Steelers Player Media Availability (Aug. 18) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers Player Media Availability (Aug. 18) | Pittsburgh Steelers

What were maybe some of those things you wanted to work on from last year to this year, those mistakes you said? Um, just communication, you know, um, checks and adjustments and things like that and, you know, some of the zone drops and things like that and just being able to see, uh, you know, what coach GA been telling us, um, and seeing it work, uh, with some of the drops and things like that and just being able to be under certain routes and, you know, being close close to the ball essentially, you know, to be able to make those plays. Yeah. And in this last one too, I mean you had a couple past deflection or past breakups. Uh when when that happens for you, does that just give you an extra juice and extra confidence like, okay, I can be here. I can play this game. Yeah, for sure. You know, and and sometimes like I go back and look at old videos and stuff like that and you know, especially like if I’m feeling away or anything like that, I’m like like you you did this stuff last year and you know, years before that. So just always keeping that confidence confidence high and you know making those plays and being able to celebrate with my teammates. A lot of veterans too in this uh DB room now. Just how have they kind of been leaders for you guys and maybe helped you grow throughout this camp and preseason? Um you know just asking those guys questions. Um, obviously they they played they’ve been playing for a long time and you know it’s probably stuff that they see that you don’t see and and things like that. Like I asked because for me like get my eyes right in man coverage and things like that. So I like to talk to Slay and and Five about you know what do y’all have your eyes? What do y’all see? Like what do y’all study when y’all you know going against certain receivers down the field running routes and things like that. So you know you can kind of get a break on when they getting in and out of their breaks to be able to make more plays. And they’ve been willing to like help you, right? Yeah, for sure. You know, uh obviously both of those guys won Super Bowls made and made a lot of money, making a lot of money. Uh so yeah, they don’t they don’t really I I’m not really a big threat to those guys. You you had to battle to make the roster last year. How is this battle different for you for this preseason compared to last? Um it’s it’s different. You know, obviously I’m going in knowing more than I knew last year. Um, you know, I kind of have the trust of the coaches as far as knowing the plays, being in the right position and things like that. Um, I it’s still a battle, you know, every every year to compete um until I get to that second contract and start making the big money, but yeah, it’s just it’s still one of those things. Um, obviously come in, work every day um and still prove myself, you know, because obviously you got to earn the right to, you know, to be on the team. You pleased with what you’re shown? Um, yeah, for sure. You know, obviously I got to be a little bit more aggressive in the screen game and things like that, but getting guys down on the ground is is something that I’m good at. Is it tough at all to kind of keep that hunger after all the production that you had last year as a rookie? No, I can’t I I can never be satisfied, you know. I always remember that I wasn’t I wasn’t drafted, you know, so it’s just one of those things. I was always overlooked. So, I never forget that. What do you guys do in this last preseason game that just to cement your spot here? Um, you know, just do what I’ve been doing. You know, obviously correcting mistakes. um going out there making plays and playing fast. Uh I think just living up to our culture, you know, that’s kind of what we want to do here. Nobody I mean, Coach T says that pretty much every team meeting. Nobody should run the ball on us, especially with our D line, our linebacking group. I mean, in the NFL, uh the ball gets out on the corners a lot and we have corners that are willing to come up and make plays. So, if everybody’s gap sound, assignment sound, then no one in the NFL should be able to run the ball on us. How have you seen Cole progress not you’ve had two games with him coming back from that injury? Yeah, I mean he does amazing. Uh, super smart player. Uh, helps me to this day. Obviously, he’s quite a bit older than I am, more experienced and stuff, but I mean, he’s doing really well. Just to see him come back from that injury, it’s been awesome to see him fight and, you know, continue to go out there and each every day. Hey, you’ve talked about your confidence level. Uh, TA talked about it today as well, just he’s he encourages that. Where does that come from for you as far as building on not a ton of experience and then continuing through the offseason? Uh, I think it’s just reps, you know, every single rep that you get. Obviously last year got plenty of reps. So just building off of that going into the end of the season last year, I feel like I was really confident. And then, you know, coming into OTAAS and camp, just the uh the role that they placed on me, I was I really enjoyed that and I was super confident in that. You know, it kind of just helps you go from being the young guy that doesn’t want to make a mistake to the guy that’s out there trying to make the big play. Have you always been that type of person as far as, you know, in your college career, high school career, that confidence level, or is that something takes time to get up to to now? I mean, I think uh any level that you’re if if you’re a middle school going to high school as a ninth grader, it takes