Right on schedule: As the preseason draws to a close, cornerback Darius Slay is seeing what he needs to see from the Steelers.
“The team works hard, man,” Slay assessed after practice today. “They come out here each and every day, grind. You can see the competitiveness in the special teams periods, in all aspects of the game.
“They’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, for sure.”
Slay wasn’t ready to declare the Steelers a Super Bowl team just yet, mostly because it’s far too early to ponder such an eventual outcome, he maintained.
Slay came to the Steelers from the Eagles, who won the Super Bowl last season. And the Eagles weren’t focused on such things last August, either, far from it, in fact.
“Most likely how we did it was, we just took a day at a time, and worry about what’s coming up next,” Slay emphasized. “So the next game, the next practice, then the next game.
“We never jumped too far ahead until the actual Super Bowl was actually there. You gotta stay focused. You can’t get ahead of the train like that.”
One thing Slay is willing to envision at this early juncture is how the new-look secondary is poised to function, the threesome of Slay, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and cornerback/slot cornerback/safety Jalen Ramsey, in particular.
Ramsey, like Slay, was added to the roster in the offseason.
All three made their preseason debut in the Steelers’ exhibition finale last Thursday night at Carolina.
They were on the field together for one series.
“This past week, with the preseason game, just seeing us all out there in Carolina out on the field, even though I didn’t get to play for long, I was observant at the fact, us three out here (Slay, Ramsey and Porter), it looked fun,” Slay said. “It was exciting. I was loving it.
“I didn’t want to come out, one series. I was like, ‘Coach, let’s get another one in,’ but he said ‘nah.’ We’re just looking forward to a real opportunity to go out here and compete.
“It actually hurt worse on the sideline. Back gets to aching, knees get to hurting. It’s more easy playing than standing, I’m telling you. That’s the crazy part about it.”
At 34 and entering his 13th season in the NFL, Slay is the oldest and most experienced player in the secondary.
He’s more than willing to be that and fulfill whatever role that demands.
“One thing about me, they know Slay does not have an ego when it comes to that,” Slay said. “My time of those days, even though I can compete at a very high level, if there’s need for me to do it I could easily do it and go out here and compete, but I have no shame and no game in letting any one of those young guys be the man. My time was a long, long time ago. I’ve been in the league since 2013, 13 years.
“I’m just here to assist, help, and if I’m needed at that position of doing what is needed to be done I could do it, for sure.”
— Blog entry Mike Prisuta