pins in me.
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: Um, you know, I.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Can just tell you based on the conversations I have
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: with all different people at all different levels of the organization,
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: as they say in hockey, that, um, You know, it's
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: still uncertain at best. Now, I saw the way he
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: was listed yesterday on the practice report.
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: By the way, so everyone knows full participant, even though
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: it was a walkthrough, they listed him as a full participant.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: That's right, and that was going to be my point.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: It was a walkthrough, and today is a walkthrough as well.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: It's an hour practice late this afternoon. So, you know,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: his issue is not his back injury. It's conditioning. It's
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: football conditioning. You know, last week, I can't recall what
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: day we talked about this, or at least when he
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: said this, and I asked him, do you intend to
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: play at some point this season? And he said, yeah, definitely.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: And you've heard me say that after everything he's gone
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: through and what offer he turned down, it would be surprising.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: It would all be for naught then after what he
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: did in the spring in training camp and even now.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: That would be for naught if he then went out
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: and played. I'm not telling you he's not going to
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: go out and play, but it doesn't make any sense
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: to me if he does. Yes, I know maybe he
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: has to try to give his next employer– or the Steelers,
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: some appearance of wanting to play. And I believe that
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: he wants to play. But obviously, he doesn't want to
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: play enough with these other issues in front of him. So,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: you know, and you've also heard me say, Rob, I
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: like Joey. The Steelers like Joey. They want him to
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: play here. And they made him an offer and went
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: up on their offer to try to ensure he would
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: play here.
• 20:43
  Speaker 8: But I can just tell you there's still a lot of.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Shrugging their shoulders as to what's going to happen. And
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: I can't, excuse me, I can't predict. All I know
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: is that I would still be a little surprised if
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: he did play just based on foregoing $ 27 million this
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: year or north of that. And, of course, running the
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: risk of injury, I know that is always the case.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: But if that's the case, why not already protect yourself
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: with a contract that would make you the seventh highest
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: paid cornerback in the league on annual average? So when
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: you look at all those facets, it's why it remains,
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: you know, both puzzling and uncertain.
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: So....
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: We'll see.
• 21:35
  Speaker 8: That's about the best I can tell you.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: We'll see, which is also, you know, the Steelers, and Rob,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: this is not going to drag on, and I don't
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: want this answer to drag on, but this is not
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: going to drag on.
• 21:48
  Speaker 8: When, you know, is there going to be a resolution?
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Not financially, but at some point, if this continues.
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: The Steelers aren't going to let this happen, go on.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: Into week six or eight or 10. Other options will
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: be exercised at that point, And don't ask me specifically
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: because I'm not sure of what those are short of
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: they can find him because he is under contract. So
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: that's kind of where it is. And I'm curious to see,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: you know, how it's going to play out.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: Well, that was definitely, you know, Great information. Thanks, Jerry,
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: for that.
• 22:32
  Speaker 7: You know, and based off of everything you said, yeah,
• 22:36
  Speaker 7: that seems.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: Not so likely.
• 22:40
  Speaker 7: But I do want to ask you about the guys
• 22:42
  Speaker 7: who are slated to play. What are the statuses of
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: the rest of the secondary? Obviously, we saw some changes
• 22:49
  Speaker 7: towards the end of the game. The rookie, Daylon Everett,
• 22:53
  Speaker 7: kind of getting the nod over Asante Samuel towards the
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: end of that game and getting a lot of A
• 22:59
  Speaker 7: lot of burn, a lot of big challenges. Where are
• 23:02
  Speaker 7: we at with the health of the rest of the secondary?
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Well, Max, I'm glad you brought up about Daylon Everett
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: because I was going to bring that up at some point.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: You and I had talked a week or so ago,
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: at least after the opener, about what appeared to be
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy's reluctance to use his rookies. you look at
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: their top three picks, they played a combined eight snaps
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: in the, in the first game. And then by week two,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: now Jeremy Bernard had to play because of the injury
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: to Michael, uh, Pittman jr. But Max, the haunted shore
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: had played four snaps and then he gets tossed into
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: the starting lineup because of.
