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

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: There's always a lot to like on a film that's
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: been consistent. in my time evaluating games, you know, after even,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: even after losses, you know, I think one thing is
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: pretty consistent and, and in the NFL, there's, you know,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: things are usually not as bad as you think they are.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: They're not as good as you think they are. So
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: there's always a lot to correct.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: And thank you very much for being with us in
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: the locker room. The words of Mike McCarthy, some of
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: the words of Mike McCarthy. We're going to hear a
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: lot of his words from yesterday's press conferences over the
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: course of this show, alongside Willie Cologne and Max Starks.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: I'm Rob King.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: And, Max, yesterday you're traveling back to Arizona, and Willie,
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: kind of before we heard from Mike McCarthy, kind of
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: echoed some of those sentiments that, you know, it was
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: raining yesterday, so for people walking around western Pennsylvania, that
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: wasn't the sky falling, it was a little rain. Willie said, hey,
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: and Willie, I hope I'm paraphrasing for you correctly here,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: a lot of things that can be corrected, right? A
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: lot of things that, you look at the film, there's
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: It wasn't as maybe as bad as it certainly felt
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: because it kind of felt bad Sunday at Gillette Stadium, Max.
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: I mean, we were there, Rob, and we were going
• 1:41
  Speaker 5: through it live.
• 1:42
  Speaker 6: And I think, you know, the biggest thing that I
• 1:47
  Speaker 6: just took away was, you know, this game of football
• 1:52
  Speaker 6: is tough.
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: It's not an easy one.
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: And from week to week, there are the emotional uh
• 2:00
  Speaker 6: roller coaster that you will go through and that you'll
• 2:02
  Speaker 6: experience and you know as i took a second you
• 2:05
  Speaker 6: know because i think if i would have got another
• 2:07
  Speaker 6: show yesterday i might have been a little bit more
• 2:09
  Speaker 6: highly elevated but you know getting up at 4 a.m
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: and catching a flight and and a delayed layover and
• 2:18
  Speaker 6: then finally getting home you know gives you a chance
• 2:20
  Speaker 6: to to kind of rest and reset you know there's
• 2:24
  Speaker 6: different stresses in this world and As I kind of
• 2:26
  Speaker 6: look at that, I'm like, offensively, was it.
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: What we wanted?
• 2:30
  Speaker 6: Absolutely not, right? That's just beyond question. It's not the
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: desired outcome. But defensively, you look at all the good
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: things that we're doing defensively, and that was a big question, right?
• 2:42
  Speaker 6: This was such an old team a year ago and
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: not creative, and they fizzled out. I thought defensively what
• 2:49
  Speaker 6: they did and what they've proven over the first two
• 2:52
  Speaker 6: weeks is, You know, this team's only given up 13
• 2:56
  Speaker 6: points defensively a game. I mean, that puts you right
• 2:59
  Speaker 6: in the mix and in the hunt of the rest
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: of this league. So they're not far off from being
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: a top defense. And you think about the turnovers. They've
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: had multiple turnovers per game, multiple sacks per game, and.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: They still haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher.
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: You know, as much as we want to talk, yes,
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: they give up some yards, but at the end of
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: the day, you're not giving up that 100-yard rusher There
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: was only a couple of big plays, and the one
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: biggest play did not result in a touchdown.
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: So when you talk about.
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: That marginal improvement getting there, I'm seeing it more leaps
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: and bounds of improvement. Now, offensively, as an offensive lineman,
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: and I'm sure, Willie, you intimated this, it's not where
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: it needs to be.
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: Nowhere near. And I said that I said and I
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: have to take my own advice.
• 3:49
  Speaker 6: At times because I also said it's going to take
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: five to six games for this offensive line to get
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: in line together. It's going to take that amount of
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: time because you have four guys playing new positions. You know,
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: we talk about the two on the right side, but
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: it's an entire unit. Like the last time I checked, Will,
• 4:09
  Speaker 6: can you punch a person with two fingers out?
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: You can't.
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: You're going to break some fingers in the process. And
• 4:16
  Speaker 6: so the five fingers have to be a fist. And
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: they're not a fist yet. They're not even really a
• 4:23
  Speaker 6: hard palm slap. I mean, they ain't even got a
• 4:25
  Speaker 6: pimp slap there yet. They're like five weird disjointed fingers.
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: So they have to come together as a unit. And
• 4:32
  Speaker 6: it's going to take time. You know, I said this
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: on the broadcast, Will, and I was joking, but I'm
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: also like semi-serious because I'm like, I put it back
• 4:41
  Speaker 6: in our era.
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: I was like, Imagine if we had done this.
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: I said, they need to go get an Airbnb for
• 4:45
  Speaker 6: a week somewhere and just live together like a clubhouse.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: That's how close they need to get.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: And then I realized that if it was in our era,
• 4:55
  Speaker 6: the clubhouse would have burned down.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: In four days.
• 4:57
  Speaker 6: But that's the kind of thing. They need seasoning. They
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: need time together. And you see it because it's just
• 5:05
  Speaker 6: some of the communication just doesn't carry.
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: Across the line.
• 5:09
  Speaker 6: And For the rest of them, I mean, you have
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: to be able to do your job. When there is
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: that got to have a moment, I need receivers to
• 5:16
  Speaker 6: make catches as well. So I'm not just sitting there
• 5:18
  Speaker 6: putting it squarely on the offensive line. Production overall has
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: to pick up. Aaron has to not feel as nervous
• 5:25
  Speaker 6: in the pocket to get the ball out because he's
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: scared he's going to get hit. But then the offensive
• 5:30
  Speaker 6: line has to block. The receivers need to get free.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: You know, everything works in concert. There's no individual person
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: that can make things right. There's no magic wand to
• 5:39
  Speaker 6: just wind it over. You have to have 11 guys
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: come together. So after, after all my trials yesterday, that
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: is the conclusion.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: That I've come to. And I was able to share that.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: So I appreciate it. Thank you guys for the forum.
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: So, uh, you're welcome, Max.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Um, so, you know, look, I, I think, uh, Let's
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: talk a little bit about the defense and the special teams.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: Let's get through the special teams first. There's a lot
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: to talk about defense and there's a lot to like.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: I went back and actually I have not watched the
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: game a second time. I watched the Bengals this morning,
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: a little bit of what they do, what they did
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: against the Buccaneers in game one. But, you know, Danny
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Crossman said, hey, special teams was close to breaking one.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: First of all, No offense to Danny Crossman, but I
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: don't think I've ever heard a special teams coach not say, Willie,
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: we were close to breaking one. One block here or there.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: We almost broke one. You know, I hear that a lot.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: But the coverage is better. I still don't– I'm still
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: not sure why they kicked– they punted the ball to
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: Marcus Jones. I would have taken a page out of
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Seattle's playbook and kicked every ball– every punt would have
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: been out of bounds. I don't want that guy anywhere
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: near the ball. They didn't, but they did a pretty
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: good job covering him. Kickoff coverage was much better, of course. Unfortunately,
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: they didn't have a lot of practice in this game.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: They only kicked it off twice. But that was, I think,
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: an improvement from week one to week two was the
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: special teams.