a little bit of time to build it. When you’re a senior in high school, going to freshman in college, it takes a little bit of time. And same with college and NFL. But I think once you have it, it doesn’t really leave. You know, just understanding that you’re able to, you know, play at a high level, be one of the best to do it up here, it just helps. And, you know, you’re able to play a little more freely. Payton, what do you hope to see out of this defense in this final preseason game? Uh now that I mean I’m not sure who’s playing and who’s not, but um you know now that we’re going into the third fi third and final preseason game. I mean it’s almost like a test run for week one. You know communication has to be great. Everybody has to know their assignments and you know coming out of this game you everybody wants to have a good confidence that we’re in the right place and obviously each week you have stuff to work on. But just you know heading in the right direction and you know when we get to week 18 that we’re still continuing to build and that we’re not going to fall off through these first two preseason games. Just how do you think the rookies have adapted? You mentioned that learning curve from, you know, college to NFL. How do you think they have uh adapted to this play style and how quick it is? Uh great. I mean, we have some really talented rookies, especially on, you know, the defensive side. Obviously, that’s all I’m on. Jack, Derek, I mean, they do an amazing job. Obviously, there’s certain things that up here you you can’t do that you can do in college. There are certain things up here that you can do that you can’t do in college. and just, you know, continuing to instill our ball search culture and stuff into Jack and those guys like that and just, you know, like I said, just continuing to help them build their confidence cuz we have some really talented rookies that can help us a lot this year out there a whole lot, but what have you seen from this group and what excites you about this offense? Uh, everything. I think just the guys playing together and building all of camp and uh just the connection obviously with Aaron and all his receivers. Uh, even just him spinning the ball to the to the backfield guys. I think uh it boosts our offense, seeing our O line play together and uh really just this whole unit, even our defense, seeing everybody play as a unit and uh play Steelers football. It seems like recently too, I mean, it’s just preeason, so who knows? But it seems like you guys have been airing it out a little bit more uh prior not prioritizing the pass game more, but it’s a lot more options out there. How exciting is that for you specifically? Yeah, I would say uh I mean just coming into it just knowing we have Aaron, I figured we would pass the ball a lot more than uh before and uh just seeing all the other quarterbacks be able to do so too and then preseason games and at practice. I think uh we know we have a great running back, great ground game, um great quarterback, great receivers. Um just got to put it together on the film uh on the field and uh really I think just just spread the ball all around. We got a lot of weapons, tight ends, receivers, running backs. Could do it on the ground, could do it on the air, have a vet, experienced quarterback. Um, I feel like uh just just spread the ball all around. Yeah. Do you see a lot of opportunity here because of that? Yeah, I would say I would say uh for sure. I mean, you have you have Aaron Rogers who spreads the ball around quarterback who can make every single throw uh on the field and then you have all the weapons on the outside, inside. It’s really just uh making the defense cover every blade of grass and that creates space and I think with my talents be able to fly in soft zones uh be man coverage. I think um with the quarterback we have a lot of space to run. All right, Connor, just one more preseason game before it starts to count. How are you feeling after these first two and what are you hoping to see out of yourself in this last one? Uh for myself, just go out there, play hard. Um and then for the team, you know, make sure we’re all on the same page and we’re just growing as a offense. But uh looking forward to, you know, finishing strong, honestly. Aaron Rogers kind of shouted you out like I think it was a week ago saying that your football IQ is really high and that he it’s just exciting to see you out there. What does that do for your confidence hearing a guy like that say such positive things about you? Yeah, anytime the quarterback uh speaks about myself or anybody you know it means a lot. Um and you know also coming from him it means you know even much more. But uh I just got to you know keep my head down and keep working. Uh and you know that’s everybody’s mentality on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, you’re really Oh, I say a couple years ago, you were like on the bubble, you know, of making a team. Now, do you have any advice to guys that might be seeing, hey, I need something in this game to be able to push myself over the edge? Would you What would you say to those guys? Yeah, obviously um that’s how you practice, you know, which leads to the game. So, ultimately, I would just say attack, practice, and then uh that will carry over to the game. And, you know, not think too much about that cuz, you know, that can alter your play. So, just go out there, stay focused, and, you know, keep the main thing the main thing, cuz you know, if you’re worried about that, then you can’t go out there and execute and make the plays that you need to. This tight end room is pretty interesting, too. I mean, you, Pat, uh, Darnell, and Jonnu, you guys each seem like you bring something different to the table. How do