Steelers Offensive Line Addresses Preseason Struggles
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line put up an admittedly poor performance in their second preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the team back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex to start the week, some members of the offending group said that their struggles came down to simple execution.
Five-year veteran Mason Cole said the Steelers line wasn't out-schemed, just beat plain and simple by the Jaguars' talented pass rushers.
"You could use that as an excuse but it's pass protection," Cole said. "They didn't throw a whole lot of stunts at us. They just beat us in pass protection. Sure, it could have helped if we game planned more, ... but if we use the right technique, then we're not going to get beat."
James Daniels dismissed the impact of the new offense and position changes. He instead said the lack of consistency along the line lead to breakdowns. Even if four players were making the right play and doing their job, there always seemed to be at least one leak somewhere along the front. Offensive football requires all 11 players to work in sync and the Steelers didn't have that against the Jags.
"We had times where four people are doing things great and then one person's not doing things great," Daniels said. "... So we need to focus on that and make sure every single person individually is doing things right and then as a team, making sure we're doing things right.
Kevin Dotson expressed the same sentiment as Cole, claiming that he needs to make the skills he's utilized throughout training camp practices translate better to gameday.
"I've got to take what I do in practice and put it into the game more," Dotson said. "You start doing stuff that you used to do or doing the stuff that you're comfortable with instead of the stuff from practice that works. I just got to start doing that."
Kendrick Green, who's battling for a starting spot at left guard with Dotson, said he needs to show more aggression if he wants to earn the start on opening day against the Bengals.
"I've really got to just play ball, play stronger, play a little bit more aggressive," Green said.
Green said head coach Mike Tomlin called him out during the team meeting, displaying poor reps on film in front of his teammates.
"Coach T put us up on the board - me specifically - right in front of the team meeting," Green said. "That never feels good."
Cole was ready to face the noise but added that he thinks his unit has what it takes to recover from their latest lackluster outing in terms of both talent and knowledge.
"I think we have the right people in our room and in our offense," he said. "We just got to put it all together. ... We have to play to win the rep, not just play to not lose."
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