• 7:16
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I would agree. I also think when you come
• 7:19
  Speaker 7: off the performance they did against Atlanta Falcons, everything that
• 7:22
  Speaker 7: happened was more of an operational situation where they really
• 7:26
  Speaker 7: understood They clean that aspect of the game. They're there,
• 7:29
  Speaker 7: and they'll be fine. I think when you, you know,
• 7:32
  Speaker 7: kind of just to pivot back, and I don't mean
• 7:34
  Speaker 7: to switch lanes, so I apologize.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: Sure, no, please.
• 7:38
  Speaker 6: Do.
• 7:39
  Speaker 7: You know, Max is right from this standpoint. The offensive
• 7:44
  Speaker 7: line needs to continue to play together and dive into
• 7:47
  Speaker 7: themselves and continue to invest. I know that's something I
• 7:49
  Speaker 7: harped on yesterday. But we also got to give certain
• 7:54
  Speaker 7: members of this team grace. Like Spencer Anderson struggled mightily
• 7:58
  Speaker 7: in that game. And I'm a big Spencer Anderson fan.
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: I love his game. But we also got to say
• 8:02
  Speaker 7: he hasn't played as a true starter thus far. He's
• 8:08
  Speaker 7: been a rotational guy. He's been a guy that's been
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: thrown in. But he necessarily hasn't been a guy that, well,
• 8:14
  Speaker 7: you're the starting guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I
• 8:18
  Speaker 7: think there was so much talk about this unit getting
• 8:21
  Speaker 7: bullied that sometimes when you're in a dog fight or
• 8:25
  Speaker 7: you're in a phone booth fight, and you're not used
• 8:28
  Speaker 7: to getting your way, it can shock you, right? And
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: what I mean by getting your way is when you're
• 8:34
  Speaker 7: doing the things you're being taught to do, it's not working.
• 8:37
  Speaker 7: When you're going in your bag, that's not working. And
• 8:40
  Speaker 7: the guy in front of you seems like he has
• 8:42
  Speaker 7: a beat and he's in rhythm. And if you haven't
• 8:45
  Speaker 7: been in enough of those situations, man, it can make
• 8:48
  Speaker 7: you question yourself as a ball player. And I think
• 8:51
  Speaker 7: when you put on the tape, you start to see
• 8:54
  Speaker 7: guys in that front five start to question themselves. and
• 8:57
  Speaker 7: question their communication. Max can also tell you, you can
• 9:02
  Speaker 7: watch one play and that one play can tell a
• 9:08
  Speaker 7: different story. Especially if it's a breakdown. The center and
• 9:12
  Speaker 7: quarterback cannot identify the protection on the right. Identify the
• 9:18
  Speaker 7: pressure right. It also could be the receiver on the
• 9:22
  Speaker 7: same line. The offensive line can block it up right,
• 9:24
  Speaker 7: but You know, the receiver runs the wrong route, doesn't
• 9:28
  Speaker 7: get open, or the running back does. Like, it takes
• 9:32
  Speaker 7: this unit to play together and in line and to
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: play on a string. And what we've seen, especially out
• 9:38
  Speaker 7: of this game, and I know Mike McCarthy has come
• 9:41
  Speaker 7: out and said, you know, I need to dial it back.
• 9:44
  Speaker 7: I need to kind of shave this thing down, simplify it.
• 9:48
  Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers sees football on a Ph.D. level.
• 9:55
  Speaker 7: They're trying to get the rest of those guys to
• 9:58
  Speaker 7: catch up. But the problem is you can't get those
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: guys to catch up if they haven't been through fire.
• 10:04
  Speaker 7: You know what I mean? So you're trying to ask
• 10:06
  Speaker 7: these guys to get in line in real time when
• 10:08
  Speaker 7: the game's on the line or when things are going.
• 10:11
  Speaker 7: And it's just a lot of what they want to
• 10:13
  Speaker 7: do should have happened in training camp, and right now
• 10:17
  Speaker 7: you're seeing the residual effects of it. I think the
• 10:20
  Speaker 7: Steelers are going to be fine, man. I know a
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: lot of people are like, hey, they've been dumping all
• 10:25
  Speaker 7: over Aaron Rodgers and the whole situation. Aaron Rodgers, as
• 10:28
  Speaker 7: your quarterback, he is your eyes, ears, and he's an
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: extension of the coaching staff. So he does have a
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: right to say, hey, this is what works and this
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: is what doesn't work. He's G5 classified to have that
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: conversation with Mike McCarthy. The problem with that right now
• 10:46
  Speaker 7: is Mike McCarthy has to be able to also tell
• 10:49
  Speaker 7: Aaron Rodgers, this is my show, right? This is, this
• 10:52
  Speaker 7: is what we're doing. This is what I need you
• 10:54
  Speaker 7: to get in line with. And you hope, and you
• 10:57
  Speaker 7: pray that the disconnect that they're currently going through, isn't
• 11:02
  Speaker 7: something that Lincoln was well into the season.
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
• 11:05
  Speaker 7: Like we hope those types of conversations are happening behind
• 11:08
  Speaker 7: closed curtain. And there's not no, you know, sometimes Aaron
• 11:13
  Speaker 7: will say something, you have to read through the tea
• 11:14
  Speaker 7: leaves and like, Oh, there's trouble there. Hopefully that's not
• 11:17
  Speaker 7: the case. So, um, Once again, tough loss. You got
• 11:21
  Speaker 7: to bury it because the Bengals are for real.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: They look like they're for real to me.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Let me ask you, because when you guys talk, there's
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: always a lot of things I want to follow up on.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: So I'm going to ask you both, and Max, I'll
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: start with you.
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: Spencer Anderson has started games for the Steelers, but he
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: has never been the starter for the Steelers.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: Correct.
• 11:45
  Speaker 7: That's what I meant, Rob. I hope I made that clear.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm trying to follow up with this because
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: I know exactly what you're saying. There's a different mentality,
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: I think, when you're saying, hey, I'm not just in
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: here holding a place because Isaac Ciamalo's hurt. I'm the
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: starting guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, Max, there's a
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: little bit of a different mindset that comes with that,
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: although I think by nature of being a seventh-round draft choice,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: and not established as a starter, there's always going to
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: be a tendency, I think, a human nature tendency to
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: peek over your shoulder.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: So there's a lot going on here.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: And I think you could say the same thing about
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: Dylan Cook at right tackle, right?
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: Both of them.
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: That's why I said about the right side. It matters.
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: And when you've never been the guy and you're just
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: the guy that, Yeah.
• 12:45
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 13:07
  Speaker 6: There's an adjustment period. I mean, we've all experienced it
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: at some point or another, right? Will stepped in for
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: me the last two games of the season. It didn't
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: feel like it was his job at that time. He
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: was like, I'm taking the place of Max. Not this
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: is Willie Colon, right tackle. And that came later. And
• 13:25
  Speaker 6: for me, like when Marvell, you know, went down my
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: rookie year or I had to go in for him
• 13:31
  Speaker 6: or Allen said.
