August 22, 2024 • 47 mins
Max and Wolf open the locker room highlighting some areas they believe the Steelers have show progress throughout camp and preseason.
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and
brought to you by acro Sure, the official insurance and
cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, by bet MGM, Huntington Bank,
p n C PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next?
Now here's Craig Wilfley and Max Starks.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, like, like we've all said, you know, obviously you
know we're not showing much, but you know we'll be fine.
You know, obviously that's the key to winning football games
is just now football.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
So you know we understand that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thankfully we've been you know, learning these lessons when when
the games that's so you don't count to our final records.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So you know we're learning.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
We're learning that, and you know we'll be ready to
go for the Saturday and as well as Brady.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know, that's the man, the myth the moon laying
it out eight to ten passes completed, forty seven yards,
got sacked three times, offense went three and out three
times in five series, and the two other possessions only
sported one first down each. So what would just say
is needed to write the ship Max?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
A solid drive from the offense I think is the
first thing that needs to happen. You need to see
a fully functioning on script, on schedule drive and you know,
in the words of Mike tomlin Wright, critical down situations,
they need to be executed. That's probably the best thing
to get the hebgb's off.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
Beautiful, beautiful, that's smart.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Okay, So let me I'm gonna throw this to West too,
because you know, we're in the locker room here, and
locker room is always you know, you got different miscreants
just kind of wandering through the locker room you always have.
You got the trainers, you got the players, you got
the coaches, you got the equipment room. Guys.
Speaker 6 (01:58):
It's kind of like living in the there's always a
distraction somewhere. There's always somebody who's wanting to do something
or talk about something, or mess with you exactly.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So you know, and especially the equipment dudes, they're always
messing with you. You know, Tony Perici used to try
to throw my Adidas shoes, my treasured Adidas shoes that
have been through with they've they've been through everything from
major conflicts right in my on the football field, and
he's trying to throw them out because kid zooks, they're
looking ragged, right, But no, you want to be in
(02:30):
battle with the same one.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
So to dig your shoes out of the trash can.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
You know I had to go and go dig to
the bottom of the one trash can in the three
rivers locker room looking for my parab adetas.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
That ain't right, No, that was just wrong.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
So yes, indeed, you got all kinds of people wanting
through the locker room. And right now it's it's Wesley,
it's Max myself here in the locker room. And I
look at this and I go, Okay, you know, you
got a lot of issues here, but here's number one.
You got to get more wins on first down. I'm
I mean, you got to win on first down. We
only got in five series, they had seven first down opportunities,
(03:06):
and you only won on three of them. Winning on
first down sets up because then you don't have those
huge possession down battles, What say you, Wesley.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And we heard Pat Fryermouth
there on that clip that we played at the intro
talking about being better on possession downs. Half the battle
of having success on your possession downs is setting yourself
up to do so on first and second down, Right,
you're gonna convert much more often on third down.
Speaker 7 (03:32):
On those possession downs.
Speaker 6 (03:33):
When it's third and short, third and manageable as opposed
to third and intermediate, third and long.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I always say third and four or less.
Speaker 6 (03:39):
That's which Wanny exactly right, because then you can run,
then you can pass.
Speaker 7 (03:43):
You're not predictable.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
There's a lot that you can do in those situations
to keep a defense guessing. So, yeah, you're absolutely right
to win on third down. You got to really start
by winning on first down. It's all kind of part
of that ecosystem of an offense, right in of a
football team.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Oh whoa whoa ecosystem well bear of the day, Oh
we got that. Oh we might have started early. It's
not an echo system, it's an eco eco. Put an
h in there, there would have been ecosystem and it
would total change everything.
Speaker 6 (04:12):
It's a trickle down offense, you know in the National
Football League. Everything affects, you know, the subsequent actions. So yeah,
if you're if you're winning on first down, if you're
getting four or five, six, seven yards on first down,
that makes your second down much easier. Hey, maybe a
lot of times you don't even have to get to
those possession downs because you're rolling the sticks on second down.
Speaker 7 (04:32):
It all, it all works, you know, in conjunction together.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
The funny thing is, so many times, you know, people
will tell me, go, well, you know, Mike Tomin always
talks about rolling chain, staying on schedule. You know, those
those are things that seemingly are thrown about like so easily.
But it's the truth. It's the truth. Every week, every
single week, you seek to.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
Stay on schedule.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Staying on schedule means winning on first down, getting into
makeable third downs and then doing the deal indeed and
rolling the chains on third down.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
And that's that's football. That's what it is. It's washed,
rinse and repeat, you know.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
And I think a lot of people like start to
listen and they go, eh, okay, and then onto something else.
But no, the truths of football are so very simple
at its most basic level. And when you realize that,
when you realize staying on schedule is imperative and the
best way you can stay on schedule, that means again
(05:32):
the winning on first down into makeable third downs.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
That it all kicks off with that first play.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
And and one of the things that will absolutely drive
you or drive the coaches batcrap crazy, okay, is penalties.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Stap penalty, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
You know, why do you think they had this emphasis
the amphosis on the fact that if a guy jumps
off sides up at Saint Vincent.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
You gotta run a lab Yeah, I mean, think about it, Wesley.
Speaker 7 (05:58):
You got to run a lap, you know.
Speaker 6 (05:59):
I mean, listen, we had to do that in the
studio here the other day ar I did.
Speaker 7 (06:03):
Is Arthur Smith might say, we.
Speaker 8 (06:04):
Got to get out all the way there you go.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
See exactly wit high five.
Speaker 6 (06:10):
Okay, we're gonna need a lot of times you and
Max and I we got to get out all the way,
you know, So that applies.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
See, I love it because we were listening to Arthur
Smith with this one second hit right, and we're trying
to figure out how can we work that in that's perfect.
Speaker 7 (06:25):
Well, Wolf and I were laughing.
Speaker 6 (06:26):
So it's one of those you know, when you do
this job, producing side of this job for long enough,
like any other job, certain things stand out to you.
So I'm looking through the sound that we have in
the system this morning that usually is put in their
combination of our buddy Jacob Erect of course and Mike Persuda,
and I see that there is an Arthur Smith clip
in there that is just one point two seconds long,
(06:48):
and so the producer in me goes, Okay, that has
to be a funny little thing that he said, because
why are they cutting.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
Something and putting it in the system.
Speaker 6 (06:56):
That's only one point It's not a seventeen second sound
bite from Pat Fryerman. It's one point two seconds long.
So Wolf and I are sitting here and we're like,
I wonder what this is.
Speaker 8 (07:04):
We gotta get out of all the way, and he's speaking.
Speaker 7 (07:06):
The truth, like, oh, that's perfect.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
We're gonna save that one for like that's the shortest
truth that you can speak, you know.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
And the fact of the matter is we got to
get out of our own way.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
And one of the ways you get out of your
own way is to make sure that you get off
on the snat.
Speaker 7 (07:20):
That's right, That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
You know, It's just that simple. And that's what makes
it so difficult, because it's you know, when you start
off first and fifteen, that's just a hard thing to
deal with, you know.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
It's as Arthur Smith would say, that's a hard way
to make a living.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Yes, it is, because you know what you gotta do.
You know, you gotta make sure you.
Speaker 8 (07:43):
Come on, sorry, we gotta get out all the way.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Come on.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
It's like having a new toy.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
And you got that.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
But that's the truth of the matter. And so really
what we're looking for is we roll into Detroit. Is
getting that offense simply on schedule, Joel, and into makable
third downs, possession downs, and then win those, you know,
and it's it's like winning three out of five, out
of four out of six things like that. I mean,
(08:11):
you know, it's it's I know, you can't go six
for six all the time, but that's your goal.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
You know, you just want to keep rolling them absolutely.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
You know. The thing is maintaining that ball control and winning,
staying on schedule with the winning and you know, the
third downs all that other stuff. Uh, it's really about
getting out of your own way. And you watch the
tape and you take a look at some of it.
You know, we can go on. And one of the
things I want to talk about is, you know Rojo,
you know, talking about the fact that he overset, which
(08:37):
he did you know what I mean. But it's also
his feet and he didn't punch, but he's got to
get out of his own way, and part of that
is getting out of the down talking in your mind.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
No doubt.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
I mean, it's that you and Max and Arthur Motes,
you know, can speak to this better than I can, obviously,
But I've spent a lot of time in my in
my career around professional athletes, and all of them talk
about how, hey, there are more people than you think.
Not a lot of people, but there are more people
than you think that could be a professional athlete, but
(09:10):
they don't have the mental They have the physical skill set,
they have the body type, but mentally they couldn't put
it all together. Whether it was the work ethic, whether
it was the maturity, whether it was the study, knowledge,
preparation part of their sport, whatever it might be. Hey,
that person had the athleticism, they had the body type,
they had some skill sets, they could have probably had
a professional career, but they just didn't have the mental
(09:31):
capacity to deal with the pressure all those different things
that come with the mental side of playing in the
National Football League, being a professional athlete. And I think
man especially when you're young, when you're on the offensive line,
when you're playing multiple positions, it can certainly be a
new offensive.
Speaker 7 (09:48):
Coordinator, new scheme, new quarterback. It can be a lot
to balance, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Back in the day, he used to say one hundred
dollars body in a ten cent brain. And I'm not
talking about bro Jo. I'm talking about just in general.