• 23:38
  Speaker 8: Look, his talent and because he's the number one pick.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: And you know, you don't bring in the number one
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: pick to lead the band at halftime. You bring them
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: in because eventually you're going to play him. Um, But
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: that's out the window now, and Daylon Everett is a
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: prime example. And what I was told was the coaches
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: weren't happy with how he was defending both Jamar Chase
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: and Tee Higgins. And I think to a degree that's
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: a little unfair to Asante Samuel, but I think part
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: of that is, you know, he's 5'10, at least that's
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: what he's listed. And those two guys are not 5'10.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Tee Higgins is 6'3, or 4. And Jamar Chase is
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: 6'1 or 2. They're both tall physical receivers who contort
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: their bodies, as we have seen on many occasions, including Sunday,
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: to catch passes. And they weren't happy with.
• 24:35
  Speaker 8: The way he was playing them, which is.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Okay, he's not a press corner. He's not a bump
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: and run type of guy. He's a little bit, you know,
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: he's off the ball. But, you know, and each of
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: them caught a touchdown against Asante Samuel. But in each case,
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: he was right there with the guys. Look, he's not
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: the first guy that either one of those guys, you know,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: first cornerback that either one of those guys have kind
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: of caught a touchdown on.
• 25:03
  Speaker 8: I mean, Asante Samuel was draped on Tee Higgins so.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Much, it looked like he was trying to hold him
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: up with his arms under Tee Higgins' armpits while he
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: made that crazy catch. But Daylon Everett is more physical.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: A bigger, you know, 6'1, almost 200 pounds. You know,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: a better type of matchup. And it wasn't just because
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: he's a better matchup, Max. You know, I go back
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: to the spring.
• 25:26
  Speaker 8: I go back to the training camp.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: The Steelers have told me all along he was the
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: best-looking rookie that they had. That's how good, what they
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: thought of him and how good he looked. And so,
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: you know, they're deep at corner. I thought it was
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: the deepest corner position they've had In years. And he
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: was part of it because of what they thought of him.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, I don't think any of that
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: should be damning the way Asante Samuel played because he's
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: been playing very well. But I think it does point
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: up and look, this could be part of a rotation.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Jamel Dean said.
• 26:04
  Speaker 8: This, you know, with a Thursday night game, you know, maybe.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: They want to get, you know, do a little more
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: rotation to keep the guys fresh. But I think a
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: lot of it was earned. Mike McCarthy said as much.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: He acknowledged it was part, you know, it was a
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: little of both, you know, a matchup thing, but also
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Daylon Everett earning his way onto the field. And, you know,
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: he looks like a Steeler corner. You know, I like
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: the pick. I like what I've seen from him. More importantly,
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: they like the pick, and they like what they see.
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: Jerry, can you talk about the linebacker core? How would
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: you assess the way they played? Sunday against, uh, the
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: Cincinnati banks.
• 26:46
  Speaker 8: Uh, Willie, I'm sorry. Did you say the linebacker court?
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 26:49
  Speaker 6: Yep.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I, well, one thing that we saw and
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't go back and look at the tape and
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: maybe match you did. Um, but I don't recall any
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: situation where they brought more than four guys. Uh, they
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: were going to play their nickel and dime because of
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Joe Burrow and because of his receivers. Uh, you know,
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: that they were going to go with extra defensive backs.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: And so when that happens, as you know, when you're
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: not using your base, when you're only two down.
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: Linemen, it's going to be easier to run the ball.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: And Chase Brown had a nice game. He didn't kill him,
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: but he has a nice game. What did they run for?
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: 80-some yards. But they were trying to get to Joe
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: Burrow with four guys. And I think the fact that
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: the only time they got to him, okay, I know
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: Cam got to him the series before and he kind
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: of threw it in the ground. But the only time.
• 27:39
  Speaker 8: They got to him for a sack was Derek Harmon's.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: Big play to end the game effectively. And so I
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: was surprised against the two Bengals' tackles, and you guys
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: can assess their abilities and performance a whole lot better
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: than me. But Joe Burr was sacked five times against
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: the Texans. He historically has been sacked a lot, especially
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: by the Steelers. And the fact that the edge guys...