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: I don't want to play. It wasn't like, oh, I'm
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: the new left guard. I'm starting for Allen Fanica.
• 13:36
  Speaker 7: No. No.
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: I have to start. I have to live up to
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: his expectations, not my own expectations. And so that that's
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: one that is always a little bit different as well.
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: And so I think when you get to that, there's
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: an adjustment and you're doing it in real time against
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: real dudes. You know, this isn't like you're running a simulation.
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: You know, once again, practice is one thing. And we
• 13:58
  Speaker 6: could argue about how much practice and callusing you get
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: now versus when we got it.
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: It's not two days. It's not.
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: It's not an opportunity where you're getting a bunch of
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: padded practices to kind of figure out your physicality.
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: You're figuring out.
• 14:12
  Speaker 6: Your physicality in the stadium in this moment, and you're
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: trying to make it work. And I think that's where
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: people often get confused.
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: Oh, this is just some easy stuff. Huh?
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: And you have a 42-year-old quarterback that you're trying to
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: keep safe at the same time.
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: So, you know, we had a younger Ben. Ben was mobile.
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: Ben would go stiff arm a guy out of a
• 14:35
  Speaker 6: sack and Be cool with it. So I think that's
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: where we kind of have to give that grace. And
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: that's why I say it takes five to six weeks
• 14:42
  Speaker 6: for this group to really show you who they are, because.
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: It is a process like nothing is.
• 14:49
  Speaker 6: You know, I get we're in a society now where
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: it's like, hey, if I throw it in the microwave,
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: the food's done.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: I got a full hungry man meal. It ain't that.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: And I know people like Max, you always talk about food,
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: but it's, it's a commonality, right?
• 15:01
  Speaker 6: It takes time. Like if you want a good meal,
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: it takes time. You go sit down at a restaurant
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: and you wait for that meal to get ready. Whether
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: it takes 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour, whatever it is.
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: That's what, that's what's required. I think for the guys,
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: you have to take that time with them and give
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: that grace. Cause it's not, it's going to be ugly
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: before it gets pretty. We all know, you know, I
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: compare it to the haircut, right? Like, well, When you
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: were growing your hair out, there was that ugly phase, right?
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: Before you got to the dreads and all the long hair,
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: before I got my braids and everything, there's.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: That ugly period.
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: We're like, man, I got to wear a ball cap everywhere.
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: That's what happens. That's what happens before you get that.
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: And that same thing with the offensive line, because we
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: need this group to be good for five years. We
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: don't need them to be good for five games.
• 15:47
  Speaker 7: But the problem is, Max, to be honest with you,
• 15:51
  Speaker 7: and I know we got to go to break, so
• 15:52
  Speaker 7: thank you, Justin. And I'll get out the way, Rob. One,
• 15:56
  Speaker 7: I don't know if Aaron Rodgers has that type of patience.
• 15:59
  Speaker 7: I don't think he's there. I think if you pay
• 16:01
  Speaker 7: attention to Aaron Rodgers and some of his pressers, he
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: doesn't have the patience to wait for this five to arrive.
• 16:08
  Speaker 7: On the other side of that, I do think right now,
• 16:12
  Speaker 7: collectively as a unit, man, they don't have time because
• 16:16
  Speaker 7: Dexter Lawrence and the Bengals, if you turn on the
• 16:19
  Speaker 7: tape against the Texans, they're causing hell. And they're playing
• 16:24
  Speaker 7: with a sense of, Yeah, we know what the offense
• 16:27
  Speaker 7: can do, but we're good too. So they have a
• 16:29
  Speaker 7: chip on their shoulder. And so you make the good point.
• 16:32
  Speaker 7: This five now has to go into every game trying
• 16:35
  Speaker 7: to gel in real time instead of what, in my
• 16:40
  Speaker 7: personal opinion, this five should have been solidified right after
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: that Jets game in the preseason so they can have
• 16:47
  Speaker 7: the time to lock in, figure out the nuances, figure
• 16:50
  Speaker 7: out what this line can and can't do from a
• 16:52
  Speaker 7: skill standpoint and a schematic standpoint. and move forward. When
• 16:56
  Speaker 7: you turn on the tape and you watch the Chiefs,
• 16:59
  Speaker 7: you watch the Indianapolis Colts, you watch some of these
• 17:03
  Speaker 7: offensive lines, man, they know who they are, and they're
• 17:06
  Speaker 7: telling you who they are by their play style. And
• 17:09
  Speaker 7: so I feel for the Steelers because I talked about
• 17:13
  Speaker 7: it yesterday, Rob. Me and Max have been in that
• 17:16
  Speaker 7: position where we're the weak link on the team as
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: far as a unit-wise, and we really had to dig deep.
• 17:21
  Speaker 7: We really had to stay together. We really had to
• 17:22
  Speaker 7: find ourselves individually and collectively. The problem is I don't
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: know who that leader is for the Steelers as far
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: as that unit. Max had played a lot of ball.
• 17:35
  Speaker 7: Chris Kimatu had played a lot of ball. I had
• 17:37
  Speaker 7: played enough football. And Justin Harwick had came from Carolina
• 17:42
  Speaker 7: Panthers and had played a long time. So from a veteran,
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: we lean on our veteran experience. These guys are really young.
• 17:50
  Speaker 7: So I don't know who that leader is. to rally
• 17:52
  Speaker 7: these guys right now because when you turn on the
• 17:55
  Speaker 7: clip-ins and you hear Wade Troy speaking and Mason speaking
• 17:59
  Speaker 7: and Zach, this is a group that wants to be
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: better and wants to do better, but I don't know
• 18:03
  Speaker 7: necessarily they have that one guy they can lean on
• 18:05
  Speaker 7: and talk about some of the things that he went
• 18:07
  Speaker 7: through to get over tough times.
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: I think that's a great point.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of points on this offensive line, including,
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, the world of professional sports is merciless. If
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: somebody thinks you've got a weakness, they will keep attacking
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: that weakness until you prove it's not a weakness anymore. Yeah,
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: that's something we're going to address. You're going to hear
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: much more from Mike McCarthy as well. We continue in
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: In hindsight, you go back and you look, How many
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: days did we line up with the same offensive line?
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: We worked a lot of different combinations. No excuses, but
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: they need continuity. They need consistency. So the consistency will
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: come through the common concepts. I think we've got to
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: take a hard look, and that goes back to your
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: volume question. We're concept-driven as how we scheme, install, scheme, develop.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: But our consistency is starting up front. We need to
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: give our guys... more laps, more time on task, and
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: make sure we're asking them to do things that they've got.
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: Plenty of reps in.
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's Mike McCarthy talking. about the offensive line.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Look, I think most of our conversation is going to
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: revolve around the offensive line. You've got to protect Aaron Rodgers,
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: that's the offensive line, largely. You've got to get the
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: running game going, that's the offensive line. You've got to
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: get this offense going, that's the offensive line. And You know,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: to echo your thoughts, guys, you know, and Willie, look,
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: you know, more time together, right? More reps, more continuity
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: is needed for this group.