But certainly one of the things that that that bro
Jo has got, he's got to get out of his.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
He's got to get out of.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
His own way, out of his mind in the sense
of you can't tighten up. And what you watched from
the very first get go. This is what I saw
the very first pass rush. You had Russo going up
the field, and it's he's a simple, speed to power
type guy.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
All right.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
This was one of the first and foremost guys I
remember was was Kevin Green back in the day. Kevin
Green was a Tasmanian devil and he would bring that
speed to power rush. And what you try to do
is you get that quick burst up the field, creating
that sense of urgency by the tackle to set out quickly,
and then you come back to the inside on an
inside armstab using.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
His weight like judo. It it's football jiu jitsu.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Right, You're trying to get him back on his rear,
rear foot so you can take advantage of the inside
which is then unweighted because all his weight is on
his right foot. And you can see time and again
that that that Broderick got himself in trouble by oversetting,
you know, And and that's it's this is a simple
thing where you've got to just work the mechanics out
and make sure your pass set is commensurate with the
(11:12):
with the way the defensive end rush is the very
first pass rush you you watch, go back and watch
the tape. Rousseau goes up the field and then gets
Rojo back on his right foot and tips him down.
He just he was not consequential in the rush, Okay,
but what it was was because it was a four
yard out to Van Jeffers.
Speaker 7 (11:30):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
But the point is, from that point on, Rojo was
over setting. You know, Broderick was just creating a problem
for himself because he was given too much to Instead
of playing him inside out, he was playing him head
up and sometimes outside in. It seemed like, so that's
just something he's got to be able to make sure
that his kickstep is commensurate. And here's the other thing.
(11:53):
Some guys do a kickstep where they lift their leg
way high and they're they're like leaning forward on their
their inside leg and then they'll kick and rock back.
I was always what I was taught was the boxer step.
It's a step in drag, meaning you want to make
sure that your feet are always in contact with the
ground because like a puncher, like a boxer, well you
(12:14):
get yeah, if you're off bounce a good boxer, A
good boxer will watch the feet of his opponent and
when his.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Parallel when he's over.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
That makes sense actually, and it's the same way as
you watch your center of gravity.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
He's not he's not centered correctly, you know.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
And and it's something that young guys will struggle with
John Colb. And you know, Max, you played tackle, you
know what I'm talking about, John Colb. But one of
the things that we always did the day before a
game was we would uh, you know, go down the
sideline and practice the step slide along the sidelines because
(12:57):
it kept you just backing up straight, you know what
I mean, having a good drop to be balanced in
your step slide rather than getting weighted one leg or
the other too much. And if you overstep side, if
you overweight yourself, then you get uprooted by a guy
like Rousseau who takes that speed to power rush and
uses his own use your own weight against you is
(13:20):
really what it's happening.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Sixty forty relationship wolves, that's what it comes down to.
You have to keep sixty percent of your weight on
the inside of your set and or the inside or
what we call a post leg, right, and then on
your kick leg you got to keep forty percent. So
you want to keep a little bit more to the
(13:43):
inside because you want to be balanced that if you
are going to strike a guy that's going wide, you
don't tip and allow that guy to counter move back
to the inside. And we look at how Broger was
kind of set up. He wasn't really set up for
success because of his weight distribution, right, you know, that's
why he got He got all his weight on his
(14:04):
outside or his kick leg, and that's what caused him
to be off balance and why he couldn't sit and
absorb and then redistribute his power or his force. And
that's one of the things that's always just a hallmark thing,
like you said, practicing it on the sidelines, getting what
we call air sets, right, yeah, and then getting you know,
getting a guy that's going to put his hand in
(14:25):
your chest and then put just just drive and just
start driving you back to work on re establishing your base,
get sinking in your set and allowing yourself to absorb
that and be able to counter off of it. And
that's one of the things. It's just it's a tough
it's an easy thing to do. But you know, when
you're in the midst you know, you got all the
(14:45):
juices flowing, right, you can't necessarily think about that off
the top of your Hey man, you go take these
I'm getting these adjustments. I'm getting shooed out. You know,
I'm starting to go through your head. Yeah you do.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
I mean, here's the thing, and you know what I'm
talking about. You want your first contact. And that's why
I hate when we started off with pass plays, all right,
because you want to come off the ball and put
a smaculation on somebody. You want to slobb or knock somebody.
That's how you get rid of the butterflies, that's how
you settle in your game.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
A good trap, a good straight plock.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
And you go monoi monol, lock up with a back
or a defensive end and you blow them off the
line of scrimmage. Now you're in the groove. Now you're
feeling strong. Now you got that you know that oomph,
and you're ready to go. When you start off with
a pass, it's it's you're passive, you know. I mean,
that's the only way you can describe it. And in
going backwards, when you watch that first set by Broaderick,
(15:38):
it's like, it's exactly what Grusso wanted him to do.
Get in that position, kickstep out so quick, be weighted
over one leg too much, and let me uproot the
inside leg, which he did. And though it was inconsequential
because as I said, it was a four yard out
to Van Jefferson on the first play, you can see
where he took that same rush and packaged it on
(16:01):
the possession down ones and created problems for Broderick. And
let's face it, Broderick has not played that much football.
I mean not in college, not in the pros. You know,
he's starting to, you know, come along, but let's face it, Max,
you know what it's like when you're inexperienced, and your
your head to swim and trying to figure out what
(16:22):
am I doing wrong? And there's that tendency like, uh,
don't let panic set in, you know what I mean,
that's a problem.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yeah, no it is, and that's what you have to
kind of fight. But that's what experience also teaches you,
right well, he teaches you not to panic because you've
been here before, you've gone through these motions, and when
you're young, you don't have anything to fall back on,
you don't have that experience. And for Broderick, he's got
(16:50):
even less experience because he's only had less than twenty
games in college and he hasn't had to finish a
game really in college. So that creates a whole new
bag of worms, and you're constantly redefining yourself. You know,
every every start that he had, every play that he
had last year for what, uh, nine games I think
(17:13):
it was, I think at nine or ten games.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
Something like that.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Yeah, right around there. Uh, that's not that's not a
lot of snaps, that's not a lot of that's not
a lot of experience to fall back on. So you're
you're you're you're still you're struggling, right, you said you
said that that panic, that anxiety, that dread sets in
a lot quicker because you don't have the reference knowledge
to fall back on, like, hey, this happened before in
(17:37):
such and such game and week such and such of
years such and such. You don't have that. You don't
have that rolodex, that that that Encyclopedia Britannica in your
brain to go back and know what that feeling feels like.
So it's a new feeling and you don't know which
way is up in the midst of it because you
haven't had to deal with it. And that's what we
always talk about. Mike Tomlin's trying to create game like situations,
(18:00):
game like stressors in practice in training camp so that
it can become a little bit more of a natural habit.
And because it just it isn't yet, It isn't for Broderick,
Like this is the first time we've really seen him
struggle in a game, right, He didn't really struggle, you
know last season he came in and because of because
of the mindset of just get it done. We're gonna
(18:20):
just pound somebody in into into the into into submission.
You don't really get to do that when it's a
little bit more finesse involved. And that's what kind of
was this game was a little bit more finesse uh
for him as he was coming out because of the
way trying to get the past game established, trying to
get rust into a rhythm, it just didn't really fall
into natural fruition exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
So now you know what I I hope you don't mind, Max,
but I'm gonna ask if you wouldn't mind to lead
us into the second, uh, the second segment here and
we're gonna continue talking about this because there's some other
little things with Broderick I find interest you want to
talk about him, but we you know, got to go
to break on this one.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
So how about that? Is that all right? Can we
do that? I love it? Yeah, I know it. Put
it in your wheelhouse, baby, all right?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
There it is, yeah, Wolf Starks.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
And you're with the Ninjas and everybody else here in
the locker room and you're listening to Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Presented by Ford and brought to you by acro Sure,
the official insurance and cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers,
by Bett MGM, Huntington Bank, PNC, Pepsi and by FedEx
where now meets next, now here's Craig Wolfley and Max starts.
Speaker 8 (20:01):
As you're mixing and matching. It is more about individual
evaluation and nobody likes that.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
And you know, you always want to score one hundred
points and you don't want to go you know, first
three drives, have three sacks and you know, look like that.
But at the same time, the context of it is
it's really more about the evaluation and whether you get
a veteran in there. We've got a nunque situation with
the quarterbacks or whatever competitions we have going on, you are,
it's that evaluation is more important.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
All right. That was Arthur Smith talking about just the
evaluation of players and the progress and how they go
about evaluating guys. You know, in this process because you
have to remember, we're still in preseason everybody, so the
team is not set. So when we're talking about these players,
(20:52):
you know, they haven't finalized their roster. You know, guys
are still fighting for jobs and that's what's going to continue,
you know through this Saturday one pm when they kick
off in Ford Field against the Lions. The evaluation process
is still going and I think that's something that we
have to kind of keep mindful of and to stay
on that topic we're talking about. We were talking about
(21:12):
Broderick Jones in the last segment and kind of wanted
to finish that up with kind of just giving the
evaluation of Broderick and kind of where he kind of,
you know, slipped up a little bit. But I think
the biggest thing is it's it's all learning at this phase. Wolf.
I think that's I think that's the easiest way of
putting it, right. I mean, he's taking in information because
(21:33):
I remember another quote by Arthur Smith about Broderick, right,
he said, being thrown into a short week, performing under pressure,
and he takes it all. He's not trying to run
and hide. He's taking it full on, right, and he's
attacking it. And I think that's something that even though
we're making these critiques, you know, this is this is
veteranized looking at it with a lot of experience. I mean,
we're talking about twenty plus years of NFL experience between
(21:56):
the two of us being in the actual trenches and
understanding what it is to be alignment in the NFL
and to have to go through to just we've all been.