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: did not get to him much at all, including.
• 28:07
  Speaker 8: Even with pressures or hits, was a little.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Surprising to me and surprising to the point of, you know,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: a little disappointing because I just thought we would see
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: more of that pressure from the edge. I thought Patrick
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Queen was outstanding. I love the people who want to
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: complain about Patrick Queen. I've never understood it. You know,
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: he's not LeVar Kirkland in there, Willie. As you know,
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: he's not 280 pounds. He's a sideline to sideline guy.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: That's the way the game is played. He had 13
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: tackles the other day, and I thought he was outstanding.
• 28:41
  Speaker 7: So, Jerry, the reason why, and I went back and
• 28:44
  Speaker 7: watched the film and actually, you know, thank you, NextGenStats.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: I was like, man, he's getting the ball out quick.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: 19 of his passes, Jerry, 2.4 seconds. Right.
• 28:56
  Speaker 7: That's how fast he was getting the ball out.
• 28:59
  Speaker 8: And a lot of those short crosses to Jamar Chase.
• 29:03
  Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly.
• 29:03
  Speaker 7: With the clear outs on top and then him just
• 29:06
  Speaker 7: coming underneath out of a twin stack or a bunch. So,
• 29:09
  Speaker 7: you know, they, they made a concerted effort, get Jamar
• 29:12
  Speaker 7: free open early and quick and the team, and they
• 29:15
  Speaker 7: knew we were playing zone. We weren't going to play
• 29:17
  Speaker 7: man against him because once again, you don't have Joey
• 29:21
  Speaker 7: Porter jr. And Asante Samuel being the size that he
• 29:24
  Speaker 7: is can't match up. And especially with the motions, you know,
• 29:29
  Speaker 7: talking about traveling and man, it would have been way worse. And,
• 29:31
  Speaker 7: Like I said, they didn't let any explosive plays behind them.
• 29:34
  Speaker 7: Most of the plays they kept in front of obviously
• 29:37
  Speaker 7: the Jaceki, you know, seam route. But yeah, everything was done.
• 29:42
  Speaker 7: I mean, a majority of his passes came out so quick.
• 29:45
  Speaker 7: You can't get a pass rush. So I think that
• 29:48
  Speaker 7: also thwarted a lot of the things they wanted to do.
• 29:51
  Speaker 7: And once you get into that mode, it's tough because
• 29:54
  Speaker 7: it's like, okay, well, am I worried more about the
• 29:56
  Speaker 7: rush or am I worried about.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: The pursuit after that? after the pass is gone.
• 30:00
  Speaker 7: And so you kind of saw our pass rushers trying
• 30:04
  Speaker 7: to be in those type of modes where it's like, okay,
• 30:05
  Speaker 7: I'm going to rush hard for two, but then after
• 30:08
  Speaker 7: that I've got to look to see where the ball
• 30:09
  Speaker 7: is going because I'm not going to get home and
• 30:13
  Speaker 7: they're doing a good enough job with the way that
• 30:15
  Speaker 7: they had Chase Brown lined up in there. Then a
• 30:17
  Speaker 7: couple of times you saw Sample line up in the line,
• 30:22
  Speaker 7: in the A-gap between the center and the guard to
• 30:25
  Speaker 7: protect in case of blitz. So there was a lot
• 30:29
  Speaker 7: of attention paid to neutralizing what would have been sack
• 30:35
  Speaker 7: potential or forcing Joe off of it, and really it
• 30:38
  Speaker 7: came to how well are linebackers covered in space versus
• 30:41
  Speaker 7: how well they blissed in the gaps.
• 30:43
  Speaker 5: Well, and let me add to that before we talk
• 30:46
  Speaker 5: about that. You know, I think that if you're going
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: to do that, you know, you'd like that seven to
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: make things more difficult. You know, you'd like Joe Burrow to–
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: raise his right arm and be like oh wait a
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: minute you know they got seven back in coverage but
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: but it felt like a bend not break you know
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: um and but but again it's been one of the
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: things that i think is fascinating jerry is that they've
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: had three very different defensive approaches based on three very
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: different teams they're not sitting back this isn't the legion
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: of boom and i'm not saying that they didn't change
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: things in seattle saying this is what we do good
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: luck um it was uh Patrick Graham has changed his personnel.
