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For the Steelers, It’s a Big Week for Russell Wilson and Justin Fields
I’m seeing my 24th and 25th teams of the past five weeks Wednesday as part of my annual NFL training camp tour, and then it’s back home. Until then, here are a few notes to tide you over …
• I think I can translate what Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was saying about his unit’s progress Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Here’s the full quote—on how the offense has looked thus far—with some glaring miscues materializing on the field.
“You know that’s not [the players’] standard; that’s not acceptable,” Smith told reporters. “But at the same time, you’d rather go through that now than have that happen Week 1. There’s a lot going on there. We’ve had a really good camp, but the reality is when we’ve got in there under the lights … and this is taking nothing away from the other defenses, but we got to get out of our own way. Those are the things we have to clean up.”
In other words, the Steelers’ offensive starters extended playing time in preseason reflect failure, and the need to get things right.
The team has spent a lot—in cash and draft capital—to get the offensive line right, and there’s a really good chance two rookies, Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier, are among the team’s five starters on opening day. The receiver position still has a lot of moving parts, and of course, there’s the quarterback situation.
This sets up as a massive week for Russell Wilson, who is set to practice without restriction for the first time since injuring his calf at the start of the summer. Wilson’s battled inconsistency since starting to work his way back, and with the injury healing, he’ll need to fix that. Justin Fields has impressed in practice, and shown his ability to extend plays, create a really cool element in the quarterback run game, but questions remain about how he processes information in the passing game.
The good news is Smith has been a master over the years at fitting his system to his quarterback.
• While we’re there, I do think the Steelers will keep looking for options at wide receiver—if the Brandon Aiyuk situation doesn’t work out for them.
And a sign of where they are at the position is how they rebuffed the San Francisco 49ers’ request for a player as part of any potential trade—which is why the Niners looked around at potential second trades, moving one of the picks coming from Pittsburgh—if they’d decided to take the Steelers’ offer (which was in the neighborhood of second- and third-round draft picks).
I think there will be some options out there for them.
• And on the trade market—there are a good number of teams looking for edge rushers and corners. That’s illustrated both by the return the New England Patriots got for Matthew Judon, and the money (one-year, $7 million guaranteed) that Stephon Gilmore was able to command from the Minnesota Vikings.
• Credit to defensive coordinator Brian Flores for handling the Tua Tagovailoa situation the way he did. There’s no question that there was acrimony between the two in Miami—it was a poorly kept secret even when the two were together with the Dolphins. So I think the fact that he handled it head-on, and took the high road, is a good sign that he’s learned plenty from his three years as a head coach in South Florida.
“Look, I’m human,” Flores said to reporters Tuesday at the team’s practice facility. “So that hit me in a way that wasn’t ... positive for me. But at the same time, I’ve got to use that and say, Hey, how can I grow from that? How can I be better? And that’s really where I’m at from that standpoint. Do I feel like that’s me? No. But how can I grow from that situation and create a world where that’s not the case that anyone says that about Brian Flores?”
One thing that I will say for Flores—he was beloved by his defensive players in New England, and he is beloved by the guys he’s coaching in Minnesota.
Being a head coach, obviously, is different than being a coordinator, and as such, it can be tougher to have the same sort of relationship with players as the top guy. The important thing here, to me at least, is that Flores is taking something from the experience.
I just don’t know that many coaches would’ve been as forthright in the immediate aftermath of comments such as Tagovailoa’s. Here’s hoping those two bury the hatchet soon.
• With Jayden Daniels officially the Washington Commanders’ starter, I’ll say this—the Jets people I talked to this week raved about how Daniels looked a couple of weeks ago against the star-studded New York defense, during a rain-soaked joint practice and their preseason game.
A lot of plaudits matched the stuff you’ve heard from the Washington people, that Daniels doesn’t let anything (rain, in this case) faze him, how smooth he looks moving and running, how he can accurately get the ball downfield, and the easy confidence with which he carries himself. That’s why the veterans in Washington, by the way, have responded to Daniels the way they have.
And a lot of it connects to the five years and 55 starts Daniels had at LSU. He had seen a lot before taking even a practice snap in the NFL. So it makes sense that he’s ready for so much.
• Interesting name to follow: Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Jalyx Hunt. The third-round pick was actually a safety at Cornell after a decorated prep career as a receiver and defensive back, had a growth spurt, transferred to Houston Christian and became a defensive end. The first draft pick ever out of Houston Christian, the athletically gifted Hunt has translated to the NFL faster than Philly thought he would. I think the Eagles will be creative in getting him some run.
• The Eagles and Green Bay Packers are playing in Brazil in a little more than two weeks, and I’ll just say it sounds like the logistics of that trip are not going to be easy. It does make me wonder why, when the league added Sao Paulo and Madrid to its International Series, it didn’t decide to go to Spain first, and get the extra year of runway for Brazil.
• Quote of the week from Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh on what it felt like seeing quarterback Justin Herbert return to the practice field: “I felt like the music should be playing. I even thought I heard music. Voices of angels maybe. It felt great. It felt great.”
• Maybe the biggest mystery man of the camp trip for me was New York Giants OL Evan Neal, who’s coming back from injury, and will need to earn a starting spot, either at guard or tackle. His physical gifts are undeniable. But the Giants are very curious to see how well he responds to adversity, and having to work his way out of it.
• I think CeeDee Lamb’s deal gets done with the Dallas Cowboys before their opener against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8. And I think that at least sparks some more conversation between the Cincinnati Bengals and Ja’Marr Chase, who almost certainly will be in Cincinnati for a long time to come. Remember, Joe Burrow’s deal didn’t get pushed over the goal line until right before the opener in 2023.