We were both young at one point. Well, I know
it might see buddy, it might be like Yesteryear or
Tales of your but you know this is we were young.
(22:17):
We were young and what was that song when we
were young? I forgot whatever it was? You know. So
there's a process. He's still learning and you have to
kind of give some grace. Not everybody's comes out ready
made day one. Right, you have to learn, and you
have to have difficulty in order to understand how to succeed.
You have to go through some difficulties.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Can I say this, You're more Yesteryear and I'm more
days of your's. That's how that's how old I am
versus you. You know. But you're you're right though. I
mean you're talking about a lot of experience. I mean,
you put twenty plus years together in the NFL, and
you realize, yeah, you know, there's a lot of accumulated
(23:02):
what I call game brain reps that you store in
your bank. You know, once you've been through the fire,
Once you have one of those games and you're thinking,
I just want to die, you know, I mean I
just feel so bad, I feel horrible, you know, and
then you realize.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Okay, everybody has this.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
If you have not had your butt kicked in the NFL,
you simply haven't played. You know, you have not played
long enough at all, let me tell you. Because it's
not like it's not gonna happen every week, but you're
gonna have play sprinkled in throughout. You know, it happens.
So the point is how do you turn the page
(23:39):
and move forward? And that is taking from experience and knowing, Okay,
next rep. I got to make sure I'm anchored.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
Next rep.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I got to make sure I get inside out position.
Next rep. I got to make sure that I punch
what have you, you know what I mean. It's just
one of those things. And I'll say this, I'm watching Roderick,
you know, and after I think it was a couple
of sacks, it was probably somewhere in there that you know,
there to be he hit the quarter, russ Gott hit
a couple of times. He went out and he just
launched Russol. I mean, he punched the daylights out of him,
(24:09):
you know, and he just got a little angry, I think,
and you get, you know, a little angry, and all
of a sudden, you know, you get you get that mindset,
I'm gonna crunch him and that's what he did and
he would be fine after that, you know. But the
fact is you're gonna have that mindset from the get go.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah. No, I mean, And that's the thing. The more
you go through it, the better equipped you get. Right. Like,
there's no better lesson than like you said, getting knocked
on your keyster a couple of times. Yeah, Like, I mean,
I could tell you how it feels to get knocked
onster a million times. I mean, it's just like you know,
and we're parents, right, you know, all of us ought
(24:45):
to here our parents, and I think most of the
people listen to as our parents. You know, you could
tell your kid a thousand times, don't touch don't touch
this because it's hot. Guess what they're going to do.
They're still going to touch it to see if it's
Some kids just they just learn by having to do
ye And that's it. You know, you love the kid
(25:06):
that you can tell hey, don't touch it, that's hot,
and they just stay away from it and they're just
averse to it. But you also don't want them to
have an unnatural fear about it because you're telling them,
but you also do you know what it feels like.
So you're like you're trying to you're trying to hopefully
prepare them for that moment that they do touch their
hands on the hot surface when they're not supposed to.
(25:27):
It's like so that they just grab it and grip
it and sit there and let it blister. It's like,
oh hot, Okay, put my hand close to it so
I can feel the heat, but don't actually grab it.
You know. That's kind of what you're going through. And
that's what it is to be a you know, a
rookie in a second year lineman. And like I said,
it takes about three to four years Wolf. I mean,
I'm usually like four to five, but it takes, you know,
(25:50):
fast tracking it three to four years if you're playing
all the time. Yes, I think that's something that you
have to realize because I mean, look at Dan Moore.
Dan Moore's going into his fourth year. Look how much
difference he he is from from this year than he
was his first year when he got thrown into the
fire and has started every game in left tackle. That's
that's the kind of stuff that we're talking about. You
(26:12):
just that that's that I think that I think that's
the best analogy right there, Wolf look at Dan Moore
to PROGERC. Jones right now, Sure, that's what you're that,
that's what you're you're hoping for, that ascension and and
that you want to see. You want to see year
over year growth, and that's what it is. You can't
speed it up, though, That's the thing. You can't speed
this up. You have to go through it to be
(26:33):
prepared for it. On the other end, you know, to
go through it.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
And just because you brought it up, I can't but
say Dan Morris playing great, Dan Moore is having an
excellent training camp. Dan Moore looks terrific. Okay, he's punching,
he's doing the things that he needs to do. Okay,
Now Broderick is he's got to do the same thing.
He's just got to you know, through the fire. You know,
it's uh, it's just one of those things that it's
(26:58):
really everybody goes through it. If you're gonna play for
any length of time, if you're going to be, at
some point in time a starter, you're going to go
through a period of fire where you know, it just
feels like everything you do is wrong, But it's it
depends on your mindset and how quickly you can work
out of it. But it's just one of those situations
where you know it's experienced and you get back on
top of it. And for Broaderick, the young man is
(27:20):
far too talented to be just average. I mean, look
at that guy and you look at his ability, and
you understand. You see his attributes, the physical power, the
arm length, the athletic feet, all those things. But it
takes some time to be able to discipline yourself in
the critical heartbeats of moments that occur in past protection
and run blocking, all those things to have the proper
(27:43):
posture of footwork, handwork, whatever that you need at that
moment in time. And it's just a matter of discipline.
Some people get comes a little bit quicker too, some
a little bit later to you know. I mean, that's
just the way it works out. And for Broaderick, I
think it's a matter of time and I'm not worry
to bouy it because I do believe that this.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Young man's talent is going to shine no.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
And I believe the same thing. I think Proderick has
so much natural skill in him and athleticism. He's gonna
figure it out. I mean, that's the biggest thing. But
you know, just like anything else, you can't rush time.
You can't speed up the time of a process because
you know, I make this analogy all the time. When
(28:25):
when when when you when you go we you sit
down at a nice steak deal, you know, dinner at
a nice steakhouse. You're not You're not gonna get Chipotle timing.
You know what I'm saying. Right, you just kind of
rush through, pick your items, boom is ready, you know,
under two minutes. Like if I'm ordering a wagu double
cut tomahawk, you know, Rabbi.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Oh, you're speaking the language of love.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
You know, I'm not expecting if it comes out in
two minutes. Guess what we've got problems. I have a
lot of questions that I'm gonna ask about this steak
a Is it dead yet? That's what I want to
know first and foremost?
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (29:03):
And where the tire marks? Those aren't grill.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Marks exactly, and and s is, oh, I guess your
derves aren't up yet even huh.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Yeah, exactly exactly. I didn't even give you my appetizer. Yeah,
but I mean, but I think that that's where people
kind of have to pup their I think we saw
so much because in the midst of the fire, he
just got it done and we were winning, so you
don't think about it as much. But now in year two, right,
(29:36):
you get to this point in the year where it's like,
I have a little bit of experience on my side,
like a little bit of tape out there. So now
people a can go back and watch me and figure
out what my deficiencies were, because we didn't really have
time to figure that out, because you know, you have
to remember also when he was installed, we also had
a brand new offense coordinator. We had Sully and Falk
(29:57):
and George Canada was gone. So he's trying to weed
through what players are still the same, which ones aren't,
you know, different guys calling to play the flow of
the game. So you're getting used to all of that
in the midst of the fire, and and now you've
had time to sit. You have a new system here,
which I think is a lot more freedomly to the
offensive line, and you're you're trying, you're trying to get better,
(30:20):
You're trying to trying to work through some things so
that you have more tools in the tool chest, you know,
like you said, I mean, nothing beats a good old
fashioned hammer. Uh, you know, in the toolbox. But you know,
every once in a while, you might need a Phillips
head screwdriver, you might need a wrench. You know, you
might need some other things. And that's what he's trying
to work through now, is to create more depth to
(30:42):
his skills. And so you have to be patient with
that process. Now, like I said, don't give up. Don't
give up sacks in the process. You know, a bunch
of in order to amount of sacks, but they're going
to happen. The guys on the other side of the
ball are paid too, and like I said, they're further
along in their journey of grown manness in the NFL.
So you got to kind of be able to deal
(31:04):
with that as well while still trying to get to
know yourself. And the best thing I can say is
he gets he could get frustrated and pissed off, which
is a healthy thing at times, I think, especially in football.
But don't go off the hinges, right, don't don't just
lose yourself in the moment and become blinded by rage.
(31:25):
And I think he does a good job of composing himself.
You know, you can see plays don't necessarily bleed into themselves,
but you know they can't have a mental effect on
you in the moment if you're not prepared for it,
and you also haven't gone through that adversity. You have
to remember he had a lot of success at Georgia.
I mean, they didn't they didn't lose games when he
was there, right, You know, it's different. You know when
when you first started experiencing loss, after you've tasted the sweet,
(31:48):
the sweet taste of success, it's a bit. It's a
very bitter taste. It's sour and not like jelly beans.
It's like sour, like like some spoiled meat. You know,
it's you have to get used to that feeling and
also realized, I don't want that feeling. So I'm gonna
do everything in my power not to have that taste
in my mouth. I'm gonna do everything in my power
to have the victory taste, the good taste, the good stuff,
(32:10):
the wagou tomahawk, double cut rabbi. That's what I want.
I don't want mince meat and potted meat or jellified meat.
You know, I want to, I want, I want to
have that memory in my head. But you got to
go through that to know what the taste is supposed
to taste like.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
And you know what, I think that's what brought him
back when he punched the crap out of out of Rousseau.