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: He's changed what he's done. He's changed how he's attacked
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: teams for all three games. They've been quite different.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Rob, I don't think that's anything entirely new.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: I don't think he's reinventing the science of the game.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: We've seen Mike Tomlin do that as well. We see
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: offensive coordinators do that sometimes to their detriment, but I
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: think I think you see that a little bit more
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: with defensive coordinators. You give them different looks. This isn't
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: the 70 Steelers where they would come out and roll
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: up their sleeves and show off their biceps and just
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: dominate the other team and say, go ahead, try and
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: run through us. But I give them credit for the
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: way they played. Look, they didn't exactly shut down the
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: Bengals the way the Steelers did, the way the defense
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: did the first two games. against the Falcons and the Patriots.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: But then again, it's a different offense. And while Joe
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Burrow was good, I've seen Joe Burrow have bigger games
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: than that against the Steelers. I thought all in all,
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: they did a pretty good job. To Max's point, they
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: didn't let him get behind, you know, the receivers. And
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: even on T. Higgins' kind of great catch, that crazy
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: catch in the end zone, you know, he wasn't behind
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: Asante Samuel. What he did is he positioned his body,
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: you know, like a rebounder in front of Asante Samuel,
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: and there wasn't a whole lot he can do about that,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: and that was probably one of the reasons why then
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: they made the move to try Daylon Everett in there.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: But again, Max, and I don't know if you looked
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: at this or charted this, but again, the Steelers weren't
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: concerned about trying to get to Burrow and blitz him
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: and come with more than four, and again, I don't
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: recall that happening, and maybe it did Maybe it did,
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: but I think their plan was to kind of try
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: and get there with four, do what you can, and
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: sit back, and I don't think there's any question after
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: what happened against the Texans that the Bengals were determined
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: not to have Joe Burrow stand back there, pat the
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: ball for more than two and a half seconds.
• 33:41
  Speaker 7: Yeah, and I think you're right there. It was a
• 33:44
  Speaker 7: different game plan, and it was like, okay, Joe, we're
• 33:48
  Speaker 7: going to give you what you want, but we're not
• 33:51
  Speaker 7: going to give you anything deep. And that's why you
• 33:54
  Speaker 7: saw Jamar Chase having to take a lot of shorter routes.
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: You have to remember, this is a dude that loves
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: the nine route.
• 34:00
  Speaker 7: He loves the deep post. He loves the double move
• 34:02
  Speaker 7: to the post corner. He loves all of those type
• 34:05
  Speaker 7: of moves. And they said, hey, down four, we're going
• 34:10
  Speaker 7: to give you a shot because they're not going to
• 34:11
  Speaker 7: give us a chance to line up in base three, four.
• 34:14
  Speaker 7: So we got to go with a nickel four down.
• 34:16
  Speaker 7: So a couple of times they went three outside linebackers.
• 34:18
  Speaker 7: where you saw Herbig and Watt to one side. You
• 34:21
  Speaker 7: saw even Highsmith kind of travel over one time with
• 34:25
  Speaker 7: TJ and said, hey, we're going to try some creative
• 34:28
  Speaker 7: four-man pressures, and we might add if Chase Brown blocks
• 34:33
  Speaker 7: or is scanning in the backfield, then you can add
• 34:36
  Speaker 7: a linebacker. So no more than a dog, but it
• 34:38
  Speaker 7: wasn't going to really.
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: Be blitz unless it was known run-down situation.
• 34:41
  Speaker 7: That's why you saw a lot of Jalen Ramsey in
• 34:42
  Speaker 7: the backfield making plays was because it was run-down blitzes.
• 34:47
  Speaker 7: where they knew, hey, this is a formation they like
• 34:49
  Speaker 7: to run the ball out of, so we're going to
• 34:51
  Speaker 7: take a chance here. So that's really the only time
• 34:54
  Speaker 7: they got into that kind of aggressive mode. When it
• 34:56
  Speaker 7: was known passing downs, you're right, it was four-down passing
• 34:59
  Speaker 7: with a four-deep zone behind it and said, hey, we're
• 35:03
  Speaker 7: just going to say that our athletes can get to
• 35:05
  Speaker 7: the ball quicker and corral you versus trying to play
• 35:09
  Speaker 7: man and possibly getting beat on a double move by
• 35:12
  Speaker 7: Jamar Chase.
