September 9, 2025 • 44 mins
As he will on Tuesdays throughout the season, Bob Labriola calls in to chat with Max and Rob. The guys continue to recap the win and look ahead to Coach Tomlin's press conference.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is in the Locker Room with Kenyon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from
the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop dot
Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Wooooo, there he was, Optimists. Yes, another victory and now
another day working around for Optimist Prime. He's still celebrating.
I don't blame him, you know. Sometimes, you know, truck
drivers get a forty eight hour window to celebrate, you know,
because technically you never know where you're at in the
first twenty four you're driving. You know, you're hitting the
highways at the byways, trying to make sure that you
(00:55):
make all these deliveries on time and that you're moving
the loads cross country. You know, So we give him
a little bit more room. So Optimism Yeah, yeah, you know,
Honk Honk still still celebrating the one and oh start
for the Steelers. But more importantly, we have a special guest,
of course, joining us in the locker room. It's the
one the only Steelers historian. Steelers Digest writer asked answered
(01:21):
that comes out every Tuesday, the famous, the loquacious one,
the mister Bob Labriola. How are we doing today, labs great?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And don't forget. I'm the president of the Max Starks
Fan Club.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, yes, definitely, a long time, long time president. Has
not moved on from that title for some time, and
he is he is permanently that that president of the
Max Starks Fan Club. Yes, most important.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So last, I mean, I know this is your job
to do most of the asking of the questions, you
and Rob, but I gotta I gotta know. I mean,
I've been waiting for this segment since I was watching
the game on Sunday. Give me, give me the lowdown,
give me the truth. Speak some truth to me about
(02:11):
the offensive line play, particularly Broderick Jones.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Work in progress. And it's funny, las you know, I
had just dove into that the previous segment talking about
some of the things. Uh, for Broderick, it was it
was a rough it was a rough first day in
the office to start the season. Uh. I had a
tall task. I mean, we were always wondering how's will McDonald,
how Jermaine Johnson and Quinin Williams are going to do
(02:38):
against him? And Troy. And you know, for Broderick, the strength,
the strength, I think the two point stance is not
the most advantageous stance for him. I talked about that
he needed to probably be in more of a three
point stance. I think actually the entire offense line probably
needs to do a little bit more three point stance
work in this. I know that, oh, when the quarterbacks
(03:00):
a shotgun, it makes it tougher on the angles, blah
blah blah blah blah. But you're more explosive, you're more
physical at the point when you come out of a
three point because you own the leverage game in those
initial moments when you're in a two point, A lot
less explosion, a lot less ability to go move a
guy off the ball because the defenders in a three
point stance and you're in a two point stance. Every
(03:22):
win the leverage battle like naturally, Like that's just basic
physics of the position. And so I thought that he
could have benefited more from that. He kind of got
bit beat to the inside and dropped that inside leg.
And that's also that's more of a characteristic of he's
been playing right tackle for so long, he's still got
(03:43):
to work on the left tackle mechanics because when he
got inside edge, that right foot dropped immediately. And we
talked and I explained to the listeners about the post leg,
which is the up leg and a stance. Left side,
it's the right leg. Right side, it's the left leg,
and you've got to fight to drive that leg upwards
(04:06):
and stay in that stagger that you have when a
guy comes on an inside move and you eventually fall
to parallel. But once you drop it, you create a
saloon door right to the quarterback. And we kind of
saw that in this game with Broderick Run game. I
thought everybody struggle with that. I don't think that was
a Broderick Jones thing because guys really had to had
(04:29):
to work and the angles weren't as great as you
would like. You know. I talked about Zach Frazier being
a little bit to the outside and behind guys when
having to work to the second level by himself. I say,
they need to bring the phone booth to him because
he's a phone booth hero and you want that guy
a wrestling background, a physical type of special but you
(04:49):
want to bring that fight to him. So inside zone,
but more so than outside zone. Was a lot of
the concepts they were running in this game, and it
didn't do them any justice. While you saw the guys
like kind of get strung out all the way to
the sidelines for minimal gains and a lot and a
lot of the run game, and you didn't really get
those big, gashing holes. And I get it you want
to create the cutback lanes, but I think for this
(05:09):
offensive line getting in sequenced with each other, with all
these different moving parts in different places, you need to
have a little bit more tighter concepts to a lot
of those guys to go north and south more instead
of going northeast and northwest to get places.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Thank you now, I can Now I can sound smart
in future installments of Asked and answered.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
So so, Bob, we're going to ask and you're gonna answer.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Okay, that's the way it goes, right.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I hope I don't ask one of those questions against.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Let me, let me, let let me tell you. And
with this segment, we've gone off the rails uh with
this uh for years in the past. So yeah, generally speaking,
that is the way the plays are run. But every
now and then we go off the rail so.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
To use Mike Tomlin, Yeah, what is your and I
know we want to be a non rhythmic I like
that word better than a certain other uh uh rhythmic word.
But uh, Bob, your general thoughts on the win being
one to zero. You've been around for a long time.
You've seen overreactions. I doubt you've seen underreactions. That's not
(06:28):
the way the NFL seems to work. Your Your thoughts
about Week one and what you saw there, well.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I mean you know you got I'll I'll pick the
lowest piece of hanging fruit that there is. Uh. The
quarterback was great, he just was. Uh. You know that
we can and we can talk about what Aaron Rodgers
gave this team in this game on a lot of
different levels. I mean you could certainly, you know, go
(06:58):
to the statistics, the numbers. You know, his completion percentage
seventy three percent, four touchdowns, no interceptions. That's his twenty
eighth game in the NFL with four or more touchdown
passes and zero interceptions. Twenty eight ties him with Tom
(07:19):
Brady for the all time NFL high in that category.
So you know that that kind of stuff to me,
is that the numbers virtually speak for themselves. But I
also really liked a lot of the quarterback kind of
things that Aaron Rodgers was giving to the team that
I don't know that the Steelers have had in opening
(07:41):
games since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the twenty twenty one season.
I really like the you know, the Jets went down
in the first possession, kicked the field goal, Rogers brings
the offense right down the field and scores a touchdown.
You know that kind of complimentary football, or you know,
answering the other opponent, answering the opponent's score with a score.
(08:05):
You know, those kinds of things not only impact the scoreboard,
I also think that you know, they kind of lift
up the team a little bit emotionally. Uh you know,
you prevent it, prevent anything from kind of really going
off the rails. I like that perfect in the red zone.
You're not settling for any short field goals. I think
(08:26):
that's really important. And you know the other thing, uh
was one of the things that the Jets were trying
to do was match Sauce Gardener with DK Metcalf, and
you know, the Jets did a pretty good job with that.
Now when when Sauce Gardener he was not on him.
(08:51):
Every time when Sauce Gardener was not covering uh DK Metcalf,
And there were there weren't that. There weren't that many
occasions of that. Rogers went right to him, you know,
whoever else was covering him, and they didn't have a
whole lot of success. Metcalf finished with four catches for
(09:13):
eighty three yards one catch. He only had one catch
for eleven yards when he was guarded by Sauce, So
that meant three catches for seventy two yards on the
other people. And you know, I like that that awareness
of what's going on. Rogers also used the entirety of
(09:34):
the field. You know, Calvin Austin didn't look like a
bad number two wide receiver with a four time MVP
throwing to him. And you know, and I have a
reputation of being critical of the officiating, and so I'm
going to start early this season with that. That was
(09:58):
past interference that play before the sixty yard field goal
by Chris Boswell. And so you know, that's another thing
that I liked about what Rogers was doing. He took
some shots down the field at some opportune moments, maybe
unexpected moments. I think at that particular time, it was
(10:20):
third and nine, and you know, you're you're in a
situation in the game where the clock is also your opponent,
and maybe you're not expecting from the Jets standpoint, you're
not expecting the quarterback to go deep. He went deep,
he had it and they should have called it. And
(10:40):
so you know, again, those are some of the non
statistical quarterback things that I thought Aaron Rodgers did really
well for the Steelers in the opening game. You know,
as for some of the rest of it. You know,
there's one of the things that brought Aaron Rodgers did
say to Evan Washburn on the field after the game
(11:02):
for those of us who were watching it on TV,
me being one of them, you know, he said, a
lot of teachable tape out there, blah blah blah. But
when we needed a drive at the end, we were
able to get it done. So, uh, just expanding a
little bit on what I would imagine the teachable tape
is going to be, you know, Max an answer to
(11:23):
my question to open this segment dealt with some of it.
