Cam Heyward, DK Metcalf, Jack Sawyer Media Availabilities (Nov. 26) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Cam Heyward, DK Metcalf, Jack Sawyer Media Availabilities (Nov. 26) | Pittsburgh Steelers

last game. Was that one of more the more frustrating performances for you guys as a unit, as a collective this year? Um, you know, I think it was just opportunities we didn’t seize the moment. Um, and um, you know, looking back at that game, you you got to, you know, obviously we got enough points to win that game. Um, and I just think our level of detail needs to pick up. What do you miss with Derek Harman not being on the field on Sunday and who do you kind of look to to to step up and fill that role? We’ll see. Um, you know, Deharm has been playing really good for us. Uh, heavy hands. Um, just an understanding even at a young age, he understands the defense, uh, defensive line play than a lot of his counterparts. Um, but, you know, it’s it’s up for other guys to step up. Um, you know, me and Keano have to pick up our level of play as well. Um, and you know, it’s, you know, when we have these these opportunities for other guys to step in, um, you know, it’s usually by a group of guys, not just one guy. K, when you’re playing a team that gave up eight sacks on it last game, do you smell blood in the water? You would like to think so, but um, in in our game, uh, everybody’s just going to try and do what they’ve been doing against you. Um, you know, I understand teams have been getting out quick, so um, you know, expect that early. Uh, but you know, our level of detail just has to pick up. Um, you know, we got six games to really write this ship and get going and I’m looking forward to that. Cam, have you identified the details and then how do you take those into account? Hopefully. I I I think so. Um, you know, I think um our our execution has to pick up. Um, you know, we can talk about it, but our execution in practice, our execution on the field uh has to be a lot better. I know you said there’ll be a lot of guys stepping up, but what have you seen from YA um once he was playing more at the beginning of the season and now he’s in more of a specialized role? Do you feel like he’s ready if he’s caught up on I think why he’s ready. Uh you know, why is getting more comfortable in his alignment? Uh playing with better extension. Um you know, he’s coming away with some big plays for us. That fumble, um you know, he just ripped it from the guy’s arms. Um, you know, you need that from your young guys who are continually learning, but um, he’s in the right spot and I think he’ll be ready to play. What did you What did you see from him on that play? We were sitting in the press box. Seemed like he came out of nowhere and then emerged from the pile with the ball. Just what does it say about, you know, his determination? All you do is see some big creepy hand uh, just get hands on the ball and, you know, start to prowl at it. And you know when he he came up with it and we were all kind of surprised and I think the rest were a little bit confused and uh but you love it on our side of the ball. We talk about getting the ball away and u whatever it takes and uh you know why was able to come away with it. Is he pretty pumped because he’s the most excitable guy when when we see him around here. He’s pretty pumped. You just got to get him in the right mood. You got to have like food or beer and he gets really excited for a quarterback to hit. I guess speaking of hitting quarterbacks, when you look at the tape in the early portions of the week here, it seems like Josh Allen’s really taken a lot of sacks on third down. I think it was like a 15% rate or something like that. What are you guys seeing that might be beneficial to you? Obviously, not talking. You know, Josh doesn’t want to play superhero ball, but he’s the closest thing to a superhero in our game. Um, you know, he can make a lot of things happen. Um, and you know, that’s athletic ability, that’s arm talent, you name it, he’s got it. Uh, and when he usually extends play, he’s finding Shak Shakir or, um, others open. So, um, we have to use that against him. Um, you know, it’s usually a lot of guys run into the ball because he will make two to three guys miss, uh, per play. So, um, you know, it all goes hand in hand, but uh, it’s really going to stress our defense. So, if he’s a superhero, does that mean you guys have to be super villains this week? Yes. Yes, we do. K, do you feel like any of the issues are schematic in nature on defense? Um, it’s not just schematic. I think um we all have to take accountability. Um schematic uh execution um have to go hand in hand. Um you know, you might not have the perfect play, but if you have