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: By the way, I like Jerry's couplet to describe the
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh Steelers defense. I might have emphasized the words a
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: little differently. I thought they were pretty good. You could say,
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: I thought they were pretty good. I thought they were
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: pretty good. Regardless, it was good enough for the Steelers
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: to win, and they traveled to Cleveland. And, Jerry, we
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: will see you up in Cleveland. Is it Paycore Stadium, right?
• 35:36
  Speaker 5: In Cleveland, right? On Thursday, my friend. So thanks very
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: much for joining us.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: Is that a core Cleveland or Cincinnati?
• 35:44
  Speaker 5: Maybe that's Cincinnati.
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: First energy would be Cleveland.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: That is correct. That's right.
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: That's right. Thank you very much. I'm going to write that.
• 35:53
  Speaker 7: Geographical stadium enthusiasts.
• 35:56
  Speaker 5: Nobody worse than me at knowing those things, by the way.
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: Knowing the names of stadiums. They change all the time.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: As long as you go, hey, Rob. Yeah. Rob, just
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: go to the right stadium. That's all that matters. That's it.
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. Just go to the right place.
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: Hey, he's not driving. He's just riding.
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: That's right. That's exactly right. I'll just go where I'm
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: led along. Dude, thank you very much. Jerry Dulac brought
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: to you by Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale. When we come back,
• 36:21
  Speaker 5: a very quick look at the power rankings, which we
• 36:24
  Speaker 5: normally do in the middle of the week, and we're
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: going to get into the key matchups in the second
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: hour between the Steelers and the Browns, and we continue
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: And by your.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the official truck of
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: Tremendous amount of love and respect for Brock Hoffman. Obviously,
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: we have a history. Brock's, you know, he's someone I
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: would hire as a coach. When he's done, that's what
• 37:11
  Speaker 4: I think of him as far as, you know, his
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: level of preparation, you know, his demeanor, what he brings
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: to the table. So if you have a young player
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: going into the game for the first time, I don't
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: know if you can pair him with anybody better than
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: Brock Hoffman.
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: Well, high praise for Brock Hoffman alongside Max Ahanachor. And
• 37:33
  Speaker 5: I did want to ask about this, and if this
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: conversation goes a little longer, we'll go to the power
• 37:37
  Speaker 5: rankings next hour. But, you know, Willie, there's a lot made.
• 37:41
  Speaker 5: Mike McCarthy's made a lot of groups of players, pairings
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: of players, that sort of thing. How important is that
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: on the offensive line? Were you ever matched up with
• 37:50
  Speaker 5: a guy or playing next to a guy where you're like, man,
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: we just don't have it together? I'm better with player players.
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: X than I am with this player. Even if they're
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: both equal type of players, you just work better with
• 38:03
  Speaker 5: one than the other.
• 38:06
  Speaker 6: Man, that's the story of my state of the career, man.
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: I was fortunate enough to, you know, my first couple years,
• 38:11
  Speaker 6: I was paired next to Kendall Simmons, a guy who
• 38:14
  Speaker 6: had played a lot of football, but also was interesting
• 38:18
  Speaker 6: about Kendall. He, you know, he wasn't too far in
• 38:21
  Speaker 6: height with me, for me. He wasn't a big, huge guard.