I was disappointed with the run defense. I thought the
defensive line got handled a little bit too much upfront
against the run. You know, while it was happening, the
kickoff coverage was a little bit concerning to me. But
(11:47):
then when you look at what happened league wide with
the new rules, it seems like whatever the tweak, the
tweaking that the owners did with the dynamic kickoff in
order to promote more returns, I think we're gonna see
that's working. And so maybe the what the line was
(12:13):
for good kickoff coverage before this season is going to
have to move a little bit because it looks like
league wide kickoff return averages or kickoff return yardage was up.
You know, the Steelers didn't run the ball very well
at all, But again, when you have you know, Rogers
(12:38):
or and or all great quarterbacks, a lot of what
they do I think that is so valuable is they're
an eraser. You know, they can erase mistakes, they can
erase weaknesses in your game with their sheer ability excuse me,
their quote unquote great. And you know you only rush
(13:03):
for fifty three yards on twenty carries in a game
two point seven average. You would look at that and
say that's really below the line. The offense is really
going to struggle. And then you look at it and
you ended up with thirty two points, So you know,
again this is or third, excuse me, thirty four points.
(13:26):
This is a guy who and any and all of
the angst about Aaron Rodgers fitting in, Aaron Rodgers wanting
to be played for the Steelers, Aaron Rodgers being washed up,
all of that stuff, in my opinion, all of those
questions were answered in them and in the affirmative in
(13:48):
terms of in the Steelers favor. And now you're asking,
if you're asking me, the only concern with Aaron Rodgers
is keep him healthy. Seven hits for too much, too much,
got to cut back on that.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
I agree there, Bob, And that that's kind of where
you know, you look at the offensive line first and
foremost and say, hey, guys, we got to do got
to do better. And I think a run game helps
that labs a you know, an easier slate, because you
have to be able, you have to be able to
soften up the pass rush, and the only way to
do that is to lean on hit and move guys
(14:28):
against their will. On that defensive line, there was a
lot of movement that the Jets came out. They were
they spread out nicely, knowing that this team was more
of an outside zone style team. And that's one of
the frustrating things because when you think of Pittsburgh Steeler
football in the past, it was always smash mouth, right,
nice tight, you're going north and south, double team, double team,
(14:50):
work up to the backers, and there's not a lot
of variants. We didn't run a lot of outside zone.
We ran some toss cracks concepts, you know when I played,
but a lot of it was twenty two to twenty
three double it was, it was inside zone. It was
it was ride thirty four to thirty five. It was
thirty thirty, thirty five and thirty six belly. It was
a lot of inside zone that gave us, allowing us
(15:12):
to be a moving wall versus kind of working out
on those angles. I want to ask I want to
ask you Bob about you know, health on that defensive
side of the ball. You know, we saw we lost
Deshaun Elliott. Obviously we're bringing in Jabrill Pepper's Joey Porter
was sidelined, the leak Harrison was side took a lot
of things early in this game defensively and just kind
(15:36):
of your thoughts on what you saw. Do you think
that Deshaun Elliott injury was one that kind of hampered
a lot of the run support in your eyes? And
if so, you know, what do you think of the
job that Chuck Clark did coming in filling in and
just kind of your general thought. I know we talked.
I know you mentioned that run defense. They got pushed around,
they couldn't get off blocks, a lot of those other things.
(15:58):
But when you look at just kind of the the
whole structure of that defense, what did you see?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, you know, and just losing to Shaun Elliott is significant.
I don't know the extent of the injury. Hopefully it's
you know, a shorter term thing rather than longer term thing.
But the Jets were having success running the ball when
he was on the field too. So I don't want
to make it sound like I'm attributing all of the
(16:27):
run defensive issues that the Steelers had with losing you know,
the Shawn Elliott, because certainly that did not help, But
I don't know that that was the you know, the
major factor in that in that issue. You know, yes,
when you had and I you know, I think Chuck
Clark did a nice job coming in. As I said,
(16:48):
Deshaun Elliott is a good player. You lose him, that
has an impact. And I think that you know, Chuck
Clark's performance when asked in terms of when when Deshaun
Elliott was injured, That's that's why you have him. You know,
he's a veteran. You can count on him. I mean,
(17:11):
I don't know how much you know, preparation he got
specifically in the things that the Steelers wanted were counting
on to Shaun Elliott to do. But by no means
was he Chuck Clark. I mean, in my view a
detriment to the overall you know performance, what they wanted
(17:32):
to do, how they how they executed, executed it in
those things. So yeah, that I have no issue with
Chuck Clark. Again, that's you know, he was one of
those guys, you know, and they made the moves cut
into fifty three and then the initial practice squad, you know,
they did a little dancing around with some things. And
(17:55):
I was a little bit when I first saw that
Chuck Clark was waived, I was like wow. But then
as a vested veteran, you know, Chuck Clark and people
of his experience level. When their contracts are terminated, they
cannot be claimed on waivers, you know, they have to
agree to go to another team. They can't be claimed
(18:20):
if they're free agents. And so I don't know this,
but this kind of thing happens around the league a
lot of times. You will go to a player like
him and say, look, we're cutting you, but we want
you back. We're just doing this because we want to
manipulate some of these other people in terms of getting
them on the list that we want, or getting them
(18:42):
through waivers, you know, and those kinds of things to
get them on the practice squad or to ir or
whatever it might be. So you talk to the guy
and if he's agreeable, then that's you go ahead and proceed,
you know, down that path. And so that's exactly what
that turned out to be. And again I respect Chuck
(19:04):
Clark for being willing to play ball, so to speak,
with the team's moves at that time of the calendar.
And again, as I said, that's why you have a
guy like him. And to me, the way he cooperated
in that area makes him even that more and more
valuable of a guy A teammate, A part of the
(19:27):
roster than he is, just based on what he gives
you on the field.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
We love with Bob Labriella brings us on and off
the field as well.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Labs always a pleasure man.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Thank you very much for coming on.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Really appreciate it. Thanks, Las, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
See you guys on Sunday at the ball yard.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yes, sir, we'll do. Bob Lavrielle. I love Bob Lavriola.
He's my guy.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
We hang out together up in the trobe, you know,
in that little booth next in the broadcast booth. He's
he's you know kind of you know, obviously doing different
shows and he's he's his knowledge of the Steelers so deep,
so deep, and just a joy to talk too.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Well.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And he's also our chief accountability officer too. I mean
that's the other thing. Like like Labs like, you know,
just to take a picture. We said the top left
corner booth and there's like this little kind of triangular
wedge of glass that you know, you could see down
the rest of the press box with and Labs always
he gives us the check in. He'll just he'll just
(20:36):
peek his head around, you'll see him in the glass.
He'll give the wave and the smile and then and
then you know, because the booth there's only us up
there that early in the morning, you know, he could
he could hear everything. So and and if if we
say something crazy or funny, you'll just see Labs point
his head out, shake his head, wag his finger at us,
(20:57):
and uh yeah, it's such a joy Man Love Labs. That.
Of course, he's also the mayor of Sharky's as well. Uh,
you know, he has a great relationship with those guys
that you know, when the fat guy Delight was turned
into the lineman Delight Wolf Lee's revenge. You know, he's
a chief orchestrator. He's he's a very he's a very
good nahmer and uh and progenitor of all things food
(21:21):
related and creations. So yeah, Love Love when Labs comes
on the show.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Uh so we still have much much more to come.
Max has done his tape breakdown, at least some of
the tape breakdown, and that is a you know, if
you're if you're a football fan, that is something you
love to hear, and you're gonna get to hear it
next when we continue inside the locker room with King
Starks presented by your neighborhood Ford Store here on the
(21:48):
Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
This is in.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The locker room with Kingyon Starks on Steelers Nation radioted
by your neighborhood Forward Store. The F one fifty is
the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers
Pro Shot. Get it direct from the team at the
Steelers Pro Shot at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
And we thank you for being with us inside of
the locker room alongside Max Stark sewn Robert King. Max,
I want to thank Bob Labriola as well. Film breakdown
and did you see anything you're talking about the often line,
did anything that you thought was positive any player and
(22:36):
the aspect of the game, get it, Lap said, and first,
I think for a lot of fans was also designed.
Didn't protect Aaron Rodgers and Air looked like he's into
his act. That was that was you know's going to
be sabrad er don't but the protection, uh look incredible.
(23:00):
The running game was rective, so that lead the ensign
was not where at all individually stand out. I don't
tip you know what did you let this kind of
wrap up the offensive on here?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I think one of the things that was a brice.