You know, after a couple of sacks going I've had enough.
You know, I'm mad as hecking. I ain't gonna take
it anymore, you know, And then he went out and
hit him and hit him with a nice punch. Watching him,
he punched really hard with his right elbow. So I mean,
if he's if he's tweaked the elbow or something, it's
(32:47):
not enough that he couldn't punch because he punched the
daily rousso and.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
That wasn't past rushed. And I was like, bully for you.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
Let it go, bro Jo. That's the way you bounce back,
you know. And you know that's what you want to
see from a young guy, that ability to absorb some
not so good Okay, now can I pull myself out
of this hole that I dug for myself?
Speaker 5 (33:08):
And he did?
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah. You know, every once in a while, you got
to pull out a little twisted sister. You know what
I'm saying. You gotta be able to know that guy
one time. You know that you did. Yeah, yeah, Dean Snyder,
not Dean, it's d D d D.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
He was the dean of the university. Dean Snyder.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
You know, you just didn't get to meet him Wolf
because you didn't walk across the stage and graduation.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Bazinga. There it is burn exactly, So I took that
way to get my own way.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
That's exactly.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
That's what he was thinking when he didn't cross the stage.
I'm just trying to get out of.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
My own way. You gotta understand. I met him one
time in the old d V building. He was coming out.
I was going in, Hey, how you doing. You're you're
you're d Snyder, right, he.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Goes, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:59):
He had the big hair and all that other stuff.
But fortunately when we're in the makeup, because I might
head to mockamie.
Speaker 7 (34:05):
He looks like every yinser lady in the eighties.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
Lady, No, he didn't look like a lady.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
The hair.
Speaker 7 (34:12):
You get what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
He had the same haircut as every every year the eighties.
Speaker 5 (34:16):
Okay, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Okay, yeah, oh my god, Okay, we've derailed here.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
We're getting back on the rails because we're gonna jump side.
We got to get out of our own way and
get the commercial. That's exactly right. Thank you, Arthur. Thank
you Arthur for being the voice of reason for us.
We'll be back with more inside the Locker Room here
on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and
brought to you by acro Sure, the official insurance and
Cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh ste Deelers, by bet MGM,
Huntington Bank, PNC, PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next?
Now here's Craig Wilfley and Max Starks.
Speaker 10 (35:12):
You know, as a you know, as a football player,
it always sucks when you're not out there, you know,
with your teammates and things like that, and just only
being able to watch it obviously sucks going out there
and not be able to play in the game last week.
You know, it's something that you you know, you practice for.
Speaker 7 (35:27):
And you look forward to.
Speaker 10 (35:28):
So yeah, it's it's it sucks for me, you know,
But I'll be out there this week for sure, like yours,
uh man, you know, I'm working I'm working for you know,
like I said, I go out there and compete every
day and we'll just have to see when when training
camp's over.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
You know.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
That was Beingie Bishop talking about playing that slot cornerback,
which is a difficult position to play. Look, we've been
looking for that guy named Mike Hilton ever since Mike
Hilton left. One of the things that Mike Hilton did
so very well was and he was a he was
a run dominant play. I mean that's when they used
him when it was run dominant, you know, when it's
(36:04):
third and four or less. And then he also got
a wild hair then said I can cover two, and
so he became more and more. But he was able
to time snaps, he was able to get home on
a lot of the blitz is. Somehow weaven his way
through some of the redwoods that he faced in the
offensive lineman to get in the face of the quarterback.
(36:25):
And then he became better as it went along in
pass coverage. And I hope, I hope that Beanie took
advantage of the fact when they practiced, because he did
practice against the Bills. I get Thursday at Actressure before
the Saturday game and whatever injury he's dealing with. He's
gonna deal with, but I hope that he had he
got a look at Tarren Johnson from the Bills, who
(36:46):
is one of the better slot cornerbacks I believe in
the NFL and does a great job for the buff Bills,
and I think Beanie can draw a lot from it
because he's faster than Johnson, and I think he's got,
you know, a little more up side to him. Possibly,
but certainly that's something that I hope he took advantage
of him, was able to watch him, because you can.
You can learn from a lot of different guys, and
(37:08):
one of the guys that I think is really got
a possible upside here for us is Beanie Bishop when
he gets healthy. What say you, Max, I concur no,
I got you in the middle of doing something and
I'm drying.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no. I was listening.
It's just it's funny because, like you said, you made
the compelling case, and I think that's where it's like, no,
it's right, and you know, I know that that that's
not the easiest way of doing this, especially for radio broadcasting.
But I think I think for all the things you said,
I think, you know, we've been looking for Mike Hilton.
We've been looking for that nickel guy. I think Mike
(37:45):
Hilton is the most recent history. But you know, when
we go back and we look at the history, you
think of what a guy like a William Gay meant
to this team, a Will Allen meant. Those are kind
of my contemporaries when I played. Those were our nickels,
lock corners, and you want that type. And I think
because Mike Hilton brought such a physical brand with it,
(38:07):
that's why he kind of resonates a little bit more.
But you know, because I think of Will Gay and
Will Gay was not the most physical at the point,
but the dude just knew how to catch interceptions and
score touchdowns he did. I mean, he just he had
a skill for I mean, and we can ask for
the hammer, but sometimes you like you liked the little
razzle dazzle with it as well, And I think that's
something that I think I could see Beanie being more
(38:30):
like that Will Gay type, even more so than a
than a Mike Hilton. Like he's not he's he's fearless
like Mike Hilt. He doesn't mind going in there but
I think he possesses the cover traits a lot better
than than Mike does, because right, like you said, Mike
was more like a big nickel type of nickel corner,
right he was. He was a physical I'm gonna go
(38:51):
just punch a guy in the mouth, I'm gonna go
hit a guy in the backfield, Whereas I think Beanie
has such range. And we kind of talked about it
earlier in trading camp, you know, and Wes talked about
this about when he came over from Minnesota, how he
just he changed, he morphed, and he really made that
West Virginia defense something to be feared in the Big Twelve.
(39:12):
And that's a big statement thinking about the Big twelve conference.
Who we know, you know, is a team that or
or a conference that loves to air the ball out right,
it has more air raid than it does score some
y they want to light up the scoreboards. And Beanie's
physical presence and his play rose that team. I mean,
(39:33):
how many how many slots did y'all move up West
from from two years ago to last year? I want
to say it had to have been somewhere at least
fifty places.
Speaker 7 (39:41):
You guys will laugh it's actually double that max.
Speaker 6 (39:44):
WVU had the one hundred and nineteenth ranked pass defense
in Division one college football.
Speaker 7 (39:50):
That's out of like one hundred and thirty some teams.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Now, if you're the defensive coordinator, that's not good.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
That's not greaty the year it's not good for a
contract negotiat.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
Jordan nineteenth, the year before Beanie Bishop got there. Nineteenth,
the one year that he was in Morgantown.
Speaker 7 (40:06):
He led then won one hundred big ones.
Speaker 6 (40:09):
He led the country and passed breakups pass defense, and
he was ranked somewhere in the teens and interceptions.
Speaker 5 (40:16):
I mean, yeah, how do you think get drafted he's.
Speaker 7 (40:19):
I think just his size.
Speaker 6 (40:21):
I mean it had to be because I told you
guys as well too, Like he had some really good
special teams success as a returner early in his career
at Western Kentucky and then never did it at Minnesota
or WVU because he was the number one defensive back
until his very last game, the bowl game at WVU,
where he begged Neil Brown, let me return a punt,
Let me return a punt, Let me return upunt. It's
my last game, Come on, let me return a punt,
(40:42):
and Neil Brown led him at the very end of
the second quarter and he took it back to the
house for a touchdown that completely blew the game open
for the Mountaineer. So he has the special teams, he
has the I think it just had to be his size.
Speaker 5 (40:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
Yeah, So I would say IQ acumen check check check.
And now that leads me even further to support my view.
I don't think he's necessarily Mike Hilton, but I love
I would love the fact if he becomes a will gay.
Oh yeah, I would love the fact if he becomes
that because who else can say they helped their team
go jump one hundred spaces in one year.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
That's ridiculous. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
And it also goes to show that a lot of
people didn't respect him because they kept throwing at him.
Speaker 5 (41:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
But but the fact that you were able to do that,
and that's another thing, the step up in competition, it
didn't diminish his will And I think that's that when
you're talking about looking for traits that resemble resemble Steeler qualities,
that's a trait that resembles Steeler quality, right, you know,
that's something where you can say, hey, if I'm looking for, well,
(41:49):
what do you define as a steeler that right there?
What is that? That? This that willingness and that tenacity
to go after it and not be afraid of competition,
not be afraid that you're constantly getting the ball thrown
at you just answer the call when when you're when
your numbers called. Right, it's just constantly showing up and
(42:11):
being willing to do the work, to put your hand
in the pile. If you get overloaded with work, guess what, Okay,
good for me. But at the same time, I'm also
garnering respect that you're not gonna want to throw to
me after a while because I'm gonna make you pay.
And I think that's kind of what we look at,
you know, when I'm thinking about that nickel slot and
(42:32):
what Beanie brings to this, And that's why I think,
you know, he's one of the guys that they're gonna
be looking at for gunner. Just as you heard begging
to turn back a punt and you return a punt yard,
I think you could beat device on on on punk
coverage unit. As a gunner. I think you can do that.