you see yourself fitting in this room? Uh, however the coaches want me to. Um, you know, obviously special teams, but whenever I’m in there on offense, I got to make the most of my opportunities so that there are, you know, future opportunities. So, uh, just being on the same page with the quarterback, the O line, uh, run game, pass game, and, uh, you know, just always looking for for room to get better. June, you said took down weight. Did you gain it back during the camp? Did you gain it back during camp or you I gained I gained a few pounds back. Not too much. Not I went too crazy, but we’re we’re trending on the upper side. Well, Arthur Smith was speaking today about your guys’ run game and how, you know, those first two drives on Saturday stalled out a bit and then you were able to piece it together in that third one. What did you see from those first two drives and what do you think finally ended up working? Uh, it was just a sluggish start for all of us. Um, we got to keep the QB clean. The QB can’t throw interceptions. Um, so that’s on all of us at the end of the day. Um, and that can’t happen second play of the game, even if it’s a preseason game. you know, we we got to uphold the standard um you know, for our offense and and what we visualize. So, you know, it’s it’s always something you can continue to work on, but we we can’t start a game like that. So, turning the page onto Thursday, are you hoping obviously you guys come out a lot stronger than that? And what are you hoping out of the starting? Yeah, of course. The um the intentions are always the same coming into the game. Uh you just got to continue to execute. What’s been like working with Aaron and and his relationship? I mean, you guys are all so much younger than you. What’s that what’s that dynamic? It’s it’s a it’s a lovehate relationship at the same term because sometimes he’s playing but everybody’s not on the same page. Um but it’s also good to have that bond within to have the understanding of like, okay, he’s a vet. like I know everything, you know, let me make sure everybody else is good and then we can carry on with whatever was going on, whatever the situation was, you know, just things like that. But I feel like he has a good sense of, you know, like who he is and who we’re trying to be and getting us to where we’re trying to go. Let’s go one more here, guys. You have like an extra sense that like, you know, guys, you know, including yourself, feel like they don’t want to let him down because of, you know, who he is and his career, the things. Of course, of course. Yeah. You got Aaron Rogers behind you. Of course, you you got some you got a little bit of fire up under you. Um, and you know, you just you just got to you just got to do what you can to make everything work. Um, that’s how I feel. That’s how I take it. So, a new walk around the paint. I like the new paint job, man. We got a new paint job going on. I think I’m going to go black around the house. We’ll see. I saw you out there today in a helmet working out on the side. What made you want to go out there today and do that? I saw you working out on the side before, but today it looked a little uh it was the plan with the medical staff, you know, it was just the timeline. And how are you feeling? I’m feeling good. Do you feel like today was a big step, medium step? I mean, where where do you feel like you are in your progress back? Uh like I’m right on right on point, right on the the correct timeline. And so, um, yeah, I don’t I don’t know if necessarily like a big I guess it is, I guess, but I feel like I’m right on the the correct timeline of things. How frustrating has it how frustrating has it been to not be able to get out there and participate? Oh, very frustrating. Just cuz I mean, practice and, you know, um, new team, new year, just, um, not being out there is just never fun. So, um, you know, just trying to just stay engaged and locked in. Is that timeline you have uh set you up for week one? Uh I whatever the medical staff and coach T say I’m gonna follow that. In your in your time out Roman Wilson’s made some plays in the preseason seen him growing chemistry with the guys. What have you seen from him? I know you guys have worked closely together. Uh exactly what I kind of expected from him as even from going back from last year. you know, he’s just doing what, you know, we’ve he’s just showing now the national uh eyes what he can do. But yeah, he’s doing exactly what I knew he could do. Guys, we got coach locker on his deep ball to devel like they had a 10 yard cushion on him and he still got past him. I say about you his speed versus your speed as far as two smaller guys that can get loose sometime defense. Oh yeah, Rome can Rome can run. So, yeah, he’s definitely got that speed, acceleration, and so, um, it was good to see him put it out put it out there for for everyone to

Calvin Austin III, Payton Wilson, Connor Heyward, Beanie Bishop Jr., Broderick Jones and Robert Woods spoke to the media on Monday, August 18

#HereWeGo #Steelers #NFL

Like our content? Want more? Be sure to subscribe to the Pittsburgh Steelers YT Channel: https://goo.gl/nAd4J2

Want more Steelers content? Head over to http://www.steelers.com/ or if you want your #Steelers content to-go, download the official Pittsburgh Steelers mobile app: https://www.steelers.com/fans/official-steelers-mobile-app/
To get the latest Steelers content, news and analysis be sure to follow us on social media!
Follow us on X: https://x.com/steelers/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steelers/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steelers/
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@steelers
Download Steelers podcasts: https://www.steelers.com/audio/podcast/