But I thought Mason McCormick had some solid blocks of
the game, pulling and trapping, He had some good angles.
I thought Troy Troy had some moments. I mean's still
working off some of that. Some of the pressures are
kind of forced Aaron off his point a couple of times,
(23:40):
but Troy was fighting in there. Zach. I thought in
the past protection stuff was what was good. Isaac. Isaac
definitely could tell need to get in a little bit
more game shape.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
A couple of times he just got caught standing tall
and just leaning on guys as opposed to the explosiveness
and and and then good bent knee based posture that
he normally plays with. I think that's just that's just
the fact that he did not play in the preseason
really and did not really have that much playing time.
So going in and going a full board game against
the Jets defense, it was it was bound to happen.
(24:17):
But I think outside of that, I think that was
that was probably some of the bright spots. Like a
lot of these things are very fair, and I want
to make sure that everybody knows this, A lot of
this stuff is very fixable and can be done to
make this team better. There's nothing that's like, oh my god,
we're gonna, we're gonna, we're screwed, We're dead, dead in
the water. Just just forget about it. We're just gonna
(24:38):
be a team that passes the ball.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
No.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
When I'm saying this once again, critiques are meant to
empower and to advise and to help. That's what these
critiques are for. I'm not I'm not condemning anybody in
these moments because there's not a large enough sample size
to go into the condemnation mode. So let me just
(25:00):
be clear about that. These are things that can be
fixed schematically. These are just some of the things they
need to work on and be a little bit more
adamant about. I think things when you're trying to figure
out what to work on in training camp, you go
on base philosophies and you're trying to cover a wide swath,
and the guys that are going to play on Sundays
(25:22):
are not necessarily playing every day in practice. They're not
getting these preseason reps. So when you get into the season,
it's a different mindset. Now, it's more nuanced. Now, it's
very play and philosophy specific and things that we need
to do to route and be better in those moments.
(25:43):
And this is what these critiques are for. When I'm
thinking about just that overall concept. The biggest difference, and
here's the difference between what the Jets O line was
doing and the Pittsburgh O line was doing. They were
in three point stands when it came run time. Guess what,
everybody on the strong side, there's a tight end there,
(26:05):
three point stance steelers. If there's a tight end there
or there wasn't a tight end there, two points that
that's a very basic thing to change, very different mindset
philosophy for a lot of these guys. And that's why
when you see the difference of the effectiveness of the
run games, that's a small thing, right, but it gets
(26:31):
you mentally in position to do battle. You're not giving
away an advantage. It would be like saying, Hey, we're
gonna storm the castle. But guess what, there's one thing
when the drawbridge is down, there's another thing when the
drawbridge is up. Am I right? Rob? When we talk
about this, yes, you're easier easier to storm a castle
(26:55):
with the moat when you have a drawbridge down right,
tougher concept when there's a moat and there's no drawbridge,
and by being in the two point you lowered the drawbridge.
You made it easier for them to storm your castle
and try and attack your king, which is Aaron Rodgers.
So that's just a base concept. Raise the drawbridge, get
(27:18):
the three point stance. That's it, and that could cure
a lot of the ills on the run game, on
the mentality of going north and south and pounding the defender.
So there we go. Did I put Did I put it?
Did I put a good enough bow on that one?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
No?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
You did?
Speaker 4 (27:34):
And I think that I think that when I when
I look at that, you know, when I look at
the the defensive line and I look at the offensive
line for the Jets, you know that is clearly their strength.
And you know, you know, people listening and be like,
oh man, the strength.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Of a five win team. Right.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
So first of all, let me say this, and I've
said this before about the Jets, and you knew, Max,
I said, where the game the game made me nervous.
I said that in the this is not this is
not uh putting as an afterwards spin on it. You know,
this is a team that is they're they're very good
on both lines, very good. You know, they're they're even
(28:17):
without Elijah Vera Tucker. That is a good offensive line.
They picked up Harris and Phillips. That is a good
defensive line. Uh So people say, well they won five games, Well,
you know, it should have easily been a seven win team.
They're the worst field goal kicking in the in the
NFL last year. So I viewed that as you're coming
in and facing a seven win team, not a five
(28:39):
win team. And then you bring back a guy like
Jermaine Johnson who was a Pro bowler two years ago,
who essentially missed the last season, especially when things started
going bad for the Jets, you bring him back and
that that is a very very good front four. And
it's an offensive line for this years. It's got, you know,
a second year guy at guard and center and a
(29:01):
first year guy at right tackle and a first time
starter at left tackle. So it's not the ideal matchup.
I would say this max if a week from now.
And I'm not taking anything away from Seattle because you know,
Seattle's got you know, DeMarcus Lawrence and Leonard Williams and
some veterans out there that know how to get to
(29:21):
the passer and they got you know, they've they've got
depth at the pass rushing position. I mean, they've got
guys like Boy Mafe and Derek Hall, guys who have
had good SAX seasons. They can bring waves of guys
at you. But so I think it's going to be
another big test for the for the offensive line. But
(29:41):
if we're here next week and we're talking about how
you know, Zach Charboney and Kenneth Walker ran for another
one hundred and seventy yards on this theeers that's going
to be an O to me.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
You know, this is this is the kind.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Of team that look with Jackson Smith and Jigba Cooper
Cup this is why you have corners. This is why
you have outstanding corners. This is a more traditional offense,
an offense that can that's going to throw the ball
and run the ball. They're gonna have a mix. But
if for whatever reason, they find the run is working
(30:16):
and they go to the whip and they run the
football and they run for one hundred and seventy yards,
now we're gonna start wondering, Okay, what's happening here?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Derek Harmon.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
I know, Derek Harmon, it should be better than that
against the run, because these Toos were better against the run.
I think they were eighth in the league in or
thereabouts in rushing yards. It was a solid, you know,
defense against the rush, just not when teams leaned into that,
(30:46):
you know, and and emphasize that. So, you know, I
thought it was a bad matchup in Week one for
the Steelers in that way. I certainly didn't expect that
type of success, particularly running the football. I didn't see
that coming, Max. I didn't think it was going to
be like that. But I did think that they were
(31:06):
going to have success running the ball. So I'm kind
of reserving judgment. And look, you have, you have seventeen
weeks to try to get this straightened out, hopefully heading
into the playoffs. But the sooner the better, you know.
And so if we're talking, if we're sitting here talking
next week about a big, gouging running attack by Seattle,
(31:26):
and I think we can start to grope around for
the panic button.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
A little bit. Yeah, the warning flag will go up right,
that's right, you know, the deaf con will go from
you know, no deaf con to deaf con five and
we'll work our way down because obviously def coon one
is the highest in that situation. Just case, they always wonder,
you'll start you'll start to wonder what's going on. And
(31:51):
I caution you know this, this is not overreaction. This
isn't the worst that they We still won this game,
ladies and gentlemen, and I just want to make sure
Stealer Das we're not doing this and poo pooing on
the victory. But my job as an analyst is to analyze,
(32:11):
and so when we present these observations, we present these
observations as things that need to be worked on because
a lot of things get covered up in victories and
it cures a lot of ills, but it never gets
to the root of the problem. We we never cure
anything during a victory. And that's why this is that
(32:32):
moment where we're looking for solutions to cure future problems
before that before they start to become you know, an issue,
they become malignant, start spreading. We want to we want
to knock these out at the source. And so that's
why I bring the perspective that I bring when we
look at this from a sobering perspective after a game
(32:53):
and I and I'm rooting for all the guys, and
I want to see the success because I know what
this team is capable. Right. I've sat there and watched
this team all through training camp, practices on the field,
watching the position groups, watching the schematics on how these
guys operate, how they communicate. And these are my observations
(33:15):
from that informed position of kind of knowing how this
game is played and having played this game, showing how
little small critiques can come in. Like a lot of
people like, oh man, the run game sucks and this,
that and the other, offer a solution. Don't just complain
about it, right, I also gave I'm giving solutions. If
(33:37):
I'm going to critique, I'm also going to give you
to solve the problem as well. I'm not going to
just present the problem and just throw it on there
like a lot of other people out there, like this
is a basic thing. Getting a three point stance, that's it. See,
I complained about the run game, but I also gave
a solution in the same issue Ron, and I think
for the defense as well. A lot of guys didn't
(34:00):
get a lot of reps in the preseason and here's
why I'm I've always been a big proponent of the
preseason and why people continually try and minimize that preseason effect,
And ah, why did we do this? We should be
doing that. Why are our starters playing? If an injury's
gonna happen, It's going to happen. Hate to tell you
that fact of life there new Slash. Injuries are gonna happen,
(34:23):
whether it happens at the preseason, whether it happens in
the regular season, or whether it happens in the postseason.