He just hasn't had to do it because, like you said,
he's been a number one corner and a guy that
(42:54):
they've looked at to You have to you have to
be on the defensive side of the ball, over the
special team side. When you get to the league. The
more you could do has to come in and you're
a young guy. You got to earn, you got to
earn the right not to be on special teams. And
so I think that's just him just not getting an
opportunity to really prove himself. Like you said, he did
the practice but didn't get to do the game. So
(43:15):
he's still learning as well. But he has all the
qualities and trace that you want, kind of like we
were talking about, were Broderick, you just need the experience
to go with it.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Well, here's the thing, all right, you got what we
need now is we need somebody to step up because
Cam Sutton's going to be in the back half of
the season and that's gonna be a lot of help.
But right now, grayil and Arnold he got injured, he's waived. Right,
You've got Thomas Graham who's got eleven games of NFL
experience but is in He's currently taken the first team reps,
but strong safety to Shaun Elliott has played the you
(43:46):
don't want to steal his go big nickel three safeties.
You know he's played in there. But I love how
Terrell Austin goes. Whoever shows up is going to win
the job. I think Beanie Bishop has got a great
opportunity to come in and maybe get some playing time.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
And they say he says, I mean, he said he's.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
Gonna play as far as I know, all right, So
he needs that opportunity, grab it and do something with it,
because I really think it's imperative for him to show
that he can hold down that position and do the
things that you've been talking about and say, hey, I'm
the man, I can do this, you know. And so
that's one of the big things that's gonna materialize out
(44:24):
of this Detroit game is somebody's got to step forward
and start to lay claim to that spot.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
No, you have to. Somebody has to snatch the opportunity because,
like I said, it's out there, and I think that's
the biggest thing in Wolf. Normally on teams, you don't
have these many opportunities, right. You know, we're talking about
a center battle that came into camp that's now no
longer a center battle. We're talking about a quarterback battle
that I think is less likely to be a quarterback
(44:52):
battle that was coming into camp. Were still looking for
this nickel corner slot because of the camp Sutton j
and him being suspended, So that became an open spot
that we didn't think was going to be available. And then,
like you said, special teams, you want to cut your teeth,
you want to make this roster. You want to be
one of those guys in the top fifty three. Get
(45:14):
a gunner job. No, show me you can do it.
You know. Also with the new dynamic kickoff rule, show
that you that you could that you could whip a
block within fifteen yards, You're a lot closer. So endurance
is not a thing. So I don't think it's exclusive
to just offen, you know, to just offensive and defensive
skill type bodies. Bigger bodies can get in there. Hello,
Logan Lee, show me what you got, you know, Kyraen Johnson,
(45:36):
Jeremiah Moon, if you could make your name for yourself
in this new dynamic kickoff, whip the block and be
right in position and minimize a return, there's jobs out there, right,
you know what I'm saying. You just have to look
and look at the opportunity and not necessarily be asked
to do it, but willing to volunteer to do it.
That's where I think it's kind of you know, and
(45:57):
that's what we see in like the last half of
of these preseason games, right, I would say second half
of game two through Game three. That's what we're trying
to figure out. Who's the guy that could do the
dirty job? Right? Remember the other show Mike Rowe does, right,
it's on Discovery Channel. It's called Dirty Jobs. Right, you
don't think about these jobs and they're just dirty, but
they're essential jobs in this country that need to be done.
(46:21):
And so the same thing on special teams with a
team construct of football, they're dirty jobs. You know, nobody
necessarily wants to do it. Yes, the punter and the
kicker and the long snapper are the three that kind
of are the trinity of special teams. But you still
got to have eleven guys on the field per per
special teams play. There's no special teams play where whether
(46:42):
it's only one guy out there or two guys out there,
it has to be eleven on the field to play.
So why not be a part of those other nine
individuals or eight individuals that can make a difference in
that area, because that will separate you from the crowd.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
No doubt, my friend. All right, that's a wrap on
the first hour, because the second hour.
Speaker 5 (47:01):
Is what max power hour.
Speaker 3 (47:05):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (47:05):
We got the power hour because we can't let anything
get in our way. And we'll be back with more
because we have the Steelers Audio Network.
This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and
brought to you by acro Sure, the official insurance and
cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, by bet MGM, Huntington Bank,
p n C PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next?
Now here's Craig Wilfley and Max Starks.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, like, like we've all said, you know, obviously you
know we're not showing much, but you know we'll be fine.
You know, obviously that's the key to winning football games
is just now football.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
So you know we understand that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thankfully we've been you know, learning these lessons when when
the games that's so you don't count to our final records.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
So you know we're learning.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
We're learning that, and you know we'll be ready to
go for the Saturday and as well as Brady.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know, that's the man, the myth the moon laying
it out eight to ten passes completed, forty seven yards,
got sacked three times, offense went three and out three
times in five series, and the two other possessions only
sported one first down each. So what would just say
is needed to write the ship Max?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
A solid drive from the offense I think is the
first thing that needs to happen. You need to see
a fully functioning on script, on schedule drive and you know,
in the words of Mike tomlin Wright, critical down situations,
they need to be executed. That's probably the best thing
to get the hebgb's off.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
Beautiful, beautiful, that's smart.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Okay, So let me I'm gonna throw this to West too,
because you know, we're in the locker room here, and
locker room is always you know, you got different miscreants
just kind of wandering through the locker room you always have.
You got the trainers, you got the players, you got
the coaches, you got the equipment room. Guys.
Speaker 6 (01:58):
It's kind of like living in the there's always a
distraction somewhere. There's always somebody who's wanting to do something
or talk about something, or mess with you exactly.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So you know, and especially the equipment dudes, they're always
messing with you. You know, Tony Perici used to try
to throw my Adidas shoes, my treasured Adidas shoes that
have been through with they've they've been through everything from
major conflicts right in my on the football field, and
he's trying to throw them out because kid zooks, they're
looking ragged, right, But no, you want to be in
(02:30):
battle with the same one.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
So to dig your shoes out of the trash can.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
You know I had to go and go dig to
the bottom of the one trash can in the three
rivers locker room looking for my parab adetas.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
That ain't right, No, that was just wrong.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
So yes, indeed, you got all kinds of people wanting
through the locker room. And right now it's it's Wesley,
it's Max myself here in the locker room. And I
look at this and I go, Okay, you know, you
got a lot of issues here, but here's number one.
You got to get more wins on first down. I'm
I mean, you got to win on first down. We
only got in five series, they had seven first down opportunities,
(03:06):
and you only won on three of them. Winning on
first down sets up because then you don't have those
huge possession down battles, What say you, Wesley.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And we heard Pat Fryermouth
there on that clip that we played at the intro
talking about being better on possession downs. Half the battle
of having success on your possession downs is setting yourself
up to do so on first and second down, Right,
you're gonna convert much more often on third down.
Speaker 7 (03:32):
On those possession downs.
Speaker 6 (03:33):
When it's third and short, third and manageable as opposed
to third and intermediate, third and long.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I always say third and four or less.
Speaker 6 (03:39):
That's which Wanny exactly right, because then you can run,
then you can pass.
Speaker 7 (03:43):
You're not predictable.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
There's a lot that you can do in those situations
to keep a defense guessing. So, yeah, you're absolutely right
to win on third down. You got to really start
by winning on first down. It's all kind of part
of that ecosystem of an offense, right in of a
football team.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Oh whoa whoa ecosystem well bear of the day, Oh
we got that. Oh we might have started early. It's
not an echo system, it's an eco eco. Put an
h in there, there would have been ecosystem and it
would total change everything.
Speaker 6 (04:12):
It's a trickle down offense, you know in the National
Football League. Everything affects, you know, the subsequent actions. So yeah,
if you're if you're winning on first down, if you're
getting four or five, six, seven yards on first down,
that makes your second down much easier. Hey, maybe a
lot of times you don't even have to get to
those possession downs because you're rolling the sticks on second down.
Speaker 7 (04:32):
It all, it all works, you know, in conjunction together.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
The funny thing is, so many times, you know, people
will tell me, go, well, you know, Mike Tomin always
talks about rolling chain, staying on schedule. You know, those
those are things that seemingly are thrown about like so easily.
But it's the truth. It's the truth. Every week, every
single week, you seek to.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
Stay on schedule.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Staying on schedule means winning on first down, getting into
makeable third downs and then doing the deal indeed and
rolling the chains on third down.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
And that's that's football. That's what it is. It's washed,
rinse and repeat, you know.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
And I think a lot of people like start to
listen and they go, eh, okay, and then onto something else.
But no, the truths of football are so very simple
at its most basic level. And when you realize that,
when you realize staying on schedule is imperative and the
best way you can stay on schedule, that means again
(05:32):
the winning on first down into makeable third downs.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
That it all kicks off with that first play.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
And and one of the things that will absolutely drive
you or drive the coaches batcrap crazy, okay, is penalties.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Stap penalty, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
You know, why do you think they had this emphasis
the amphosis on the fact that if a guy jumps
off sides up at Saint Vincent.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
You gotta run a lab Yeah, I mean, think about it, Wesley.
Speaker 7 (05:58):
You got to run a lap, you know.
Speaker 6 (05:59):
I mean, listen, we had to do that in the
studio here the other day ar I did.
Speaker 7 (06:03):
Is Arthur Smith might say, we.
Speaker 8 (06:04):
Got to get out all the way there you go.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
See exactly wit high five.