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 20:20
  Speaker 7: And I think– so it's interesting because I think the
• 20:23
  Speaker 7: Steelers were prepared for what the Patriots were going to
• 20:25
  Speaker 7: do to them. They won a blitz of playing man coverage.
• 20:28
  Speaker 7: Aaron Rodgers was placed 21 times out of 44 dropbacks.
• 20:34
  Speaker 7: the Patriots are able to generate 17 pressures. And when
• 20:39
  Speaker 7: you talk about what we saw out there, we just
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: saw an office line that was just put through the fire.
• 20:44
  Speaker 7: And once again, collectively considering that they haven't played together,
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: they were all individually kind of taking on the trauma
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: of what was coming at them in real time. And
• 20:55
  Speaker 7: the Patriots defensive line, and Max can talk to this too,
• 21:00
  Speaker 7: When you have a defensive line that has a beat
• 21:02
  Speaker 7: on you and they feel like they can push you around,
• 21:05
  Speaker 7: they don't only stop. They call other boys to the rally, right?
• 21:08
  Speaker 7: And so when they feel like they can penetrate and
• 21:10
  Speaker 7: attack with movement, send guys up the middle, send guys
• 21:14
  Speaker 7: off the edge, get Aaron Rodgers off his spot, force
• 21:16
  Speaker 7: him out of pocket, force him to do things that
• 21:19
  Speaker 7: he's not comfortable with, on top of getting blasted in
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: the back, that's how you steer the wheel of an
• 21:24
  Speaker 7: offensive line. And what we saw was the wheel of
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: the offensive line start to retreat as the game went along.
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: Because they didn't have answers. And schematically, I don't know
• 21:32
  Speaker 7: if the coaching staff gave them answers. And as this
• 21:38
  Speaker 7: office line continues to grow and figure out what they
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: need to become and they continue to find their identity,
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: running the ball is an overstatement. And when you talk
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: about what Mike McCarthy wants to do, yes, he doesn't
• 21:52
  Speaker 7: want to be a dink and dunk coordinator. And he
• 21:54
  Speaker 7: wants to push the ball down the field. In order
• 21:58
  Speaker 7: to have play action, you've got to be able to
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: run the ball first. And that's just what it is.
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: And I know he talked about he went into this
• 22:06
  Speaker 7: week really dialed up, really focused on getting the run
• 22:11
  Speaker 7: game going. But I just think when you talk about
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: what the Patriots did as far as loading the box,
• 22:17
  Speaker 7: forcing the movement, a lot of it was up front, man.
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: A lot of guys were just confused. You could just
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: tell they just weren't on the same page. and from
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: a communication standpoint on how to hold their blocks and
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: what they're looking for. And they got bullied, right? They're
• 22:33
  Speaker 7: constantly getting pushed in the background, yada, yada, yada. You
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: don't want to be the dig horse, so I'm going
• 22:37
  Speaker 7: to try my best not to. I think moving forward,
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: it's a situation where Mike McCarthy has to say, hey,
• 22:45
  Speaker 7: find out what runs work. How do we build off it?
• 22:48
  Speaker 7: How do we get more tight ends on the field,
• 22:50
  Speaker 7: not only blocking but catching? And if Aaron is going
• 22:53
  Speaker 7: to be on the move because we can't hold up,
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: What does that look like? Is that more boots? Is
• 22:57
  Speaker 7: that waggles? Is it little things? Is it misdirections? I
• 23:01
  Speaker 7: think at this point, when you have the gauntlet that
• 23:04
  Speaker 7: they got coming up within the division, man, you got
• 23:08
  Speaker 7: to start figuring out what you do well right now
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: and play to your strengths. And that's going to help
• 23:13
  Speaker 7: you kind of build momentum because what happened to the
• 23:15
  Speaker 7: Steelers Sunday is they lost rhythm. They lost fight and it,
• 23:19
  Speaker 7: and it showed. And so, uh, The defense is going
• 23:24
  Speaker 7: to be fine. We know that's not the problem. Offensively,
• 23:28
  Speaker 7: they're not going to be winning any games if they're
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: not scoring more than 13. I mean, you're not going
• 23:33
  Speaker 7: to beat the Bengals, period, if you're not scoring at
• 23:34
  Speaker 7: least 20-plus points in that game. So it's going to
• 23:38
  Speaker 7: be interesting what the game plan looks like, how this
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: team responds. But I think collectively they should be fine.
• 23:44
  Speaker 7: But it's going to take for all parties, offensive line,
• 23:47
  Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers to be on the same
• 23:49
  Speaker 7: page going into this game against the Bengals.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: And you're absolutely right, Will.
• 23:55
  Speaker 6: It's very frustrating when you think about, you know, guys
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: talking about, oh, plans and this, that, and the other. Well,
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: it's like, no, we've got to have bread and butter,
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: and they don't have bread and butter right now. We
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: always talk about what can we fall back on. Like
• 24:10
  Speaker 6: back in our day, Will, 22-23 double.
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: We knew when in doubt, we're going to beat you up.
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: We're going to beat you up, and we're going to
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: give you our best shot Because we know that if
• 24:22
  Speaker 6: we put hat on hat and 600 plus pounds on
• 24:25
  Speaker 6: 300 pounds, we're going to get you up out of there.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: Even to the chagrin of some of our teammates at times.
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: San Diego. San Diego.
• 24:34
  Speaker 6: San Diego.
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: But that's what it calls for. Sometimes it's like when
• 24:41
  Speaker 5: you get backed in the corner, guess what? I got
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: a swing.
• 24:45
  Speaker 6: And if I know I got this one hitter quitter,
• 24:47
  Speaker 6: Put me in a position to use the one-hitter quitter.
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: But if I don't know what the one-hitter quitter is,
• 24:53
  Speaker 6: and that's what they don't have. They run so many
• 24:55
  Speaker 6: different styles of plays that they don't know what their
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: true identity is. Because it's like, oh, well, we just
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: block it up. We're going to run outside zone. We're
• 25:03
  Speaker 6: going to run inside zone. We're going to run stretch zone.
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: We're going to run toss zone.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: It's like, no.
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: What do these guys do well? Put bodies on bodies
• 25:11
  Speaker 6: and let the front dictate it. And if you need
• 25:13
  Speaker 6: to pull an extra man in, you pull the extra
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: guy in for the safety dropping in the box.
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: That's what the Z motions are for.
• 25:19
  Speaker 6: That's what the, that's what the X modes are for
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: is to go dig that eighth man out of the box.
• 25:23
  Speaker 6: And at the end of the day, running back, you
• 25:26
  Speaker 6: still have to make one miss. That was always the rule.
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: Gotta make one of them miss. If you can't make
• 25:32
  Speaker 6: a miss, we got, we got bigger issues we need
• 25:35
  Speaker 6: to talk about.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: And so that's the biggest point.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: Sorry.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, no, I was just going to say, you know, I,
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: this brings up a, a great philosophical conversation because an offense,
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: you know, I suppose you could call it an offensive
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: identity that you are multiple. Okay, you want to put
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: seven in the box, we're going to run. You want
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: to put eight in the box, we're going to throw.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: You give us this look, we're going to run this play.