• 38:25
  Speaker 6: He was He was a little bit of an undersized guard,
• 38:28
  Speaker 6: but he was quick and physical and knew how to
• 38:31
  Speaker 6: play bigger opponents. So he taught me a lot of
• 38:33
  Speaker 6: tools to the game. On top of that, he also
• 38:35
  Speaker 6: protected me out there. I tell Kendall Simmons all the time,
• 38:38
  Speaker 6: and we've become close now that we're both retired, I
• 38:42
  Speaker 6: owe a lot of my early, still years to him
• 38:45
  Speaker 6: because he was not only my eyes and ears, but
• 38:49
  Speaker 6: he calmed me down a lot. As Max would know,
• 38:52
  Speaker 6: I played with a short wick, so I was a
• 38:54
  Speaker 6: little bit of an over-emotional guy. And, you know, Kendu
• 38:58
  Speaker 6: helped me to, you know, realize, you know, you can
• 39:02
  Speaker 6: be physical, just don't be dumb. And so he allowed
• 39:05
  Speaker 6: me to be me at the same time, coach me
• 39:08
  Speaker 6: while we were in action. And, you know, he was
• 39:11
  Speaker 6: able to point out things and pretty much was kind of,
• 39:15
  Speaker 6: he was a stabilizer. And I owe a lot to him.
• 39:19
  Speaker 6: And then, you know, when I was able to win
• 39:21
  Speaker 6: the Super Bowl with the Steelers, And I had a
• 39:23
  Speaker 6: very good, young, smart guy, Darnell Sabaton, who was a
• 39:27
  Speaker 6: center who converted to guard when he got to this deal.
• 39:30
  Speaker 6: And because he had center eyes and knew how to
• 39:32
  Speaker 6: direct and knew the calls and knew what to pay
• 39:35
  Speaker 6: attention to, he was also great. So I was extremely
• 39:39
  Speaker 6: blessed to be paired with guys who were not only
• 39:42
  Speaker 6: students of the game but who also understood my temperament
• 39:45
  Speaker 6: and what I could bring to the table and allowed
• 39:46
  Speaker 6: me to be me.
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: While I was out there.
• 39:48
  Speaker 6: And so when you hear Mike McCarthy say, you know,
• 39:52
  Speaker 6: if you want to bring a young dog out there, well,
• 39:54
  Speaker 6: he's going to need some training wheels and help him
• 39:56
  Speaker 6: see things and do things out there where he can
• 40:00
  Speaker 6: be sure of himself, but also he can learn at
• 40:02
  Speaker 6: the same time. And so pairing is extremely important because
• 40:06
  Speaker 6: not every old dog wants to be with a young guy,
• 40:10
  Speaker 6: but a young guy needs to be with somebody who's
• 40:13
  Speaker 6: going to have confidence in him and make him feel like–
• 40:16
  Speaker 6: He's doing everything, not do everything right, but just give
• 40:19
  Speaker 6: him some assurance while he's out there. And that's important
• 40:22
  Speaker 6: as well.
• 40:23
  Speaker 5: Max, how about you? Playing with somebody, I mean, is
• 40:27
  Speaker 5: that combination, was it important for you?
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: It was.
• 40:33
  Speaker 7: And, you know, like Willie, I had Kendall as well.
• 40:36
  Speaker 7: And so, you know, that was something that helped me
• 40:41
  Speaker 7: because we were– And I was a little bit younger
• 40:44
  Speaker 7: than Willie, right?
• 40:45
  Speaker 3: I'm two years younger than Willie.
• 40:47
  Speaker 7: So Kendall was coming off of injury, so he had.
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: A different perspective.
• 40:52
  Speaker 7: But being on that veteran line, I was literally the
• 40:55
  Speaker 7: young pup out there. And you're sitting there, you're looking
• 40:59
  Speaker 7: at Jeff Hardings, you're looking at Alan Fanica, Marvell Smith,
• 41:03
  Speaker 7: and then Kendall.
• 41:03
  Speaker 3: Simmons, and then there's me.
• 41:05
  Speaker 7: And it was like, okay, what can I really do
• 41:08
  Speaker 7: well coming into this it's pretty much just go bash
• 41:14
  Speaker 7: somebody in front.
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: It was a different era.
• 41:16
  Speaker 7: We ran the football more than we passed it.
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: And, you know, it was a well-known stat.
• 41:20
  Speaker 7: You know, Ben, it was like we had, I want
• 41:23
  Speaker 7: to say, an 85% to 90% chance of winning if
• 41:25
  Speaker 7: Ben threw the ball 25 times.
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: Or less, like early in his career.
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: That's a real stat, by the way.