That injury that's gonna happen, it's gonna happen at some point,
regardless of how long you try and stave it off,
and you know you're trying to preserve it as much
as possible. Prime example, Aaron Rodgers didn't play it all
in the preseason four plays into the first year with
(34:45):
the Jets out for the year. All that preserving did
what in that moment? That's what I'm just saying. But
it also gives you an opportunity if you do play
to calloush your body. Football is a game where you
must callous yourself. You have to take the impact, you
have to get used to being hit and getting back up,
because that's where the resiliency is, and that's where you
(35:08):
toughen yourself up in those moments. That's why the Steelers
hit in preseason in training camp, a lot of people,
oh my god, how are they hitting? I mean, the
NFLPA comes out there and I Lester Arsherbolt, one of
my good buddies. I've known Lester a very long time,
twenty plus years, and he's out there. He's like, Man,
you know, we sit down and we have lunch every year.
(35:29):
He's like, man, Max Man, He's like, he's like, you
know out I know, I'm always going to get an
issue with the Steelers. Pete carroll t is, We're gonna
get it. Like he has a list. He just knows
players are going to complain about it. But at the
end of the day, the players that complain about this
are also the ones that benefit greatly from this because
they are more prepared than others. And the only thing
(35:50):
I'm gonna say is we hit and we're better and
above the curve in a lot of those places. But
where we fall behind is in the preseason. How many
guys we have sitting down in the preseason and we
need those guys to play. Cam Hayward's been around for
a very long time and Cam Haywen's going to be
Cam Hayward. But there's a difference between practice speed and
game speed, and you have to get used to that.
(36:13):
And practice only goes so far. The games are what
gets you ready for what the season is going to be.
And even though it's in small snapshots, you're not going
to play a full game, but it gets your mind
in the rhythm and your body starts to speed up
and adapt and adjust accordingly. In those moments. TJ is TJ.
TJ was pissed off when Justin beat him to the
(36:33):
outside on the quarterback keeper on that boot at eight.
He was hot because he did everything right, he was
in position, but once again, the motor, the mind has
to kick in to get back into attack mode. It
was an idol, right for most for about a month
and a half, it was an idol, and all of
(36:53):
a sudden, you're trying to redline an engine is untested
with brand new headers on it. You might oh gasket
every once in a while. You need to be able
to test that and rev it up so it gets
used to that expansion, that heat that's going through in
the power and so that's something he adjusted accordingly, not
having a Nick Herbig in there. As as your rotational guy.
(37:14):
You know, you got Jack Sawyer in there, and then
you lost Malik Harrison, so you didn't really have the
four outside backers that you thought you were going to
have going into this game and a proper rotation. So
now guys get a little bit more burn. They're playing
a little bit more time in the game, and so
you have to get used to that endurance of being
able to play in those moments. And I think that's
(37:36):
what guys. You know, injuries happened, Guys get elongated roles.
Chuck Clark, I'm sure was expected to rotate in just
a little bit, Miles Killerber was expected to rotate in
just a little bit. You lose to sewn Elliott Boom
not now we're playing a lot more. Brandon Eckles, Joey
Porter Junior goes down. Man. Thought we were gonna have
have more of of Sleigh Ramsey and JPJ well that opportunity.
(38:01):
So now it's Brandon Echols in that rotation playing a
lot more. These are the adjustments you have to make,
and I think for the defense, they were kind of
calling their heels a little bit, but this is a
team that will adjust. They got to way too much
talent to not do that. And you didn't really play against,
you know, a running quarterback in training camp. You know,
going against Aaron Mason and Skyler is not necessarily the
(38:21):
same thing as going against Justin Fields at all. That's
a new problem to have, and they'll be well seasoned
by the time you get to Lamar Jackson because of
that game against Justin Fields. So there's positives that and
you still won. So I'm not sitting here to poo poop,
but I'm just saying there's explanations and there's solutions to
all of the problems that people have when they look
(38:41):
at this game and said it didn't look good. The
difference between the NFL and college football rob style. Points
don't matter. It's just whether you win or you lose.
That's it. One point, twenty five points, seventy points doesn't matter.
Did you score more points than the opponent? And the
(39:02):
Steelers did exactly that, and now they can learn a
lot easier from that.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
Absolutely, I'd rather be in that film session after win
knowing they're still going to be hard on you. And
by the way, I'm glad you said explanation and explanation
is not an excuse, it's an explanation. And I think
you know, look again, if we're in week thirteen or fourteen,
we might be worried about explanations, but those are explanations, people,
(39:28):
and those are good explanations. I think you're right on
with all those things, snap counts, injuries, all the things
that affected the defense, while also understanding that there were
some rude issues, some things that need to be changed,
and some adjustments that need to be made in order
this team to move on. He is Max Starks. I'm
Rob King. You're listening inside the locker room to Kingdark's
(39:52):
by Neighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingyon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your Neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shot. Get it direct from
the team at the Steelers Pro Shot at shop dot
Steelers dot.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
Com and locker Room. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Hey, Hey, we don't we We we do not tell
optimists to pump the breaks when he comes through the
top of the hour, and we will not stop the
bell lab. That's right early when morning existed. Engage seven
minutes to lunchtime. Go get your forage on all right?
Back to you, Back to you, rob okay.
Speaker 4 (40:49):
So you know you know I love it, Max. I'll
laugh at that for hopefully for years to come. So uh,
I do think that you know, we're now inching closer
to Mike Tomlin and the Jubil Peppers signing. I don't
know whether it's going to be announced there, but we
are expecting some injury updated news. And you know it's
(41:12):
funny that you know, you trade Mika Fitzpatrick and you
know you're maybe a little bit worried about depth of
the safety position, and bang, you get an injury there,
an injury to Joey Porter Junior during the game, and
an injury Malik Harrison during the game. Nick Herbig couldn't
go before the game, Derek Harmon couldn't go before the game.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
You know, five.
Speaker 4 (41:32):
Extremely important guys on your defense. I mean, you know
you're talking about Harmon as a starter, Elliott as a starter,
Joey Porter Junior as a starter.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
Three starters Nick Herbig.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
Obviously, we know a high value rotational player in Malik Harrison,
not only a guy that you know provides depth in
inside linebacker, but a premier special teamer as well. So
and and gives you that safety blanket at outside linebacker.
So this is going to be you know, in about
ten minutes or so, Mike Tominill come on and I'm
(42:06):
going to be, you know, leaning forward in my chair
waiting to hear what he has to say about these injuries.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yeah, I'll I'll be right there with you, king Er.
I'll be tuned in on my Steelers mobile app listening
to the press conference and just kind of hearing justification
mindset and then of course these injuries. Moving forward, health
is always going to be key. And you know I
said this at the beginning of training camp. I'll continue
to reiterate it. It's not a matter of if, it's
(42:36):
a matter of when adversity strikes, you'll have to deal
with the setback. You'll have to deal with an injury,
and you never know when it's coming or where it's coming.
Just know that it does come. This is a natural
part of this case, this is a natural attrition of
a football season. Guys move up, Guys move down, Guys
move left and right, we move all around. In these moments.
(42:59):
You have to be pared for that, and another's misfortune
can be another one's opportunity, another person's opportunity. So what
are you going to do to step up and be ready?
That's why Mike Tomlin never calls guys backups. They call
them starters in waiting. These are those moments where the
starters in waiting become the starters. How do you respond
to that challenge? How do you respond to that opportunity
to move forward? And right now we have a setback there,
(43:21):
hence why you bring in at Jabriel Preppers. But we'll
have to wait and see what the final analysis is.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Yeah, a lot to get to.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
You know.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
We have our WEX Wednesday coming up tomorrow. We will
probably turn the corner a little bit and begin looking
forward to Seattle. Maybe a few wrap up things based
on what Mike Tomlin has to say here today and.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
How last game affects this upcoming game.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
We want to thank Bob Labriola for coming on with
us today.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
He is Max Starks.