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: Give us that look.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: We're going to– our identity is we're such a cerebral
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: team that we're going to be able to take advantage
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: of whatever you do. that is one set of identity,
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: but I also think there's something I, you know, I
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: don't know if you, you guys were in the huddle.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Is there something to be said about a play or
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: a series of plays, a group of plays that everybody's
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: nodding in the, in, in the huddle saying, okay, this
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: is what we do.
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: This is what we do. We don't think you can
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: stop it. I don't care how many got in the box. Uh,
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: we're coming at you with this play. There's that kind
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: of identity as well. Um, You guys have been in huddles.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: You guys have played on multiple different kinds of offensive teams.
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: Is there one way or the other you like better?
• 26:53
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, so if you watch the Chiefs and
• 26:56
  Speaker 7: the Colts game the other night, what you saw was
• 27:01
  Speaker 7: an offensive line on both sides get into the game,
• 27:05
  Speaker 7: not only physically but emotionally. And the compliment was the
• 27:10
  Speaker 7: running back being able to finish through tough tackles and
• 27:13
  Speaker 7: get positive yards. And from a pass protection standpoint, because
• 27:19
  Speaker 7: both teams were running the ball, they had attended shots
• 27:23
  Speaker 7: down the field that either both quarterback can execute. The
• 27:26
  Speaker 7: problem with Aaron Rodgers Sunday was that they tried to
• 27:29
  Speaker 7: take attended shots, but it was either a check down,
• 27:35
  Speaker 7: a sack, or he was heard. And so it really
• 27:39
  Speaker 7: halted what they were looking for from a run game
• 27:41
  Speaker 7: standpoint and being able to get in the game. I
• 27:45
  Speaker 7: think when it comes to Max's point, the bread and
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: butters and all that stuff, it has to be a
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: collective thing, meaning tight ends, office line, running backs. Everybody
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: knows that when we run this play collectively, this is
• 27:59
  Speaker 7: the best play for the unit to execute. Because that's
• 28:02
  Speaker 7: what you're talking about, Rob. You're talking about execution. When
• 28:05
  Speaker 7: things go bad, What play can we call that we
• 28:08
  Speaker 7: can execute as a unit that we know is going
• 28:11
  Speaker 7: to end up on the positive side for us? And
• 28:14
  Speaker 7: so I don't know. So me and Max can only
• 28:20
  Speaker 7: talk from our memories. And when Max mentions the 22 doubles,
• 28:24
  Speaker 7: which are dual plays, double teams across the board, when
• 28:29
  Speaker 7: he talks about that, a lot of that was established
• 28:32
  Speaker 7: in training camp. A lot of that was established in
• 28:35
  Speaker 7: spring training camp. Because we had time to iron all
• 28:37
  Speaker 7: that out. The Steelers are in the water that time,
• 28:40
  Speaker 7: and we don't want to kind of keep harping on
• 28:41
  Speaker 7: one of the reasons for that. But I can't– in
• 28:46
  Speaker 7: the last two games, I just don't know what they
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: do well from a run game standpoint where I can
• 28:50
  Speaker 7: say this is the direction they should be going. You
• 28:52
  Speaker 7: get what I'm saying? I just don't– they haven't shown
• 28:54
  Speaker 7: enough from a run game standpoint where we say that's
• 28:57
  Speaker 7: a potential bread and butter. Or if we go 12 personnel,
• 29:00
  Speaker 7: we should be running to this side because they're doing better.
• 29:03
  Speaker 7: You know, because– Troy Furtado's dealing with an ankle right now.
• 29:06
  Speaker 7: You know, Mason McCormick isn't playing like himself. Zach Frazier
• 29:08
  Speaker 7: and Spencer Anderson, both got their tails kicked against the Patriots.
• 29:13
  Speaker 7: Dylan Cook, sure, sore spot. But once again, he is
• 29:16
  Speaker 7: who he is. And so now you now have to
• 29:19
  Speaker 7: entertain getting Max Ahanachur ready to go. Because if you
• 29:23
  Speaker 7: really want this run game to be what it is, one,
• 29:26
  Speaker 7: the Steelers can't run the ball with their front five.
• 29:28
  Speaker 7: Now they have to go actually get another six-man to
• 29:30
  Speaker 7: run the ball. And so now you're looking at potential–
• 29:33
  Speaker 7: Brock Hoffman out there or a Jennings Dunker. So things
• 29:38
  Speaker 7: may be changing right before our eyes, but whatever happens, man,
• 29:43
  Speaker 7: we have to figure out five plays we can run
• 29:46
  Speaker 7: against any front collectively we can have success. And so
• 29:50
  Speaker 7: Mike McCarthy has his work cut out for him because
• 29:53
  Speaker 7: you know what the Bengals are saying. They want to
• 29:55
  Speaker 7: run the ball and they want to establish the run.
• 29:58
  Speaker 7: They want to protect Aaron So the Bengals knows what
• 30:03
  Speaker 7: they want to do and what's coming at them. The
• 30:05
  Speaker 7: Steelers right now don't know how to attack from being
• 30:09
  Speaker 7: true to who they are. And that's where the disconnect is.
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: Max, that's the challenge this week. I mean, Mike McCarthy
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: talked about that, scaling it. It sounds like exactly what
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: Willie's saying. Scale it back, find what works, and then
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: spread back out again from there. Instead of spreading out,
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: and go in the multiple route. Let's find what works,
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: and then let's get multiple, and let's get more looks
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: and different things later. But let's find something that works,
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: because right now you're hard-pressed to find something that works
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: on this offense.
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: No, you are, and I.
• 30:47
  Speaker 5: Think that's what practice is for.
• 30:49
  Speaker 6: And I know they had all these schools and everything
• 30:51
  Speaker 6: we talked about and how they made everything better today,
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: and more concise, and he's a teacher and all these
• 30:59
  Speaker 6: other type of things. But at the end of the day,
• 31:03
  Speaker 6: teaching is good and all, but if you can't have
• 31:06
  Speaker 6: practical application theory, it doesn't matter. And so for the Steelers,
• 31:10
  Speaker 6: they have to figure out what do they do as
• 31:13
  Speaker 6: a teacher, right? What teaching schematics can they have that
• 31:20
  Speaker 6: is going to– help these guys understand it. And, and, but,
• 31:24
  Speaker 6: but it's a physical nature. It's a physical mentality that
• 31:27
  Speaker 6: they have to fight.
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: And that's that.
• 31:29
  Speaker 6: And that's what I don't like about it is, you know,
• 31:32
  Speaker 6: we get to the point where, you know, we're trying
• 31:35
  Speaker 6: to make all these different types of reasons, excuses and
• 31:39
  Speaker 6: everything else. But at the end of the day, it
• 31:41
  Speaker 6: comes down to brass tacks, right? It's can we run
• 31:46
  Speaker 6: the ball in a six man box? Can we, can
• 31:49
  Speaker 6: we take full advantage of, of when there is a,
• 31:53
  Speaker 6: can we throw the pass out of there? Can we
• 31:56
  Speaker 6: throw ourselves out of a well? And if they are
• 31:59
  Speaker 6: going to bring more than we can handle, who's going
• 32:01
  Speaker 6: to be the outlet guy that takes the play? That's
• 32:05
  Speaker 6: what we have to get to. And that's something that
• 32:09
  Speaker 6: they're going to have to spend long and hard and
• 32:10
  Speaker 6: think about, hey.