Speaker 6 (06:10):
Okay, we're gonna need a lot of times you and
Max and I we got to get out all the way,
you know, So that applies.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
See, I love it because we were listening to Arthur
Smith with this one second hit right, and we're trying
to figure out how can we work that in that's perfect.
Speaker 7 (06:25):
Well, Wolf and I were laughing.
Speaker 6 (06:26):
So it's one of those you know, when you do
this job, producing side of this job for long enough,
like any other job, certain things stand out to you.
So I'm looking through the sound that we have in
the system this morning that usually is put in their
combination of our buddy Jacob Erect of course and Mike Persuda,
and I see that there is an Arthur Smith clip
in there that is just one point two seconds long,
(06:48):
and so the producer in me goes, Okay, that has
to be a funny little thing that he said, because
why are they cutting.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
Something and putting it in the system.
Speaker 6 (06:56):
That's only one point It's not a seventeen second sound
bite from Pat Fryerman. It's one point two seconds long.
So Wolf and I are sitting here and we're like,
I wonder what this is.
Speaker 8 (07:04):
We gotta get out of all the way, and he's speaking.
Speaker 7 (07:06):
The truth, like, oh, that's perfect.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
We're gonna save that one for like that's the shortest
truth that you can speak, you know.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
And the fact of the matter is we got to
get out of our own way.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
And one of the ways you get out of your
own way is to make sure that you get off
on the snat.
Speaker 7 (07:20):
That's right, That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
You know, It's just that simple. And that's what makes
it so difficult, because it's you know, when you start
off first and fifteen, that's just a hard thing to
deal with, you know.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
It's as Arthur Smith would say, that's a hard way
to make a living.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Yes, it is, because you know what you gotta do.
You know, you gotta make sure you.
Speaker 8 (07:43):
Come on, sorry, we gotta get out all the way.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Come on.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
It's like having a new toy.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
And you got that.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
But that's the truth of the matter. And so really
what we're looking for is we roll into Detroit. Is
getting that offense simply on schedule, Joel, and into makable
third downs, possession downs, and then win those, you know,
and it's it's like winning three out of five, out
of four out of six things like that. I mean,
(08:11):
you know, it's it's I know, you can't go six
for six all the time, but that's your goal.
Speaker 7 (08:15):
You know, you just want to keep rolling them absolutely.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
You know. The thing is maintaining that ball control and winning,
staying on schedule with the winning and you know, the
third downs all that other stuff. Uh, it's really about
getting out of your own way. And you watch the
tape and you take a look at some of it.
You know, we can go on. And one of the
things I want to talk about is, you know Rojo,
you know, talking about the fact that he overset, which
(08:37):
he did you know what I mean. But it's also
his feet and he didn't punch, but he's got to
get out of his own way, and part of that
is getting out of the down talking in your mind.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
No doubt.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
I mean, it's that you and Max and Arthur Motes,
you know, can speak to this better than I can, obviously,
But I've spent a lot of time in my in
my career around professional athletes, and all of them talk
about how, hey, there are more people than you think.
Not a lot of people, but there are more people
than you think that could be a professional athlete, but
(09:10):
they don't have the mental They have the physical skill set,
they have the body type, but mentally they couldn't put
it all together. Whether it was the work ethic, whether
it was the maturity, whether it was the study, knowledge,
preparation part of their sport, whatever it might be. Hey,
that person had the athleticism, they had the body type,
they had some skill sets, they could have probably had
a professional career, but they just didn't have the mental
(09:31):
capacity to deal with the pressure all those different things
that come with the mental side of playing in the
National Football League, being a professional athlete. And I think
man especially when you're young, when you're on the offensive line,
when you're playing multiple positions, it can certainly be a
new offensive.
Speaker 7 (09:48):
Coordinator, new scheme, new quarterback. It can be a lot
to balance, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Back in the day, he used to say one hundred
dollars body in a ten cent brain. And I'm not
talking about bro Jo. I'm talking about just in general.
But certainly one of the things that that that bro
Jo has got, he's got to get out of his.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
He's got to get out of.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
His own way, out of his mind in the sense
of you can't tighten up. And what you watched from
the very first get go. This is what I saw
the very first pass rush. You had Russo going up
the field, and it's he's a simple, speed to power
type guy.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
All right.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
This was one of the first and foremost guys I
remember was was Kevin Green back in the day. Kevin
Green was a Tasmanian devil and he would bring that
speed to power rush. And what you try to do
is you get that quick burst up the field, creating
that sense of urgency by the tackle to set out quickly,
and then you come back to the inside on an
inside armstab using.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
His weight like judo. It it's football jiu jitsu.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Right, You're trying to get him back on his rear,
rear foot so you can take advantage of the inside
which is then unweighted because all his weight is on
his right foot. And you can see time and again
that that that Broderick got himself in trouble by oversetting,
you know, And and that's it's this is a simple
thing where you've got to just work the mechanics out
and make sure your pass set is commensurate with the
(11:12):
with the way the defensive end rush is the very
first pass rush you you watch, go back and watch
the tape. Rousseau goes up the field and then gets
Rojo back on his right foot and tips him down.
He just he was not consequential in the rush, Okay,
but what it was was because it was a four
yard out to Van Jeffers.
Speaker 7 (11:30):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
But the point is, from that point on, Rojo was
over setting. You know, Broderick was just creating a problem
for himself because he was given too much to Instead
of playing him inside out, he was playing him head
up and sometimes outside in. It seemed like, so that's
just something he's got to be able to make sure
that his kickstep is commensurate. And here's the other thing.
(11:53):
Some guys do a kickstep where they lift their leg
way high and they're they're like leaning forward on their
their inside leg and then they'll kick and rock back.
I was always what I was taught was the boxer step.
It's a step in drag, meaning you want to make
sure that your feet are always in contact with the
ground because like a puncher, like a boxer, well you
(12:14):
get yeah, if you're off bounce a good boxer, A
good boxer will watch the feet of his opponent and
when his.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
Parallel when he's over.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
You know.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
That makes sense actually, and it's the same way as
you watch your center of gravity.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
He's not he's not centered correctly, you know.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
And and it's something that young guys will struggle with
John Colb. And you know, Max, you played tackle, you
know what I'm talking about, John Colb. But one of
the things that we always did the day before a
game was we would uh, you know, go down the
sideline and practice the step slide along the sidelines because
(12:57):
it kept you just backing up straight, you know what
I mean, having a good drop to be balanced in
your step slide rather than getting weighted one leg or
the other too much. And if you overstep side, if
you overweight yourself, then you get uprooted by a guy
like Rousseau who takes that speed to power rush and
uses his own use your own weight against you is
(13:20):
really what it's happening.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Sixty forty relationship wolves, that's what it comes down to.
You have to keep sixty percent of your weight on
the inside of your set and or the inside or
what we call a post leg, right, and then on
your kick leg you got to keep forty percent. So
you want to keep a little bit more to the
(13:43):
inside because you want to be balanced that if you
are going to strike a guy that's going wide, you
don't tip and allow that guy to counter move back
to the inside. And we look at how Broger was
kind of set up. He wasn't really set up for
success because of his weight distribution, right, you know, that's
why he got He got all his weight on his
(14:04):
outside or his kick leg, and that's what caused him
to be off balance and why he couldn't sit and
absorb and then redistribute his power or his force. And
that's one of the things that's always just a hallmark thing,
like you said, practicing it on the sidelines, getting what
we call air sets, right, yeah, and then getting you know,
getting a guy that's going to put his hand in
(14:25):
your chest and then put just just drive and just
start driving you back to work on re establishing your base,
get sinking in your set and allowing yourself to absorb
that and be able to counter off of it. And
that's one of the things. It's just it's a tough
it's an easy thing to do. But you know, when
you're in the midst you know, you got all the
(14:45):
juices flowing, right, you can't necessarily think about that off
the top of your Hey man, you go take these
I'm getting these adjustments. I'm getting shooed out. You know,
I'm starting to go through your head. Yeah you do.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
I mean, here's the thing, and you know what I'm
talking about. You want your first contact. And that's why
I hate when we started off with pass plays, all right,
because you want to come off the ball and put
a smaculation on somebody. You want to slobb or knock somebody.
That's how you get rid of the butterflies, that's how
you settle in your game.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
A good trap, a good straight plock.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
And you go monoi monol, lock up with a back
or a defensive end and you blow them off the
line of scrimmage. Now you're in the groove. Now you're
feeling strong. Now you got that you know that oomph,
and you're ready to go. When you start off with
a pass, it's it's you're passive, you know. I mean,
that's the only way you can describe it. And in
going backwards, when you watch that first set by Broaderick,
(15:38):
it's like, it's exactly what Grusso wanted him to do.
Get in that position, kickstep out so quick, be weighted
over one leg too much, and let me uproot the
inside leg, which he did. And though it was inconsequential
because as I said, it was a four yard out
to Van Jefferson on the first play, you can see
where he took that same rush and packaged it on
(16:01):
the possession down ones and created problems for Broderick. And
let's face it, Broderick has not played that much football.