Speaker 4 (43:55):
I'm Rob King We thank you as always for listening
inside the locker room with King and Stark, presented by
our neighborhood Forgesore here on the Steelers Audio Network
This is in the Locker Room with Kenyon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct from
the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop dot
Steelers dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Wooooo, there he was, Optimists. Yes, another victory and now
another day working around for Optimist Prime. He's still celebrating.
I don't blame him, you know. Sometimes, you know, truck
drivers get a forty eight hour window to celebrate, you know,
because technically you never know where you're at in the
first twenty four you're driving. You know, you're hitting the
highways at the byways, trying to make sure that you
(00:55):
make all these deliveries on time and that you're moving
the loads cross country. You know, So we give him
a little bit more room. So Optimism Yeah, yeah, you know,
Honk Honk still still celebrating the one and oh start
for the Steelers. But more importantly, we have a special guest,
of course, joining us in the locker room. It's the
one the only Steelers historian. Steelers Digest writer asked answered
(01:21):
that comes out every Tuesday, the famous, the loquacious one,
the mister Bob Labriola. How are we doing today, labs great?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And don't forget. I'm the president of the Max Starks
Fan Club.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, yes, definitely, a long time, long time president. Has
not moved on from that title for some time, and
he is he is permanently that that president of the
Max Starks Fan Club. Yes, most important.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So last, I mean, I know this is your job
to do most of the asking of the questions, you
and Rob, but I gotta I gotta know. I mean,
I've been waiting for this segment since I was watching
the game on Sunday. Give me, give me the lowdown,
give me the truth. Speak some truth to me about
(02:11):
the offensive line play, particularly Broderick Jones.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Work in progress. And it's funny, las you know, I
had just dove into that the previous segment talking about
some of the things. Uh, for Broderick, it was it
was a rough it was a rough first day in
the office to start the season. Uh. I had a
tall task. I mean, we were always wondering how's will McDonald,
how Jermaine Johnson and Quinin Williams are going to do
(02:38):
against him? And Troy. And you know, for Broderick, the strength,
the strength, I think the two point stance is not
the most advantageous stance for him. I talked about that
he needed to probably be in more of a three
point stance. I think actually the entire offense line probably
needs to do a little bit more three point stance
work in this. I know that, oh, when the quarterbacks
(03:00):
a shotgun, it makes it tougher on the angles, blah
blah blah blah blah. But you're more explosive, you're more
physical at the point when you come out of a
three point because you own the leverage game in those
initial moments when you're in a two point, A lot
less explosion, a lot less ability to go move a
guy off the ball because the defenders in a three
point stance and you're in a two point stance. Every
(03:22):
win the leverage battle like naturally, Like that's just basic
physics of the position. And so I thought that he
could have benefited more from that. He kind of got
bit beat to the inside and dropped that inside leg.
And that's also that's more of a characteristic of he's
been playing right tackle for so long, he's still got
(03:43):
to work on the left tackle mechanics because when he
got inside edge, that right foot dropped immediately. And we
talked and I explained to the listeners about the post leg,
which is the up leg and a stance. Left side,
it's the right leg. Right side, it's the left leg,
and you've got to fight to drive that leg upwards
(04:06):
and stay in that stagger that you have when a
guy comes on an inside move and you eventually fall
to parallel. But once you drop it, you create a
saloon door right to the quarterback. And we kind of
saw that in this game with Broderick Run game. I
thought everybody struggle with that. I don't think that was
a Broderick Jones thing because guys really had to had
(04:29):
to work and the angles weren't as great as you
would like. You know. I talked about Zach Frazier being
a little bit to the outside and behind guys when
having to work to the second level by himself. I say,
they need to bring the phone booth to him because
he's a phone booth hero and you want that guy
a wrestling background, a physical type of special but you
(04:49):
want to bring that fight to him. So inside zone,
but more so than outside zone. Was a lot of
the concepts they were running in this game, and it
didn't do them any justice. While you saw the guys
like kind of get strung out all the way to
the sidelines for minimal gains and a lot and a
lot of the run game, and you didn't really get
those big, gashing holes. And I get it you want
to create the cutback lanes, but I think for this
(05:09):
offensive line getting in sequenced with each other, with all
these different moving parts in different places, you need to
have a little bit more tighter concepts to a lot
of those guys to go north and south more instead
of going northeast and northwest to get places.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Thank you now, I can Now I can sound smart
in future installments of Asked and answered.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
So so, Bob, we're going to ask and you're gonna answer.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Okay, that's the way it goes, right.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I hope I don't ask one of those questions against.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Let me, let me, let let me tell you. And
with this segment, we've gone off the rails uh with
this uh for years in the past. So yeah, generally speaking,
that is the way the plays are run. But every
now and then we go off the rail so.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
To use Mike Tomlin, Yeah, what is your and I
know we want to be a non rhythmic I like
that word better than a certain other uh uh rhythmic word.
But uh, Bob, your general thoughts on the win being
one to zero. You've been around for a long time.
You've seen overreactions. I doubt you've seen underreactions. That's not
(06:28):
the way the NFL seems to work. Your Your thoughts
about Week one and what you saw there, well.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I mean you know you got I'll I'll pick the
lowest piece of hanging fruit that there is. Uh. The
quarterback was great, he just was. Uh. You know that
we can and we can talk about what Aaron Rodgers
gave this team in this game on a lot of
different levels. I mean you could certainly, you know, go
(06:58):
to the statistics, the numbers. You know, his completion percentage
seventy three percent, four touchdowns, no interceptions. That's his twenty
eighth game in the NFL with four or more touchdown
passes and zero interceptions. Twenty eight ties him with Tom
(07:19):
Brady for the all time NFL high in that category.
So you know that that kind of stuff to me,
is that the numbers virtually speak for themselves. But I
also really liked a lot of the quarterback kind of
things that Aaron Rodgers was giving to the team that
I don't know that the Steelers have had in opening
(07:41):
games since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the twenty twenty one season.
I really like the you know, the Jets went down
in the first possession, kicked the field goal, Rogers brings
the offense right down the field and scores a touchdown.
You know that kind of complimentary football, or you know,
answering the other opponent, answering the opponent's score with a score.
(08:05):
You know, those kinds of things not only impact the scoreboard,
I also think that you know, they kind of lift
up the team a little bit emotionally. Uh you know,
you prevent it, prevent anything from kind of really going
off the rails. I like that perfect in the red zone.
You're not settling for any short field goals. I think
(08:26):
that's really important. And you know the other thing, uh
was one of the things that the Jets were trying
to do was match Sauce Gardener with DK Metcalf, and
you know, the Jets did a pretty good job with that.
Now when when Sauce Gardener he was not on him.
(08:51):
Every time when Sauce Gardener was not covering uh DK Metcalf,
And there were there weren't that. There weren't that many
occasions of that. Rogers went right to him, you know,
whoever else was covering him, and they didn't have a
whole lot of success. Metcalf finished with four catches for
(09:13):
eighty three yards one catch. He only had one catch
for eleven yards when he was guarded by Sauce, So
that meant three catches for seventy two yards on the
other people. And you know, I like that that awareness
of what's going on. Rogers also used the entirety of
(09:34):
the field. You know, Calvin Austin didn't look like a
bad number two wide receiver with a four time MVP
throwing to him. And you know, and I have a
reputation of being critical of the officiating, and so I'm
going to start early this season with that. That was
(09:58):
past interference that play before the sixty yard field goal
by Chris Boswell. And so you know, that's another thing
that I liked about what Rogers was doing. He took
some shots down the field at some opportune moments, maybe
unexpected moments. I think at that particular time, it was
(10:20):
third and nine, and you know, you're you're in a
situation in the game where the clock is also your opponent,
and maybe you're not expecting from the Jets standpoint, you're
not expecting the quarterback to go deep. He went deep,
he had it and they should have called it. And
(10:40):
so you know, again, those are some of the non
statistical quarterback things that I thought Aaron Rodgers did really
well for the Steelers in the opening game. You know,
as for some of the rest of it. You know,
there's one of the things that brought Aaron Rodgers did
say to Evan Washburn on the field after the game
(11:02):
for those of us who were watching it on TV,
me being one of them, you know, he said, a
lot of teachable tape out there, blah blah blah. But
when we needed a drive at the end, we were
able to get it done. So, uh, just expanding a
little bit on what I would imagine the teachable tape
is going to be, you know, Max an answer to
(11:23):
my question to open this segment dealt with some of it.