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: Who are we?
• 32:12
  Speaker 6: Who are we as a team? And do that and say,
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: we're just going to be great at this. If it's
• 32:18
  Speaker 6: one thing, it's one thing. If it's three things, It's
• 32:20
  Speaker 6: three things.
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: That's fine. You know, let it be three things.
• 32:23
  Speaker 6: But at the end of the day, don't let the
• 32:26
  Speaker 6: lack of thoughts in this.
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: Hinder you from actually being successful.
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: And I think that's what I kind of always lean
• 32:34
  Speaker 6: back on is who can I depend on when it's
• 32:38
  Speaker 6: in the foxhole? What guys are going to give me
• 32:41
  Speaker 6: the right moment? Is there the attitude guy? And does
• 32:45
  Speaker 6: he feel like he can give attitude? We always talk
• 32:48
  Speaker 6: about this, right, about the bully. You know, can the
• 32:50
  Speaker 6: bully actually be a bully in these moments? That's what
• 32:53
  Speaker 6: I need to find out. And if it is, what
• 32:56
  Speaker 6: play makes him a bully, right? If Mason McCormick is
• 32:59
  Speaker 6: going to be your enforcer, what play does Mason McCormick
• 33:02
  Speaker 6: come out and kind of, yeah, I'm about to.
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: F this up. You know what I'm saying?
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: Like we had those plays, but that took time and
• 33:11
  Speaker 6: that's time you don't have now, but you get, well,
• 33:13
  Speaker 6: you have to.
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: Figure it out on the fly. Like, Hey, Are we going.
• 33:17
  Speaker 6: To be the bully guys that's going to just beat
• 33:19
  Speaker 6: dudes up? Or are we going to be the guys
• 33:21
  Speaker 6: that just survive? You know, it's the thriving and surviving
• 33:25
  Speaker 6: thing that Mike Tomlin always talked about. Like, where are
• 33:28
  Speaker 6: we at as a unit to figure out where is
• 33:31
  Speaker 6: our survival technique best? And so that's what you have
• 33:34
  Speaker 6: to figure out. And that's why I said it takes time,
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: but they don't have that luxury of time. Like you said,
• 33:39
  Speaker 6: Dexter Lawrence is coming to town. This Bengals renewed defense.
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: And you know how they feel about us. over the
• 33:45
  Speaker 6: last couple of years where their defense was just God awful,
• 33:49
  Speaker 6: they have something to prove. They have some chips on
• 33:50
  Speaker 6: their shoulders. These guys are like, nah, man, we effed
• 33:55
  Speaker 6: this up so many times. Now we feel like we
• 33:57
  Speaker 6: can get that get back and get that.
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: Lick that we've been looking for. That's what you're going
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: to have to fight through. We're going to have to
• 34:03
  Speaker 5: fight through guys who are looking for that lick. And
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: that's what I want.
• 34:07
  Speaker 6: To make sure that guys understand is that, hey, They
• 34:11
  Speaker 6: are not going to take it easy on you, and
• 34:13
  Speaker 6: guess what?
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: They are happy you have problems right now, and it's
• 34:15
  Speaker 5: not them.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: No doubt, and this feels very much all of a sudden.
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: It's suddenly upon us. It's like, whoa, the next eight
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: days are really, really important with the Bengals in town
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: and going to Cleveland. Talk more about that. Again, we're
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: still talking about this offensive line. We'll get into some
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: of the personnel issues when we continue here in the
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Max is taking a step each and every week.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I had a few snaps the
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: other night, so it was good. I thought he had
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: a really good day Thursday afternoon. you know, in the
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: padded work, the individual work. So he's definitely, you know,
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: he's definitely making big steps. So it's getting better.
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: That's Mike McCarthy talking about Max Ahanachor, first-round pick for
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: the Steelers. The rookie's gotten a couple snaps, one snap
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: in game one, and then a trio of snaps against
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: the Patriots late in sort of garbage time. Actually, it
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: might have been a couple more snaps than that in
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: garbage time in the game. Talk about that in a moment,
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: but I just wanted to get back to this Willie,
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: I'm sure.
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: You know this.
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: There is nothing like, man, in pro sports, if they
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: find a weakness, they will attack it. You've got to
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: believe that the Bengals will take a look at how
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: the blitz packages affected the Steelers, and they will bring
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: pressure and try to see if they can get a
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: quote-unquote free sack or two and kick the Steelers' offensive
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: line when it's down.
• 36:08
  Speaker 7: Well, it's not just about the offensive line. They want
• 36:11
  Speaker 7: to disrupt Aaron Rodgers' ability to set tempo, right? They
• 36:17
  Speaker 7: know Aaron Rodgers wants to go up tempo. They know
• 36:20
  Speaker 7: he wants to see things and give signals where they
• 36:22
  Speaker 7: can push the ball down the field. And they also
• 36:25
  Speaker 7: want to be able to push that front five around.
• 36:28
  Speaker 7: And because there's now back-to-back weeks where we're watching this
• 36:33
  Speaker 7: offensive line not play up to par, They feel like
• 36:36
  Speaker 7: they have the edge because they have veteran guys and
• 36:38
  Speaker 7: guys that can rent games. I do think it's in
• 36:41
  Speaker 7: the best interest of the Steelers to put a game
• 36:45
  Speaker 7: plan together where, one, they focus on keeping Joe Burrow
• 36:48
  Speaker 7: on the bench, and two, they have a clear understanding
• 36:52
  Speaker 7: that Jeremy Bernard needs to be on the field more.
• 36:56
  Speaker 7: Rico Dotto, they have to find ways of somehow keeping
• 36:59
  Speaker 7: Jalen Warren and Rico Dotto on the field at the
• 37:01
  Speaker 7: same time. Because we watched the Saints. The Saints have
• 37:03
  Speaker 7: a thing called– They had the pony package, right, 21.
• 37:07
  Speaker 7: They had Travis Atien, and they also had Alvin Kamara.
• 37:16
  Speaker 7: Both guys on the field at the same time really
• 37:19
  Speaker 7: screwed up the defense of the Baltimore Ravens because now
• 37:24
  Speaker 7: you're talking about both guys who have the ability to
• 37:26
  Speaker 7: catch out of the backfield. Both guys have the ability
• 37:29
  Speaker 7: to not only tote the ball, but both guys are
• 37:32
  Speaker 7: different runners and effective receivers. from a standpoint that one,
• 37:37
  Speaker 7: I think Alvin Kamara is more of a shifty guy,
• 37:39
  Speaker 7: a really good guy who kind of, he builds momentum
• 37:42
  Speaker 7: as he gets to the line of scrimmage and then
• 37:44
  Speaker 7: he can take off between the tackles. Etienne has that
• 37:47
  Speaker 7: same type of aspect, but the thing about him, I
• 37:49
  Speaker 7: think he's more diddlier in space if you get him one-on-one.