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that is a real stat. So it was like
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: we're going to run the ball.
• 41:33
  Speaker 7: And we got Jerome Bettis, Deuce Staley in the backfield,
• 41:36
  Speaker 7: Veron Haynes, and Willie Parker.
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: And it's like, we have plenty of backs.
• 41:40
  Speaker 7: And then if we need to throw it, we got
• 41:41
  Speaker 7: Heinz Ward, Plaxico, and Antoine Randall-El. And so, you know,
• 41:47
  Speaker 7: it was just get in and just make sure you
• 41:50
  Speaker 7: get four yards per carry. And I think that mentality.
• 41:54
  Speaker 3: Can carry well.
• 41:55
  Speaker 7: And I thought the Steelers did that very well on Sunday.
• 41:59
  Speaker 7: You gave him a good enough mix where you said, hey,
• 42:02
  Speaker 7: we're going to give him some one-on-one. And actually, he
• 42:03
  Speaker 7: looked really good in one-on-ones early. Two-hand punch, would I
• 42:06
  Speaker 7: like to see more independent punching? Yes, but the two-hand
• 42:09
  Speaker 7: punch knocked Miles Murphy down on a play, and then
• 42:12
  Speaker 7: he just sat on him. So you saw the natural athleticism, physicality,
• 42:16
  Speaker 7: and tenacity that he has, and if you can.
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: Keep it simple like that, because we talked about how.
• 42:21
  Speaker 7: The Steelers didn't blitz, well, if the Steelers didn't blitz,
• 42:25
  Speaker 7: then Cincinnati definitely didn't blitz. It was a lot of
• 42:28
  Speaker 7: four-man rush, so it was very easy to ID and
• 42:31
  Speaker 7: keep him on. He didn't have to really switch off
• 42:34
  Speaker 7: a lot of games.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: He didn't have to You know.
• 42:36
  Speaker 7: Worry about two for three, mollying and dueling, all the
• 42:40
  Speaker 7: stuff that we had to do well back in the day.
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 42:42
  Speaker 7: But it was nice to have a four-man front, see it,
• 42:47
  Speaker 7: ID it, and stay with the in-man on the line
• 42:50
  Speaker 7: of scrimmage. We called it EMOL or MDM, Most Dangerous Man.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 42:55
  Speaker 7: And he was able to play comfortable because it was
• 42:59
  Speaker 7: not too wordy. It was not too verbal about what
• 43:01
  Speaker 7: they had to do. Now, it's going to be a
• 43:03
  Speaker 7: little bit of a challenge.
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: Short week. Cleveland likes to blitz more, so we're going
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: to see how that goes.
• 43:10
  Speaker 7: But that's where the run game stabilizes and really eliminates
• 43:13
  Speaker 7: a lot of blitz when you can go out and
• 43:16
  Speaker 7: assert yourself early.
• 43:18
  Speaker 6: Rob, can I say one thing before you get going?
• 43:20
  Speaker 5: Please do.
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: One thing I was impressed, and Max's assessment is right
• 43:26
  Speaker 6: about Max Armature, his feet is exceptional. You can tell
• 43:30
  Speaker 6: he's a basketball kid. Usually guys who play basketball, I
• 43:34
  Speaker 6: was a basketball guy, you know, their redirection is fluid.
• 43:40
  Speaker 6: His ability to change his weight up and down is fluid.
• 43:44
  Speaker 6: I mean, there was a couple times where he even,
• 43:46
  Speaker 6: I think he got out of balance, and he just
• 43:48
  Speaker 6: kind of, his natural way, he just reset himself. And
• 43:52
  Speaker 6: Max is right. He just has to be more of
• 43:53
  Speaker 6: an independent hand fighter. That's just trusting your hands and
• 43:55
  Speaker 6: trusting your balance and trusting your strength, especially on the
• 43:59
  Speaker 6: point of contact. But, you know, there's a lot to
• 44:02
  Speaker 6: this man. This kid can grow. He can be special, man,
• 44:04
  Speaker 6: if He just keeps his head down and really focused
• 44:07
  Speaker 6: on the nuances of the game and the mechanics. He
• 44:11
  Speaker 6: could be a pro bowler, a multi-time pro bowler, just
• 44:14
  Speaker 6: pure size and athleticism. And obviously he has to continue
• 44:18
  Speaker 6: to immerse himself into the playbook. But I thought I
• 44:20
  Speaker 6: was really impressed with his footwork and his ability to
• 44:23
  Speaker 6: compete and be physical. Sometimes you have to, you know,
• 44:26
  Speaker 6: Mike Tomlin, you know, we use his isms as Bible
• 44:30
  Speaker 6: verses sometimes. But, you know, you'd rather say Woden Sikkim
• 44:33
  Speaker 6: was one of my favorites and you can see that
• 44:36
  Speaker 6: he has a dog in him, which was good to see,
• 44:39
  Speaker 6: especially fresh out the gate.