I was disappointed with the run defense. I thought the
defensive line got handled a little bit too much upfront
against the run. You know, while it was happening, the
kickoff coverage was a little bit concerning to me. But
(11:47):
then when you look at what happened league wide with
the new rules, it seems like whatever the tweak, the
tweaking that the owners did with the dynamic kickoff in
order to promote more returns, I think we're gonna see
that's working. And so maybe the what the line was
(12:13):
for good kickoff coverage before this season is going to
have to move a little bit because it looks like
league wide kickoff return averages or kickoff return yardage was up.
You know, the Steelers didn't run the ball very well
at all, But again, when you have you know, Rogers
(12:38):
or and or all great quarterbacks, a lot of what
they do I think that is so valuable is they're
an eraser. You know, they can erase mistakes, they can
erase weaknesses in your game with their sheer ability excuse me,
their quote unquote great. And you know you only rush
(13:03):
for fifty three yards on twenty carries in a game
two point seven average. You would look at that and
say that's really below the line. The offense is really
going to struggle. And then you look at it and
you ended up with thirty two points, So you know,
again this is or third, excuse me, thirty four points.
(13:26):
This is a guy who and any and all of
the angst about Aaron Rodgers fitting in, Aaron Rodgers wanting
to be played for the Steelers, Aaron Rodgers being washed up,
all of that stuff, in my opinion, all of those
questions were answered in them and in the affirmative in
(13:48):
terms of in the Steelers favor. And now you're asking,
if you're asking me, the only concern with Aaron Rodgers
is keep him healthy. Seven hits for too much, too much,
got to cut back on that.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
I agree there, Bob, And that that's kind of where
you know, you look at the offensive line first and
foremost and say, hey, guys, we got to do got
to do better. And I think a run game helps
that labs a you know, an easier slate, because you
have to be able, you have to be able to
soften up the pass rush, and the only way to
do that is to lean on hit and move guys
(14:28):
against their will. On that defensive line, there was a
lot of movement that the Jets came out. They were
they spread out nicely, knowing that this team was more
of an outside zone style team. And that's one of
the frustrating things because when you think of Pittsburgh Steeler
football in the past, it was always smash mouth, right,
nice tight, you're going north and south, double team, double team,
(14:50):
work up to the backers, and there's not a lot
of variants. We didn't run a lot of outside zone.
We ran some toss cracks concepts, you know when I played,
but a lot of it was twenty two to twenty
three double it was, it was inside zone. It was
it was ride thirty four to thirty five. It was
thirty thirty, thirty five and thirty six belly. It was
a lot of inside zone that gave us, allowing us
(15:12):
to be a moving wall versus kind of working out
on those angles. I want to ask I want to
ask you Bob about you know, health on that defensive
side of the ball. You know, we saw we lost
Deshaun Elliott. Obviously we're bringing in Jabrill Pepper's Joey Porter
was sidelined, the leak Harrison was side took a lot
of things early in this game defensively and just kind
(15:36):
of your thoughts on what you saw. Do you think
that Deshaun Elliott injury was one that kind of hampered
a lot of the run support in your eyes? And
if so, you know, what do you think of the
job that Chuck Clark did coming in filling in and
just kind of your general thought. I know we talked.
I know you mentioned that run defense. They got pushed around,
they couldn't get off blocks, a lot of those other things.
(15:58):
But when you look at just kind of the the
whole structure of that defense, what did you see?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, you know, and just losing to Shaun Elliott is significant.
I don't know the extent of the injury. Hopefully it's
you know, a shorter term thing rather than longer term thing.
But the Jets were having success running the ball when
he was on the field too. So I don't want
to make it sound like I'm attributing all of the
(16:27):
run defensive issues that the Steelers had with losing you know,
the Shawn Elliott, because certainly that did not help, But
I don't know that that was the you know, the
major factor in that in that issue. You know, yes,
when you had and I you know, I think Chuck
Clark did a nice job coming in. As I said,
(16:48):
Deshaun Elliott is a good player. You lose him, that
has an impact. And I think that you know, Chuck
Clark's performance when asked in terms of when when Deshaun
Elliott was injured, That's that's why you have him. You know,
he's a veteran. You can count on him. I mean,
(17:11):
I don't know how much you know, preparation he got
specifically in the things that the Steelers wanted were counting
on to Shaun Elliott to do. But by no means
was he Chuck Clark. I mean, in my view a
detriment to the overall you know performance, what they wanted
(17:32):
to do, how they how they executed, executed it in
those things. So yeah, that I have no issue with
Chuck Clark. Again, that's you know, he was one of
those guys, you know, and they made the moves cut
into fifty three and then the initial practice squad, you know,
they did a little dancing around with some things. And
(17:55):
I was a little bit when I first saw that
Chuck Clark was waived, I was like wow. But then
as a vested veteran, you know, Chuck Clark and people
of his experience level. When their contracts are terminated, they
cannot be claimed on waivers, you know, they have to
agree to go to another team. They can't be claimed
(18:20):
if they're free agents. And so I don't know this,
but this kind of thing happens around the league a
lot of times. You will go to a player like
him and say, look, we're cutting you, but we want
you back. We're just doing this because we want to
manipulate some of these other people in terms of getting
them on the list that we want, or getting them
(18:42):
through waivers, you know, and those kinds of things to
get them on the practice squad or to ir or
whatever it might be. So you talk to the guy
and if he's agreeable, then that's you go ahead and proceed,
you know, down that path. And so that's exactly what
that turned out to be. And again I respect Chuck
(19:04):
Clark for being willing to play ball, so to speak,
with the team's moves at that time of the calendar.
And again, as I said, that's why you have a
guy like him. And to me, the way he cooperated
in that area makes him even that more and more
valuable of a guy A teammate, A part of the
(19:27):
roster than he is, just based on what he gives
you on the field.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
We love with Bob Labriella brings us on and off
the field as well.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Labs always a pleasure man.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Thank you very much for coming on.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Really appreciate it. Thanks, Las, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
See you guys on Sunday at the ball yard.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yes, sir, we'll do. Bob Lavrielle. I love Bob Lavriola.
He's my guy.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
We hang out together up in the trobe, you know,
in that little booth next in the broadcast booth. He's
he's you know kind of you know, obviously doing different
shows and he's he's his knowledge of the Steelers so deep,
so deep, and just a joy to talk too.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Well.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And he's also our chief accountability officer too. I mean
that's the other thing. Like like Labs like, you know,
just to take a picture. We said the top left
corner booth and there's like this little kind of triangular
wedge of glass that you know, you could see down
the rest of the press box with and Labs always
he gives us the check in. He'll just he'll just
(20:36):
peek his head around, you'll see him in the glass.
He'll give the wave and the smile and then and
then you know, because the booth there's only us up
there that early in the morning, you know, he could
he could hear everything. So and and if if we
say something crazy or funny, you'll just see Labs point
his head out, shake his head, wag his finger at us,
(20:57):
and uh yeah, it's such a joy Man Love Labs. That.
Of course, he's also the mayor of Sharky's as well. Uh,
you know, he has a great relationship with those guys
that you know, when the fat guy Delight was turned
into the lineman Delight Wolf Lee's revenge. You know, he's
a chief orchestrator. He's he's a very he's a very
good nahmer and uh and progenitor of all things food
(21:21):
related and creations. So yeah, Love Love when Labs comes
on the show.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Uh so we still have much much more to come.
Max has done his tape breakdown, at least some of
the tape breakdown, and that is a you know, if
you're if you're a football fan, that is something you
love to hear, and you're gonna get to hear it
next when we continue inside the locker room with King
Starks presented by your neighborhood Ford Store here on the
(21:48):
Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
This is in.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The locker room with Kingyon Starks on Steelers Nation radioted
by your neighborhood Forward Store. The F one fifty is
the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers
Pro Shot. Get it direct from the team at the
Steelers Pro Shot at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
And we thank you for being with us inside of
the locker room alongside Max Stark sewn Robert King. Max,
I want to thank Bob Labriola as well. Film breakdown
and did you see anything you're talking about the often line,
did anything that you thought was positive any player and
(22:36):
the aspect of the game, get it, Lap said, and first,
I think for a lot of fans was also designed.
Didn't protect Aaron Rodgers and Air looked like he's into
his act. That was that was you know's going to
be sabrad er don't but the protection, uh look incredible.
(23:00):
The running game was rective, so that lead the ensign
was not where at all individually stand out. I don't
tip you know what did you let this kind of
wrap up the offensive on here?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (23:19):
I think one of the things that was a brice.
But I thought Mason McCormick had some solid blocks of
the game, pulling and trapping, He had some good angles.