• 37:53
  Speaker 7: And so you're talking about Jalen Warren and Rico Dotto,
• 37:56
  Speaker 7: both built the same, but both different backs from a
• 37:58
  Speaker 7: play style standpoint. And so we have to figure out,
• 38:01
  Speaker 7: if we can figure out how can we get keep
• 38:04
  Speaker 7: both backs on the field, have multiple packages where Aaron has,
• 38:09
  Speaker 7: he's not being a check down Charlie, where he's being
• 38:11
  Speaker 7: able to see it, read it, get the ball in
• 38:13
  Speaker 7: their hands, and they can make do. Because you know
• 38:15
  Speaker 7: they have the ability between both of them. They can
• 38:17
  Speaker 7: beat the first tackler. It's about what they do after that.
• 38:21
  Speaker 7: And it allows you to get them in the game
• 38:25
  Speaker 7: and get them into, talking about value, it gets them
• 38:29
  Speaker 7: in the game more instead of just kind of having
• 38:31
  Speaker 7: a design run that doesn't work, a rotation in and out.
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: Whatever.
• 38:35
  Speaker 7: So I think Mike McCarthy continue, he will hopefully continue
• 38:39
  Speaker 7: to dig into crates and see what he can do
• 38:41
  Speaker 7: as far as getting those two football. But man, I,
• 38:44
  Speaker 7: I just, I just want to see this offense just
• 38:47
  Speaker 7: get in the rhythm. Um, and when they're able to
• 38:49
  Speaker 7: get in rhythm, they, they, they should, they should spark
• 38:52
  Speaker 7: and then things should come around. But I think the
• 38:54
  Speaker 7: tight end usage has to be better. We already know
• 38:56
  Speaker 7: what's going on with DK. Well, we don't know what's
• 38:58
  Speaker 7: going on with DK, but we know what's going on
• 39:00
  Speaker 7: with DK dropping the damn football. Um, And in all reality,
• 39:06
  Speaker 7: when you need to run the ball, whatever you need
• 39:09
  Speaker 7: to do to get to do it. Like if it's
• 39:11
  Speaker 7: a six man, if you got to get extra tight
• 39:13
  Speaker 7: ends where you're not going to 13 personnel, whatever you
• 39:16
  Speaker 7: need to do, we need to get there. We need
• 39:17
  Speaker 7: to get there in a hurry because what we're starting
• 39:20
  Speaker 7: to see is the confidence in this offensive line drain
• 39:22
  Speaker 7: slowly week by week because they're not living up to
• 39:25
  Speaker 7: their expectations. And they know and they know there's a
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: lot expected of them.
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: So uh max before i get to the to the
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: personnel issue in order for this line to level up
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: shall we say um and get to where they want
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: to get to um.
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm.
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: Going to bring up one specific example, and I believe
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: it's the one in which Aaron Rodgers.
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: Was hit and sacked and fumbled, right? So it was
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: a six-man rush.
• 40:03
  Speaker 5: The sandwich play.
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, six-man rush. You had six blockers.
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: It looked to me like Dylan Cook went on the
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: weak side Went with the outside man like he's supposed to.
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: I'm trying to remember back in the day, right?
• 40:17
  Speaker 3: Like if you're on field goal, kick, or whatever, you
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: always got to take the outside guy, I think.
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: Or do you take the inside guy? Now I forgot.
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: But I think he's got to take the outside guy.
• 40:26
  Speaker 3: Mason McCormick went inside. So a guy split those two untouched.
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: And then on the play side, Rico Dowdle. Yeah, Rico Dowdle.
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: It was Faltano, I beg your pardon. Faltano on the
• 40:40
  Speaker 3: left side.
• 40:41
  Speaker 4: And McCormick. So Fautano picked up his guy, the outside guy.
• 40:45
  Speaker 4: The guy split Fautano.
• 40:47
  Speaker 5: He picked up the D-end.
• 40:48
  Speaker 4: No, he picked up the D-end.
• 40:49
  Speaker 5: Ellis came off the edge. And then on the opposite.
• 40:52
  Speaker 4: Side, Spillane on the right side came in between.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: I think that when you say off the edge, I
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: think he came in between Fautano and McCormick.
• 41:00
  Speaker 5: Did he not?
• 41:01
  Speaker 6: No, he was the edge guy Spillane split between Cook
• 41:04
  Speaker 6: and Spencer.
• 41:05
  Speaker 4: No, no. Okay, so on the front side. Okay, let me.
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: I said his wrong.
• 41:09
  Speaker 5: Right side and left side. Let's talk right and left side.
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: On the left side, on the left side, Faltano picked
• 41:14
  Speaker 3: up his man, Mason McCormick went inside, and the guy
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: knifed between those two, untouched. On the front side, it
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: was Dowdle and Cook, and it looked like Dowdle was expecting,
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: because they did a little bit of a stunt, it
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: looked like, and it looked like Dowdle was expecting Cook
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: to switch off and take the inside man, and he
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: was going to take the outside man.
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: So he just, he didn't block anybody. And a guy
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: came through.
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: So, that, again, when Willie's talking about correctable, that seems
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: correctable to me. This is your responsibility on this play.
• 41:47
  Speaker 3: You had six blockers. They brought six, and two guys
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: came in pretty much untouched. You had the numbers. You
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: just didn't block the right guys.
• 41:58
  Speaker 7: Yeah, execute.
• 42:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah, execute.
• 42:01
  Speaker 6: And that was six-man pro, right? That's six-man pro. So,
• 42:05
  Speaker 6: Willie knows these rules. You know, we have We have
• 42:08
  Speaker 6: the four down and the established pointed Mike backer.
• 42:14
  Speaker 5: Wherever he goes, if he lines up plus, center works plus.
• 42:18
  Speaker 6: He lines weak, center works weak, and we figure out
• 42:21
  Speaker 6: what the combination is. Is it going to be a slide?
• 42:23
  Speaker 6: Is it going to be a molly or a duel?
• 42:25
  Speaker 6: To get to that guy, that's the rule. The problem
• 42:30
  Speaker 6: was I don't know who the Mike was when I
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: watched that play because one of those two should have
• 42:36
  Speaker 6: been accounted for. And then the back has the other one.
• 42:40
  Speaker 6: And you never go off of a down lineman to
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: pick up a backer unless my guard bumps me, right?
• 42:46
  Speaker 6: Unless we hear a switch call or a move call,
• 42:50
  Speaker 6: I have whoever.
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: My down lineman is.
• 42:53
  Speaker 6: Now, if we go to the rule, which we do
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: have that rule, it was more of the Baltimore rule, right? Well,
• 42:58
  Speaker 6: five MDMs. It was like, point them, and that's it.