the perfect execution, you can make things go away. Kim, what’s the biggest challenge in stopping James Cook in this field’s rushing attack? Uh, the fact that he can, um, jump out of any block. Um, you know, he’s able to bounce anything, get up field, uh, and when he gets, you know, his feet going and he sees a lane, he’s able to go zero to 100 pretty fast. So, um, so many guys have to be in their gaps. We got to get off blocks. Uh, and we can’t give those creases to them. Is it different a different offense because of it? Seems like they’re using Cook more than they have in the Yeah. Yeah. I I I think Cook is just, you know, every year you’ve just seen him build. Um, you know, a couple years ago, uh, I think they fired Dorsy and then they just really started relying on, uh, Cook and you just saw the explosion from the run game. Um, you know, there was one game I feel like they were playing New England and all he did was run the ball. It was nothing but runs. Uh, but, you know, that’s a testament to them just feeling confident in them and, you know, not trying to put everything on Josh’s shoulders. How are you feeling coming out of Sunday, but also Friday? Great. Better. Better than I did Friday. Otherwise, anyway. Better than I did on Friday. Um, you know, get bumps and bruises along the way. Uh, don’t make a big deal out of it. Keep playing. Were you worried at all that you wouldn’t be able to go on Sunday? Maybe, but doesn’t matter. Just here to play. How do you describe the level of urgency that you guys are bringing into this week and this stretch? got six games to, you know, really punch our ticket. Um, and, um, the way I look at it for our group, um, we got to plant a flag. Uh, it comes down to, um, we’ve lost our last game and we move on and, um, I’m more concerned on what we do in the future. Does it feel a little bit like Groundhog Day in all these feels like at this point in the season? It’s Thanksgiving. It’s never It’s never never Groundhog Day. Um, no. I uh you know there’s no low in this game for me. Um different challenges every week. Um and different people step up, different people are are looked at as you know objectives. Um and I’m I’m I’m excited. Uh you know, we’re facing a really good uh offensive team. Um they’re the number two rushing team in the league. Um if you can’t get excited for these games, if you can’t get excited for any NFL game, uh shame on you. Um, I’m very fortunate to be the part of this game and be a part of this team and uh there’s a lot of football in front of us that we got to take advantage of. Cam, do you feel that that excitement shared in the room? Yeah. Yeah. Um, you know, it’s going to be shared in the room. It’s going to be shared on the field. Uh, we just got to keep going. Um, you know, we’re not talking about being a perfect product at the beginning of the season, but at the end we got to hit our stride and um, you know, that’s got to be the plan. You said Thanksgiving. What’s your MVP of the Thanksgiving meal? Um, I would say me because I make the turkey. Um, but no, it it really comes down to my wife and my mom, uh, my grandmother, my aunt. They they they throw down. Um, usually I’m just preparing the turkey. They throw it in the oven for me. Um, but, you know, I’m very thankful to have my family around me that does an amazing job. U allows me to play a game I love and, um, they go above and beyond when they can for me. Can they talk trash to you? Can they? Yeah. Oh, yeah. They have been. Of course they’ve been because, you know, you know, I never got a win against them, so they think that’s funny to keep saying that. But, you know, we’ve got a national championship last year to show for it. So, uh, I’m excited for this weekend. It’s going to be fun. You excited for the game? What can you guys do on defense to kind of turn things around and get that roller coaster going the right way again? Yeah, I just think, you know, we’re, you know, we’re so close to, you know, executing at a level that, you know, is our standard and, um, I just think the little things we’re still cleaning up and, you know, looking at looking to put together, you know, a complete a complete performance cuz, you know, we’ve seen we’ve seen what we’re capable of. I think just sustaining that for a whole game, you know, for four quarters is going to be key. Uh, especially when you’re going against offense like this and I think that, you know, we’re we’re moving in the right direction in a lot of areas. When you see an opponent that has given up eight sacks in its last game, what’s that? When you see an opponent that has given up eight sacks in its last game, does that make an impression on you? I just think that, you know, we’re going to they’re a