I thought Troy Troy had some moments. I mean's still
working off some of that. Some of the pressures are
kind of forced Aaron off his point a couple of times,
(23:40):
but Troy was fighting in there. Zach. I thought in
the past protection stuff was what was good. Isaac. Isaac
definitely could tell need to get in a little bit
more game shape.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
A couple of times he just got caught standing tall
and just leaning on guys as opposed to the explosiveness
and and and then good bent knee based posture that
he normally plays with. I think that's just that's just
the fact that he did not play in the preseason
really and did not really have that much playing time.
So going in and going a full board game against
the Jets defense, it was it was bound to happen.
(24:17):
But I think outside of that, I think that was
that was probably some of the bright spots. Like a
lot of these things are very fair, and I want
to make sure that everybody knows this, A lot of
this stuff is very fixable and can be done to
make this team better. There's nothing that's like, oh my god,
we're gonna, we're gonna, we're screwed, We're dead, dead in
the water. Just just forget about it. We're just gonna
(24:38):
be a team that passes the ball.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
No.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
When I'm saying this once again, critiques are meant to
empower and to advise and to help. That's what these
critiques are for. I'm not I'm not condemning anybody in
these moments because there's not a large enough sample size
to go into the condemnation mode. So let me just
(25:00):
be clear about that. These are things that can be
fixed schematically. These are just some of the things they
need to work on and be a little bit more
adamant about. I think things when you're trying to figure
out what to work on in training camp, you go
on base philosophies and you're trying to cover a wide swath,
and the guys that are going to play on Sundays
(25:22):
are not necessarily playing every day in practice. They're not
getting these preseason reps. So when you get into the season,
it's a different mindset. Now, it's more nuanced. Now, it's
very play and philosophy specific and things that we need
to do to route and be better in those moments.
(25:43):
And this is what these critiques are for. When I'm
thinking about just that overall concept. The biggest difference, and
here's the difference between what the Jets O line was
doing and the Pittsburgh O line was doing. They were
in three point stands when it came run time. Guess what,
everybody on the strong side, there's a tight end there,
(26:05):
three point stance steelers. If there's a tight end there
or there wasn't a tight end there, two points that
that's a very basic thing to change, very different mindset
philosophy for a lot of these guys. And that's why
when you see the difference of the effectiveness of the
run games, that's a small thing, right, but it gets
(26:31):
you mentally in position to do battle. You're not giving
away an advantage. It would be like saying, Hey, we're
gonna storm the castle. But guess what, there's one thing
when the drawbridge is down, there's another thing when the
drawbridge is up. Am I right? Rob? When we talk
about this, yes, you're easier easier to storm a castle
(26:55):
with the moat when you have a drawbridge down right,
tougher concept when there's a moat and there's no drawbridge,
and by being in the two point you lowered the drawbridge.
You made it easier for them to storm your castle
and try and attack your king, which is Aaron Rodgers.
So that's just a base concept. Raise the drawbridge, get
(27:18):
the three point stance. That's it, and that could cure
a lot of the ills on the run game, on
the mentality of going north and south and pounding the defender.
So there we go. Did I put Did I put it?
Did I put a good enough bow on that one?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
No?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
You did?
Speaker 4 (27:34):
And I think that I think that when I when
I look at that, you know, when I look at
the the defensive line and I look at the offensive
line for the Jets, you know that is clearly their strength.
And you know, you know, people listening and be like,
oh man, the strength.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Of a five win team. Right.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
So first of all, let me say this, and I've
said this before about the Jets, and you knew, Max,
I said, where the game the game made me nervous.
I said that in the this is not this is
not uh putting as an afterwards spin on it. You know,
this is a team that is they're they're very good
on both lines, very good. You know, they're they're even
(28:17):
without Elijah Vera Tucker. That is a good offensive line.
They picked up Harris and Phillips. That is a good
defensive line. Uh So people say, well they won five games, Well,
you know, it should have easily been a seven win team.
They're the worst field goal kicking in the in the
NFL last year. So I viewed that as you're coming
in and facing a seven win team, not a five
(28:39):
win team. And then you bring back a guy like
Jermaine Johnson who was a Pro bowler two years ago,
who essentially missed the last season, especially when things started
going bad for the Jets, you bring him back and
that that is a very very good front four. And
it's an offensive line for this years. It's got, you know,
a second year guy at guard and center and a
(29:01):
first year guy at right tackle and a first time
starter at left tackle. So it's not the ideal matchup.
I would say this max if a week from now.
And I'm not taking anything away from Seattle because you know,
Seattle's got you know, DeMarcus Lawrence and Leonard Williams and
some veterans out there that know how to get to
(29:21):
the passer and they got you know, they've they've got
depth at the pass rushing position. I mean, they've got
guys like Boy Mafe and Derek Hall, guys who have
had good SAX seasons. They can bring waves of guys
at you. But so I think it's going to be
another big test for the for the offensive line. But
(29:41):
if we're here next week and we're talking about how
you know, Zach Charboney and Kenneth Walker ran for another
one hundred and seventy yards on this theeers that's going
to be an O to me.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
You know, this is this is the kind.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Of team that look with Jackson Smith and Jigba Cooper
Cup this is why you have corners. This is why
you have outstanding corners. This is a more traditional offense,
an offense that can that's going to throw the ball
and run the ball. They're gonna have a mix. But
if for whatever reason, they find the run is working
(30:16):
and they go to the whip and they run the
football and they run for one hundred and seventy yards,
now we're gonna start wondering, Okay, what's happening here?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Derek Harmon.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
I know, Derek Harmon, it should be better than that
against the run, because these Toos were better against the run.
I think they were eighth in the league in or
thereabouts in rushing yards. It was a solid, you know,
defense against the rush, just not when teams leaned into that,
(30:46):
you know, and and emphasize that. So, you know, I
thought it was a bad matchup in Week one for
the Steelers in that way. I certainly didn't expect that
type of success, particularly running the football. I didn't see
that coming, Max. I didn't think it was going to
be like that. But I did think that they were
(31:06):
going to have success running the ball. So I'm kind
of reserving judgment. And look, you have, you have seventeen
weeks to try to get this straightened out, hopefully heading
into the playoffs. But the sooner the better, you know.
And so if we're talking, if we're sitting here talking
next week about a big, gouging running attack by Seattle,
(31:26):
and I think we can start to grope around for
the panic button.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
A little bit. Yeah, the warning flag will go up right,
that's right, you know, the deaf con will go from
you know, no deaf con to deaf con five and
we'll work our way down because obviously def coon one
is the highest in that situation. Just case, they always wonder,
you'll start you'll start to wonder what's going on. And
(31:51):
I caution you know this, this is not overreaction. This
isn't the worst that they We still won this game,
ladies and gentlemen, and I just want to make sure
Stealer Das we're not doing this and poo pooing on
the victory. But my job as an analyst is to analyze,
(32:11):
and so when we present these observations, we present these
observations as things that need to be worked on because
a lot of things get covered up in victories and
it cures a lot of ills, but it never gets
to the root of the problem. We we never cure
anything during a victory. And that's why this is that
(32:32):
moment where we're looking for solutions to cure future problems
before that before they start to become you know, an issue,
they become malignant, start spreading. We want to we want
to knock these out at the source. And so that's
why I bring the perspective that I bring when we
look at this from a sobering perspective after a game
(32:53):
and I and I'm rooting for all the guys, and
I want to see the success because I know what
this team is capable. Right. I've sat there and watched
this team all through training camp, practices on the field,
watching the position groups, watching the schematics on how these
guys operate, how they communicate. And these are my observations
(33:15):
from that informed position of kind of knowing how this
game is played and having played this game, showing how
little small critiques can come in. Like a lot of
people like, oh man, the run game sucks and this,
that and the other, offer a solution. Don't just complain
about it, right, I also gave I'm giving solutions. If
(33:37):
I'm going to critique, I'm also going to give you
to solve the problem as well. I'm not going to
just present the problem and just throw it on there
like a lot of other people out there, like this
is a basic thing. Getting a three point stance, that's it. See,
I complained about the run game, but I also gave
a solution in the same issue Ron, and I think
for the defense as well. A lot of guys didn't
(34:00):
get a lot of reps in the preseason and here's
why I'm I've always been a big proponent of the
preseason and why people continually try and minimize that preseason effect,
And ah, why did we do this? We should be
doing that. Why are our starters playing? If an injury's
gonna happen, It's going to happen. Hate to tell you
that fact of life there new Slash. Injuries are gonna happen,
(34:23):
whether it happens at the preseason, whether it happens in
the regular season, or whether it happens in the postseason.