• 43:02
  Speaker 6: That's all we got. We all we got, and that's
• 43:04
  Speaker 6: all we got right there. If we point them out,
• 43:06
  Speaker 6: it was a schoolyard walk-around defense. If I say, hey,
• 43:11
  Speaker 6: Terrell Suggs is a down lineman. We know he's a
• 43:13
  Speaker 6: known rusher. If he's on my side and he's rushing me,
• 43:17
  Speaker 6: I have him.
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: That's it. And we figure out who the five MDMs are.
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: I didn't see that.
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: And I think that's where it was that when you
• 43:25
  Speaker 6: talk about that PhD level of education, they're like, oh, well,
• 43:28
  Speaker 6: you know, if he slides into the B gap, then,
• 43:30
  Speaker 6: you know, you have this rule. And if he gets
• 43:31
  Speaker 6: to the C gap, it's this rule. A gap, a
• 43:33
  Speaker 6: different rule. Dumb it down. We have the five most
• 43:36
  Speaker 6: dangerous guys. Whoever Zach points as the Mike is the Mike.
• 43:40
  Speaker 6: We got him, right? We're not leaving him for the
• 43:43
  Speaker 6: running back.
• 43:44
  Speaker 5: That's our guy.
• 43:45
  Speaker 6: And then if it's anything else, after that, that is you, Aaron.
• 43:51
  Speaker 6: We got six. They bring seven. You got to make
• 43:54
  Speaker 6: a guy miss or you're throwing the hot.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: But like in that moment, it was confusion.
• 43:59
  Speaker 6: And you never get off of a down lineman or
• 44:01
  Speaker 6: a known rusher to pick up a linebacker because they
• 44:04
  Speaker 6: also did a lot of bait and drop where you
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: saw Spillane or Ellis run up into the line to
• 44:12
  Speaker 6: get Zach engaged and then drop into coverage to cover
• 44:15
  Speaker 6: the check down. So that's one where as you're going
• 44:19
  Speaker 6: through the game, You need to communicate that. Like, James
• 44:21
  Speaker 6: Campin needs to know. Jari Evans needs to know. Hey,
• 44:24
  Speaker 6: they're doing a pop and drop. Like, he's popping me
• 44:27
  Speaker 6: in and drop. Once again, I know to talk about
• 44:30
  Speaker 6: our old school stuff, that's where sugar comes in, right, Will?
• 44:33
  Speaker 6: That's the sugar call. Take two steps off the ball,
• 44:38
  Speaker 6: and they have to make a decision after you.
• 44:39
  Speaker 5: Take those two steps.
• 44:41
  Speaker 4: Sort it out. Okay, explain what a sugar call means.
• 44:44
  Speaker 4: What does that mean?
• 44:44
  Speaker 6: A sugar call is when we don't know what it is, right?
• 44:47
  Speaker 6: We're a little confused as a unit. And we're like, hey, man,
• 44:50
  Speaker 6: they're doing a lot of picking. They're doing a lot
• 44:52
  Speaker 6: of twisting, a lot of slant stunts. So we just
• 44:56
  Speaker 6: take two vertical sets back off the ball, and now
• 44:59
  Speaker 6: you have to make a decision, right? Because the defense,
• 45:02
  Speaker 6: in order for it to work, they have to make
• 45:04
  Speaker 6: a decision by those two sets. So whether a guy's
• 45:07
  Speaker 6: coming in and trying to back off the line of
• 45:09
  Speaker 6: scrimmage to drop into the check down area, if I
• 45:11
  Speaker 6: take two vertical sets, he can't attack me because he
• 45:15
  Speaker 6: has to get back to his role. And if a
• 45:17
  Speaker 6: guy is playing off the edge and having to get
• 45:19
  Speaker 6: into a coverage zone to curl flat if you're off
• 45:20
  Speaker 6: the edge, they have to make that decision. So if
• 45:23
  Speaker 6: you get vertical and set, all these twists and stunts
• 45:27
  Speaker 6: and everybody, you'll see who they are. They'll show you
• 45:30
  Speaker 6: who they are if you do that. They don't have
• 45:32
  Speaker 6: that rule in place for themselves because you see too
• 45:35
  Speaker 6: many guys are on different levels and guys are getting
• 45:38
  Speaker 6: picked really easily. Like Barmore was tearing up Zach Frazier's hip.
• 45:43
  Speaker 6: And it was something that now it's like, Do I
• 45:46
  Speaker 6: go around him underneath because Zach's taken out of the
• 45:49
  Speaker 6: play by this guy and the other guy's looping around,
• 45:52
  Speaker 6: and I can't get to him if I try and
• 45:53
  Speaker 6: bump Zach off. So now I've got to figure something out.
• 45:56
  Speaker 6: Trey Essex. Trey was famous for what? The basketball spin move.
• 46:02
  Speaker 6: He'd get in trouble in that pick move, and he
• 46:05
  Speaker 6: would spin.
• 46:05
  Speaker 5: You're like, why are you spin moving? That's the only
• 46:07
  Speaker 5: way I could do to get around it.
• 46:09
  Speaker 6: And, hell, I had to use it a couple times
• 46:10
  Speaker 6: when we were in San Francisco because when Justin Smith
• 46:13
  Speaker 6: and Alden Smith was on the left side and they
• 46:15
  Speaker 6: were picking the hell out of us because Justin Smith
• 46:17
  Speaker 6: was just so strong, he would pull Trey with him
• 46:20
  Speaker 6: and then he would hit me and Alden Smith would
• 46:22
  Speaker 6: wrap it to the A-gap, Scott free, and Ben had
• 46:25
  Speaker 6: that high ankle sprain, so he was like the Statue
• 46:27
  Speaker 6: of Liberty back there.
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: So we had to do some creative things. Yeah, that
• 46:32
  Speaker 5: was it.
• 46:32
  Speaker 6: And then we had the two power outages in that game, too.
• 46:36
  Speaker 5: It was a hell of a game. But that's the
• 46:38
  Speaker 5: type of stuff, but you figure it out in the moment.
• 46:41
  Speaker 6: And the problem is we're watching this live moment, them
• 46:44
  Speaker 6: trying to figure it out, but they don't have all
• 46:46
  Speaker 6: the tools available to them because they're still so young
• 46:49
  Speaker 6: and new. They don't have the nuances that we had
• 46:52
  Speaker 6: as a unit because we'd all played together for a while.
• 46:55
  Speaker 5: And they haven't had that.
• 46:56
  Speaker 6: So you're trying to rush the seasoning and marinating process
• 46:58
  Speaker 6: for these guys.
• 47:00
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, there's a lot of words. No, there's still
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: more to get to. There's still more I want to
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: ask you guys about this offensive line. We're going to
• 47:09
  Speaker 3: get to that. We still haven't gotten to that. Is
• 47:11
  Speaker 3: it time to make some changes question? We're going to
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: get to that. Also going to look at some of
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: the injuries. We had some injured quarterbacks in the NFL
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: early on. And what does that mean for some of
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: these teams? We'll get to a little bit of that, too,
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: when we continue in the locker room here on the
• 47:24
  Speaker 3: Steelers Audio Network.