I mean not in college, not in the pros. You know,
he's starting to, you know, come along, but let's face it, Max,
you know what it's like when you're inexperienced, and your
your head to swim and trying to figure out what
(16:22):
am I doing wrong? And there's that tendency like, uh,
don't let panic set in, you know what I mean,
that's a problem.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yeah, no it is, and that's what you have to
kind of fight. But that's what experience also teaches you,
right well, he teaches you not to panic because you've
been here before, you've gone through these motions, and when
you're young, you don't have anything to fall back on,
you don't have that experience. And for Broderick, he's got
(16:50):
even less experience because he's only had less than twenty
games in college and he hasn't had to finish a
game really in college. So that creates a whole new
bag of worms, and you're constantly redefining yourself. You know,
every every start that he had, every play that he
had last year for what, uh, nine games I think
(17:13):
it was, I think at nine or ten games.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
Something like that.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Yeah, right around there. Uh, that's not that's not a
lot of snaps, that's not a lot of that's not
a lot of experience to fall back on. So you're
you're you're you're still you're struggling, right, you said you
said that that panic, that anxiety, that dread sets in
a lot quicker because you don't have the reference knowledge
to fall back on, like, hey, this happened before in
(17:37):
such and such game and week such and such of
years such and such. You don't have that. You don't
have that rolodex, that that that Encyclopedia Britannica in your
brain to go back and know what that feeling feels like.
So it's a new feeling and you don't know which
way is up in the midst of it because you
haven't had to deal with it. And that's what we
always talk about. Mike Tomlin's trying to create game like situations,
(18:00):
game like stressors in practice in training camp so that
it can become a little bit more of a natural habit.
And because it just it isn't yet, It isn't for Broderick,
Like this is the first time we've really seen him
struggle in a game, right, He didn't really struggle, you
know last season he came in and because of because
of the mindset of just get it done. We're gonna
(18:20):
just pound somebody in into into the into into submission.
You don't really get to do that when it's a
little bit more finesse involved. And that's what kind of
was this game was a little bit more finesse uh
for him as he was coming out because of the
way trying to get the past game established, trying to
get rust into a rhythm, it just didn't really fall
into natural fruition exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
So now you know what I I hope you don't mind, Max,
but I'm gonna ask if you wouldn't mind to lead
us into the second, uh, the second segment here and
we're gonna continue talking about this because there's some other
little things with Broderick I find interest you want to
talk about him, but we you know, got to go
to break on this one.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
So how about that? Is that all right? Can we
do that? I love it? Yeah, I know it. Put
it in your wheelhouse, baby, all right?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
There it is, yeah, Wolf Starks.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
And you're with the Ninjas and everybody else here in
the locker room and you're listening to Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Presented by Ford and brought to you by acro Sure,
the official insurance and cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers,
by Bett MGM, Huntington Bank, PNC, Pepsi and by FedEx
where now meets next, now here's Craig Wolfley and Max starts.
Speaker 8 (20:01):
As you're mixing and matching. It is more about individual
evaluation and nobody likes that.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
And you know, you always want to score one hundred
points and you don't want to go you know, first
three drives, have three sacks and you know, look like that.
But at the same time, the context of it is
it's really more about the evaluation and whether you get
a veteran in there. We've got a nunque situation with
the quarterbacks or whatever competitions we have going on, you are,
it's that evaluation is more important.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
All right. That was Arthur Smith talking about just the
evaluation of players and the progress and how they go
about evaluating guys. You know, in this process because you
have to remember, we're still in preseason everybody, so the
team is not set. So when we're talking about these players,
(20:52):
you know, they haven't finalized their roster. You know, guys
are still fighting for jobs and that's what's going to continue,
you know through this Saturday one pm when they kick
off in Ford Field against the Lions. The evaluation process
is still going and I think that's something that we
have to kind of keep mindful of and to stay
on that topic we're talking about. We were talking about
(21:12):
Broderick Jones in the last segment and kind of wanted
to finish that up with kind of just giving the
evaluation of Broderick and kind of where he kind of,
you know, slipped up a little bit. But I think
the biggest thing is it's it's all learning at this phase. Wolf.
I think that's I think that's the easiest way of
putting it, right. I mean, he's taking in information because
(21:33):
I remember another quote by Arthur Smith about Broderick, right,
he said, being thrown into a short week, performing under pressure,
and he takes it all. He's not trying to run
and hide. He's taking it full on, right, and he's
attacking it. And I think that's something that even though
we're making these critiques, you know, this is this is
veteranized looking at it with a lot of experience. I mean,
we're talking about twenty plus years of NFL experience between
(21:56):
the two of us being in the actual trenches and
understanding what it is to be alignment in the NFL
and to have to go through to just we've all been.
We were both young at one point. Well, I know
it might see buddy, it might be like Yesteryear or
Tales of your but you know this is we were young.
(22:17):
We were young and what was that song when we
were young? I forgot whatever it was? You know. So
there's a process. He's still learning and you have to
kind of give some grace. Not everybody's comes out ready
made day one. Right, you have to learn, and you
have to have difficulty in order to understand how to succeed.
You have to go through some difficulties.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Can I say this, You're more Yesteryear and I'm more
days of your's. That's how that's how old I am
versus you. You know. But you're you're right though. I
mean you're talking about a lot of experience. I mean,
you put twenty plus years together in the NFL, and
you realize, yeah, you know, there's a lot of accumulated
(23:02):
what I call game brain reps that you store in
your bank. You know, once you've been through the fire,
Once you have one of those games and you're thinking,
I just want to die, you know, I mean I
just feel so bad, I feel horrible, you know, and
then you realize.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Okay, everybody has this.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
If you have not had your butt kicked in the NFL,
you simply haven't played. You know, you have not played
long enough at all, let me tell you. Because it's
not like it's not gonna happen every week, but you're
gonna have play sprinkled in throughout. You know, it happens.
So the point is how do you turn the page
(23:39):
and move forward? And that is taking from experience and knowing, Okay,
next rep. I got to make sure I'm anchored.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
Next rep.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I got to make sure I get inside out position.
Next rep. I got to make sure that I punch
what have you, you know what I mean. It's just
one of those things. And I'll say this, I'm watching Roderick,
you know, and after I think it was a couple
of sacks, it was probably somewhere in there that you know,
there to be he hit the quarter, russ Gott hit
a couple of times. He went out and he just
launched Russol. I mean, he punched the daylights out of him,
(24:09):
you know, and he just got a little angry, I think,
and you get, you know, a little angry, and all
of a sudden, you know, you get you get that mindset,
I'm gonna crunch him and that's what he did and
he would be fine after that, you know. But the
fact is you're gonna have that mindset from the get go.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah. No, I mean, And that's the thing. The more
you go through it, the better equipped you get. Right. Like,
there's no better lesson than like you said, getting knocked
on your keyster a couple of times. Yeah, Like, I mean,
I could tell you how it feels to get knocked
onster a million times. I mean, it's just like you know,
and we're parents, right, you know, all of us ought
(24:45):
to here our parents, and I think most of the
people listen to as our parents. You know, you could
tell your kid a thousand times, don't touch don't touch
this because it's hot. Guess what they're going to do.
They're still going to touch it to see if it's
Some kids just they just learn by having to do
ye And that's it. You know, you love the kid
(25:06):
that you can tell hey, don't touch it, that's hot,
and they just stay away from it and they're just
averse to it. But you also don't want them to
have an unnatural fear about it because you're telling them,
but you also do you know what it feels like.
So you're like you're trying to you're trying to hopefully
prepare them for that moment that they do touch their
hands on the hot surface when they're not supposed to.
(25:27):
It's like so that they just grab it and grip
it and sit there and let it blister. It's like,
oh hot, Okay, put my hand close to it so
I can feel the heat, but don't actually grab it.
You know. That's kind of what you're going through. And
that's what it is to be a you know, a
rookie in a second year lineman. And like I said,
it takes about three to four years Wolf. I mean,
I'm usually like four to five, but it takes, you know,
(25:50):
fast tracking it three to four years if you're playing
all the time. Yes, I think that's something that you
have to realize because I mean, look at Dan Moore.
Dan Moore's going into his fourth year. Look how much
difference he he is from from this year than he
was his first year when he got thrown into the
fire and has started every game in left tackle. That's
that's the kind of stuff that we're talking about. You
(26:12):
just that that's that I think that I think that's
the best analogy right there, Wolf look at Dan Moore
to PROGERC. Jones right now, Sure, that's what you're that,
that's what you're you're hoping for, that ascension and and
that you want to see. You want to see year
over year growth, and that's what it is. You can't
speed it up, though, That's the thing. You can't speed
this up. You have to go through it to be
(26:33):
prepared for it. On the other end, you know, to
go through it.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
And just because you brought it up, I can't but
say Dan Morris playing great, Dan Moore is having an
excellent training camp. Dan Moore looks terrific. Okay, he's punching,
he's doing the things that he needs to do. Okay,
Now Broderick is he's got to do the same thing.
He's just got to you know, through the fire. You know,
it's uh, it's just one of those things that it's
(26:58):
really everybody goes through it. If you're gonna play for
any length of time, if you're going to be, at
some point in time a starter, you're going to go
through a period of fire where you know, it just
feels like everything you do is wrong, But it's it
depends on your mindset and how quickly you can work
out of it. But it's just one of those situations
where you know it's experienced and you get back on
top of it. And for Broaderick, the young man is
(27:20):
far too talented to be just average. I mean, look
at that guy and you look at his ability, and
you understand. You see his attributes, the physical power, the
arm length, the athletic feet, all those things. But it
takes some time to be able to discipline yourself in
the critical heartbeats of moments that occur in past protection
and run blocking, all those things to have the proper
(27:43):
posture of footwork, handwork, whatever that you need at that
moment in time. And it's just a matter of discipline.