That injury that's gonna happen, it's gonna happen at some point,
regardless of how long you try and stave it off,
and you know you're trying to preserve it as much
as possible. Prime example, Aaron Rodgers didn't play it all
in the preseason four plays into the first year with
(34:45):
the Jets out for the year. All that preserving did
what in that moment? That's what I'm just saying. But
it also gives you an opportunity if you do play
to calloush your body. Football is a game where you
must callous yourself. You have to take the impact, you
have to get used to being hit and getting back up,
because that's where the resiliency is, and that's where you
(35:08):
toughen yourself up in those moments. That's why the Steelers
hit in preseason in training camp, a lot of people,
oh my god, how are they hitting? I mean, the
NFLPA comes out there and I Lester Arsherbolt, one of
my good buddies. I've known Lester a very long time,
twenty plus years, and he's out there. He's like, Man,
you know, we sit down and we have lunch every year.
(35:29):
He's like, man, Max Man, He's like, he's like, you
know out I know, I'm always going to get an
issue with the Steelers. Pete carroll t is, We're gonna
get it. Like he has a list. He just knows
players are going to complain about it. But at the
end of the day, the players that complain about this
are also the ones that benefit greatly from this because
they are more prepared than others. And the only thing
(35:50):
I'm gonna say is we hit and we're better and
above the curve in a lot of those places. But
where we fall behind is in the preseason. How many
guys we have sitting down in the preseason and we
need those guys to play. Cam Hayward's been around for
a very long time and Cam Haywen's going to be
Cam Hayward. But there's a difference between practice speed and
game speed, and you have to get used to that.
(36:13):
And practice only goes so far. The games are what
gets you ready for what the season is going to be.
And even though it's in small snapshots, you're not going
to play a full game, but it gets your mind
in the rhythm and your body starts to speed up
and adapt and adjust accordingly. In those moments. TJ is TJ.
TJ was pissed off when Justin beat him to the
(36:33):
outside on the quarterback keeper on that boot at eight.
He was hot because he did everything right, he was
in position, but once again, the motor, the mind has
to kick in to get back into attack mode. It
was an idol, right for most for about a month
and a half, it was an idol, and all of
(36:53):
a sudden, you're trying to redline an engine is untested
with brand new headers on it. You might oh gasket
every once in a while. You need to be able
to test that and rev it up so it gets
used to that expansion, that heat that's going through in
the power and so that's something he adjusted accordingly, not
having a Nick Herbig in there. As as your rotational guy.
(37:14):
You know, you got Jack Sawyer in there, and then
you lost Malik Harrison, so you didn't really have the
four outside backers that you thought you were going to
have going into this game and a proper rotation. So
now guys get a little bit more burn. They're playing
a little bit more time in the game, and so
you have to get used to that endurance of being
able to play in those moments. And I think that's
(37:36):
what guys. You know, injuries happened, Guys get elongated roles.
Chuck Clark, I'm sure was expected to rotate in just
a little bit, Miles Killerber was expected to rotate in
just a little bit. You lose to sewn Elliott Boom
not now we're playing a lot more. Brandon Eckles, Joey
Porter Junior goes down. Man. Thought we were gonna have
have more of of Sleigh Ramsey and JPJ well that opportunity.
(38:01):
So now it's Brandon Echols in that rotation playing a
lot more. These are the adjustments you have to make,
and I think for the defense, they were kind of
calling their heels a little bit, but this is a
team that will adjust. They got to way too much
talent to not do that. And you didn't really play against,
you know, a running quarterback in training camp. You know,
going against Aaron Mason and Skyler is not necessarily the
(38:21):
same thing as going against Justin Fields at all. That's
a new problem to have, and they'll be well seasoned
by the time you get to Lamar Jackson because of
that game against Justin Fields. So there's positives that and
you still won. So I'm not sitting here to poo poop,
but I'm just saying there's explanations and there's solutions to
all of the problems that people have when they look
(38:41):
at this game and said it didn't look good. The
difference between the NFL and college football rob style. Points
don't matter. It's just whether you win or you lose.
That's it. One point, twenty five points, seventy points doesn't matter.
Did you score more points than the opponent? And the
(39:02):
Steelers did exactly that, and now they can learn a
lot easier from that.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
Absolutely, I'd rather be in that film session after win
knowing they're still going to be hard on you. And
by the way, I'm glad you said explanation and explanation
is not an excuse, it's an explanation. And I think
you know, look again, if we're in week thirteen or fourteen,
we might be worried about explanations, but those are explanations, people,
(39:28):
and those are good explanations. I think you're right on
with all those things, snap counts, injuries, all the things
that affected the defense, while also understanding that there were
some rude issues, some things that need to be changed,
and some adjustments that need to be made in order
this team to move on. He is Max Starks. I'm
Rob King. You're listening inside the locker room to Kingdark's
(39:52):
by Neighborhood Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingyon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your Neighborhood Forward Store. The
F one fifty is the official truck of the Pittsburgh
Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shot. Get it direct from
the team at the Steelers Pro Shot at shop dot
Steelers dot.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
Com and locker Room. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Hey, Hey, we don't we We we do not tell
optimists to pump the breaks when he comes through the
top of the hour, and we will not stop the
bell lab. That's right early when morning existed. Engage seven
minutes to lunchtime. Go get your forage on all right?
Back to you, Back to you, rob okay.
Speaker 4 (40:49):
So you know you know I love it, Max. I'll
laugh at that for hopefully for years to come. So uh,
I do think that you know, we're now inching closer
to Mike Tomlin and the Jubil Peppers signing. I don't
know whether it's going to be announced there, but we
are expecting some injury updated news. And you know it's
(41:12):
funny that you know, you trade Mika Fitzpatrick and you
know you're maybe a little bit worried about depth of
the safety position, and bang, you get an injury there,
an injury to Joey Porter Junior during the game, and
an injury Malik Harrison during the game. Nick Herbig couldn't
go before the game, Derek Harmon couldn't go before the game.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
You know, five.
Speaker 4 (41:32):
Extremely important guys on your defense. I mean, you know
you're talking about Harmon as a starter, Elliott as a starter,
Joey Porter Junior as a starter.
Speaker 2 (41:42):
Three starters Nick Herbig.
Speaker 4 (41:43):
Obviously, we know a high value rotational player in Malik Harrison,
not only a guy that you know provides depth in
inside linebacker, but a premier special teamer as well. So
and and gives you that safety blanket at outside linebacker.
So this is going to be you know, in about
ten minutes or so, Mike Tominill come on and I'm
(42:06):
going to be, you know, leaning forward in my chair
waiting to hear what he has to say about these injuries.
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yeah, I'll I'll be right there with you, king Er.
I'll be tuned in on my Steelers mobile app listening
to the press conference and just kind of hearing justification
mindset and then of course these injuries. Moving forward, health
is always going to be key. And you know I
said this at the beginning of training camp. I'll continue
to reiterate it. It's not a matter of if, it's
(42:36):
a matter of when adversity strikes, you'll have to deal
with the setback. You'll have to deal with an injury,
and you never know when it's coming or where it's coming.
Just know that it does come. This is a natural
part of this case, this is a natural attrition of
a football season. Guys move up, Guys move down, Guys
move left and right, we move all around. In these moments.
(42:59):
You have to be pared for that, and another's misfortune
can be another one's opportunity, another person's opportunity. So what
are you going to do to step up and be ready?
That's why Mike Tomlin never calls guys backups. They call
them starters in waiting. These are those moments where the
starters in waiting become the starters. How do you respond
to that challenge? How do you respond to that opportunity
to move forward? And right now we have a setback there,
(43:21):
hence why you bring in at Jabriel Preppers. But we'll
have to wait and see what the final analysis is.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Yeah, a lot to get to.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
You know.
Speaker 4 (43:32):
We have our WEX Wednesday coming up tomorrow. We will
probably turn the corner a little bit and begin looking
forward to Seattle. Maybe a few wrap up things based
on what Mike Tomlin has to say here today and.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
How last game affects this upcoming game.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
We want to thank Bob Labriola for coming on with
us today.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
He is Max Starks.
Speaker 4 (43:55):
I'm Rob King We thank you as always for listening
inside the locker room with King and Stark, presented by
our neighborhood Forgesore here on the Steelers Audio Network
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