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Steelers' DeMarvin Leal Learned Deeper Football From T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward While on IR

Watching from the sideline allowed two Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pros to teach rookie DeMarvin Leal.

Noah Strackbein

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PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie DeMarvin Leal has spent the last four weeks on injured reserve while recovering from meniscus surgery he had last month. 

During that time, he's watched the defense try to overcome some of the NFL's best offenses and then got to watch the resurgence of the group once T.J. Watt stepped on the field. He watched three games without Watt, and one with him. And with both sides of the coin, he learned a different type of football. 

"What did you learn while on the sidelines?" All Steelers asked the rookie. 

"Seeing everything from a different perspective," Leal said. "So when you're talking to T.J. Watt or Cameron Heyward, and you ask them what things that they see, things that they go through, and you actually see it before the play happens, and you're like 'okay, I see it now.'"

Leal said his knee is nearing 100% and that he doesn't have any expectations about if or when the team will activate him back to the 53-man roster. 

"I feel like they need to see me constantly go through my reps and not be tired and be able to ball out and be myself completely on the field," Leal said. 

The Steelers now have 19 days to activate the rookie onto the roster. In his five games of action this season, he recorded nine tackles, including one for loss, and three pass deflections.

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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