• 44:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I didn't see Boye. It felt like he was
• 44:43
  Speaker 5: matched up with Boye and Moffey a lot, and Moffey
• 44:46
  Speaker 5: didn't really get a sniff. So, again, you guys are
• 44:51
  Speaker 5: the offensive linemen. I thought he looked great. I just
• 44:53
  Speaker 5: watched the tape again and spent a lot of time
• 44:56
  Speaker 5: on him. I will also say this, Max, since you
• 44:59
  Speaker 5: brought up the blitz, I just want to get to
• 45:01
  Speaker 5: this quickly because we're going to get to– a break
• 45:05
  Speaker 5: in our key matchups coming up in the next hour.
• 45:07
  Speaker 5: But late in the game, I think it was after
• 45:11
  Speaker 5: the muck pump when the Steelers wound up kicking a
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: field goal. The Bengals, and we saw this a couple
• 45:19
  Speaker 5: of times in New England, right? And I don't know
• 45:21
  Speaker 5: who's responsible, but they had an outside rusher. They were
• 45:25
  Speaker 5: overloading the left side over by Troy Fautano. The outside
• 45:30
  Speaker 5: guy came clean. The inside guy, Troy, went with him.
• 45:34
  Speaker 5: Dexter Lawrence looped around him, and all of a sudden
• 45:37
  Speaker 5: now you've got two guys free again coming at Aaron Rodgers,
• 45:41
  Speaker 5: and that was my interpretation of it. Again, is the
• 45:45
  Speaker 5: back supposed to slide over there in protection? I don't know.
• 45:47
  Speaker 5: I have no idea. All I'm saying is, Max, I
• 45:50
  Speaker 5: think that if a team like Cleveland wants to blitz,
• 45:53
  Speaker 5: they're going to look at something like that and think, okay, well,
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: Cincinnati didn't blitz much. We're going to blitz.
• 45:59
  Speaker 7: Yeah, no, they're definitely going to look at this and say,
• 46:01
  Speaker 7: how can we change the trajectory, right? I mean, that's
• 46:05
  Speaker 7: all you're trying to do is change the trajectory of
• 46:09
  Speaker 7: what you had before. And so I think that's what
• 46:12
  Speaker 7: you have to do. You're going to have to figure
• 46:14
  Speaker 7: out how do I bring that fifth guy? How do
• 46:16
  Speaker 7: I bring six guys or overload blitz to one side
• 46:19
  Speaker 7: and forcing a slide? Like those are the things that.
• 46:23
  Speaker 7: they're going to be looking at to see how can
• 46:25
  Speaker 7: we affect them.
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: Because, I mean, they have a good secondary. They can
• 46:28
  Speaker 3: play more man and.
• 46:29
  Speaker 7: Feel comfortable with Denzel Ward and company. So you're going
• 46:33
  Speaker 7: to see them really trying some different avenues for how
• 46:37
  Speaker 7: they do things.
• 46:39
  Speaker 5: Well, we shall see. And we're going to get into
• 46:41
  Speaker 5: our key matchups, our big-time matchup. We're going to dash
• 46:45
  Speaker 5: through the power rankings, see how far the Steelers moved up.
• 46:49
  Speaker 5: That and much more as we get you ready for
• 46:51
  Speaker 5: the Steelers and the Browns coming up next. in the
• 46:53
  Speaker 5: locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.