really good offense. You know, it’s the NFL. You know, sometimes teams are going to make more plays than others. And obviously the Texans did that last game against them. And, you know, obviously as a defensive front, you always want to get get to the quarterback. And, you know, we’re going to have to get to him and affect him because he’s one of the best players in the league. So, I think, you know, we got a big challenge ahead of us in that area. Jack, what do you what what do you do during the week to clean up those details and then how do you carry that over into Sunday? Yeah, I think it’s you know it starts with practice. It starts with identifying them which we have and and uh you know then correcting them and and making sure them up in practice and doing it in practice first cuz you know what you do in practice you’re going to do in the games and um you know I think that that’s key to that. What is it that Josh Allen does so well? I know that’s a very like simplistic question but what does he do so well? Yeah, I mean he just he does a lot of things well. You know, that’s why he was he’s the reigning MVP of the league and you know, he’s having another really good year. You know, he’s big, he’s physical. Um, you know, we were talking about today how competitive he is and he plays with that spirit and, you know, really drives his group and I think that, you know, when you’re playing a guy like that, it’s key to, you know, get stops early and get stops often, keep them off the field. Um, so you know, when you’re going up against a guy like Josh, you know, he’s he’s one of the best in the league for a reason and you know, he he challenges you in a lot of areas. Jack, how different is it for you now from the beginning of the season as far as knowledge, comfort, all that stuff? Yeah, I think that uh, you know, I I’m feeling good with the comfortability right now and and uh, you know, playing more now, you know, we’re almost, you know, more than halfway through the season, so you know, it’s time for me to step up a little bit more, too, in my role. And uh I feel confident though, you know, I’m still learning a lot. You know, gaining the experience as I’m playing and um you know, I’m excited about, you know, the direction we’re going. You moved around some at Ohio State, right? So, you’re familiar with with kind of doing that. Yeah. Yeah, I’m I’m familiar with doing that. Have you sensed much of an advantage home versus road on pass rush just to get off and you know, the visiting team silent snap and all that? Yeah, I mean I think being at home is always helpful, you know, as a collective and as a team, you know, playing in front of your home fans and and being at home. You know, we definitely got to take advantage of that more and uh you know, really execute at a higher level at at our place. Do you guys need to just focus on chemistry yourselves and what you can do? Yeah, I think just focusing on chemistry. Uh you know, we can’t control uh you know, any other plays being called. All we can do is, you know, run our routes to the best of our abilities. Um and you know, just hopefully uh you know, the ball can find us. Uh but if not, um we don’t get the ball, just block our team. That’s how explosives get started. DJ, do you feel like you guys have found more chemistry as far as how you set each other up as receivers as the year has gone on? Yes, sir. Because the communication aspect has gotten a lot better um you know, since you know, Aaron and Mason have been uh you know, running meetings or you know, speaking out more meetings. Um so, you know, whatever they see out there on the field, we try to do our best to you know, bring that to life. Why do you think the consistency hasn’t been there for you guys at defense this year? Um I think just we just got to keep trying at them. uh you know one one a game is you know not going to cut it but you know once we start going deep a lot more you know those those uh deep throws will start opening up for you when you get a sideline shot down the side just on a go ball what’s the mentality at the catch point how are you kind of playing that with your ball skills yeah I don’t give about the corner doing trying to catch the ball that’s it doesn’t matter what quarterback’s playing we kind of like last week we kind of don’t know does that throw like a little wrinkle into No sir cuz whoever back there uh you know at quarterback we number one taking rest with him and number two we got the most confidence in them uh to go out there and execute the game plan.

Cam Heyward, DK Metcalf, and Jack Sawyer talked to the media on Wednesday, November 26 ahead of the Steelers Week 13 game against the Bills

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