Some people get comes a little bit quicker too, some
a little bit later to you know. I mean, that's
just the way it works out. And for Broaderick, I
think it's a matter of time and I'm not worry
to bouy it because I do believe that this.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Young man's talent is going to shine no.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
And I believe the same thing. I think Proderick has
so much natural skill in him and athleticism. He's gonna
figure it out. I mean, that's the biggest thing. But
you know, just like anything else, you can't rush time.
You can't speed up the time of a process because
you know, I make this analogy all the time. When
(28:25):
when when when you when you go we you sit
down at a nice steak deal, you know, dinner at
a nice steakhouse. You're not You're not gonna get Chipotle timing.
You know what I'm saying. Right, you just kind of
rush through, pick your items, boom is ready, you know,
under two minutes. Like if I'm ordering a wagu double
cut tomahawk, you know, Rabbi.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Oh, you're speaking the language of love.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
You know, I'm not expecting if it comes out in
two minutes. Guess what we've got problems. I have a
lot of questions that I'm gonna ask about this steak
a Is it dead yet? That's what I want to
know first and foremost?
Speaker 5 (29:02):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (29:03):
And where the tire marks? Those aren't grill.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Marks exactly, and and s is, oh, I guess your
derves aren't up yet even huh.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Yeah, exactly exactly. I didn't even give you my appetizer. Yeah,
but I mean, but I think that that's where people
kind of have to pup their I think we saw
so much because in the midst of the fire, he
just got it done and we were winning, so you
don't think about it as much. But now in year two, right,
(29:36):
you get to this point in the year where it's like,
I have a little bit of experience on my side,
like a little bit of tape out there. So now
people a can go back and watch me and figure
out what my deficiencies were, because we didn't really have
time to figure that out, because you know, you have
to remember also when he was installed, we also had
a brand new offense coordinator. We had Sully and Falk
(29:57):
and George Canada was gone. So he's trying to weed
through what players are still the same, which ones aren't,
you know, different guys calling to play the flow of
the game. So you're getting used to all of that
in the midst of the fire, and and now you've
had time to sit. You have a new system here,
which I think is a lot more freedomly to the
offensive line, and you're you're trying, you're trying to get better,
(30:20):
You're trying to trying to work through some things so
that you have more tools in the tool chest, you know,
like you said, I mean, nothing beats a good old
fashioned hammer. Uh, you know, in the toolbox. But you know,
every once in a while, you might need a Phillips
head screwdriver, you might need a wrench. You know, you
might need some other things. And that's what he's trying
to work through now, is to create more depth to
(30:42):
his skills. And so you have to be patient with
that process. Now, like I said, don't give up. Don't
give up sacks in the process. You know, a bunch
of in order to amount of sacks, but they're going
to happen. The guys on the other side of the
ball are paid too, and like I said, they're further
along in their journey of grown manness in the NFL.
So you got to kind of be able to deal
(31:04):
with that as well while still trying to get to
know yourself. And the best thing I can say is
he gets he could get frustrated and pissed off, which
is a healthy thing at times, I think, especially in football.
But don't go off the hinges, right, don't don't just
lose yourself in the moment and become blinded by rage.
(31:25):
And I think he does a good job of composing himself.
You know, you can see plays don't necessarily bleed into themselves,
but you know they can't have a mental effect on
you in the moment if you're not prepared for it,
and you also haven't gone through that adversity. You have
to remember he had a lot of success at Georgia.
I mean, they didn't they didn't lose games when he
was there, right, You know, it's different. You know when
when you first started experiencing loss, after you've tasted the sweet,
(31:48):
the sweet taste of success, it's a bit. It's a
very bitter taste. It's sour and not like jelly beans.
It's like sour, like like some spoiled meat. You know,
it's you have to get used to that feeling and
also realized, I don't want that feeling. So I'm gonna
do everything in my power not to have that taste
in my mouth. I'm gonna do everything in my power
to have the victory taste, the good taste, the good stuff,
(32:10):
the wagou tomahawk, double cut rabbi. That's what I want.
I don't want mince meat and potted meat or jellified meat.
You know, I want to, I want, I want to
have that memory in my head. But you got to
go through that to know what the taste is supposed
to taste like.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
And you know what, I think that's what brought him
back when he punched the crap out of out of Rousseau.
You know, after a couple of sacks going I've had enough.
You know, I'm mad as hecking. I ain't gonna take
it anymore, you know, And then he went out and
hit him and hit him with a nice punch. Watching him,
he punched really hard with his right elbow. So I mean,
if he's if he's tweaked the elbow or something, it's
(32:47):
not enough that he couldn't punch because he punched the
daily rousso and.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
That wasn't past rushed. And I was like, bully for you.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
Let it go, bro Jo. That's the way you bounce back,
you know. And you know that's what you want to
see from a young guy, that ability to absorb some
not so good Okay, now can I pull myself out
of this hole that I dug for myself?
Speaker 5 (33:08):
And he did?
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah. You know, every once in a while, you got
to pull out a little twisted sister. You know what
I'm saying. You gotta be able to know that guy
one time. You know that you did. Yeah, yeah, Dean Snyder,
not Dean, it's d D d D.
Speaker 7 (33:23):
He was the dean of the university. Dean Snyder.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
You know, you just didn't get to meet him Wolf
because you didn't walk across the stage and graduation.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Bazinga. There it is burn exactly, So I took that
way to get my own way.
Speaker 5 (33:44):
That's exactly.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
That's what he was thinking when he didn't cross the stage.
I'm just trying to get out of.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
My own way. You gotta understand. I met him one
time in the old d V building. He was coming out.
I was going in, Hey, how you doing. You're you're
you're d Snyder, right, he.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Goes, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:59):
He had the big hair and all that other stuff.
But fortunately when we're in the makeup, because I might
head to mockamie.
Speaker 7 (34:05):
He looks like every yinser lady in the eighties.
Speaker 5 (34:09):
Lady, No, he didn't look like a lady.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
The hair.
Speaker 7 (34:12):
You get what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
He had the same haircut as every every year the eighties.
Speaker 5 (34:16):
Okay, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Okay, yeah, oh my god, Okay, we've derailed here.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
We're getting back on the rails because we're gonna jump side.
We got to get out of our own way and
get the commercial. That's exactly right. Thank you, Arthur. Thank
you Arthur for being the voice of reason for us.
We'll be back with more inside the Locker Room here
on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and
brought to you by acro Sure, the official insurance and
Cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh ste Deelers, by bet MGM,
Huntington Bank, PNC, PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next?
Now here's Craig Wilfley and Max Starks.
Speaker 10 (35:12):
You know, as a you know, as a football player,
it always sucks when you're not out there, you know,
with your teammates and things like that, and just only
being able to watch it obviously sucks going out there
and not be able to play in the game last week.
You know, it's something that you you know, you practice for.
Speaker 7 (35:27):
And you look forward to.
Speaker 10 (35:28):
So yeah, it's it's it sucks for me, you know,
But I'll be out there this week for sure, like yours,
uh man, you know, I'm working I'm working for you know,
like I said, I go out there and compete every
day and we'll just have to see when when training
camp's over.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
You know.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
That was Beingie Bishop talking about playing that slot cornerback,
which is a difficult position to play. Look, we've been
looking for that guy named Mike Hilton ever since Mike
Hilton left. One of the things that Mike Hilton did
so very well was and he was a he was
a run dominant play. I mean that's when they used
him when it was run dominant, you know, when it's
(36:04):
third and four or less. And then he also got
a wild hair then said I can cover two, and
so he became more and more. But he was able
to time snaps, he was able to get home on
a lot of the blitz is. Somehow weaven his way
through some of the redwoods that he faced in the
offensive lineman to get in the face of the quarterback.
(36:25):
And then he became better as it went along in
pass coverage. And I hope, I hope that Beanie took
advantage of the fact when they practiced, because he did
practice against the Bills. I get Thursday at Actressure before
the Saturday game and whatever injury he's dealing with. He's
gonna deal with, but I hope that he had he
got a look at Tarren Johnson from the Bills, who
(36:46):
is one of the better slot cornerbacks I believe in
the NFL and does a great job for the buff Bills,
and I think Beanie can draw a lot from it
because he's faster than Johnson, and I think he's got,
you know, a little more up side to him. Possibly,
but certainly that's something that I hope he took advantage
of him, was able to watch him, because you can.
You can learn from a lot of different guys, and
(37:08):
one of the guys that I think is really got
a possible upside here for us is Beanie Bishop when
he gets healthy. What say you, Max, I concur no,
I got you in the middle of doing something and
I'm drying.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no. I was listening.
It's just it's funny because, like you said, you made
the compelling case, and I think that's where it's like, no,
it's right, and you know, I know that that that's
not the easiest way of doing this, especially for radio broadcasting.
But I think I think for all the things you said,
I think, you know, we've been looking for Mike Hilton.
We've been looking for that nickel guy. I think Mike
(37:45):
Hilton is the most recent history. But you know, when
we go back and we look at the history, you
think of what a guy like a William Gay meant
to this team, a Will Allen meant. Those are kind
of my contemporaries when I played. Those were our nickels,
lock corners, and you want that type. And I think
because Mike Hilton brought such a physical brand with it,
(38:07):
that's why he kind of resonates a little bit more.
But you know, because I think of Will Gay and
Will Gay was not the most physical at the point,
but the dude just knew how to catch interceptions and
score touchdowns he did. I mean, he just he had
a skill for I mean, and we can ask for
the hammer, but sometimes you like you liked the little
razzle dazzle with it as well, And I think that's
something that I think I could see Beanie being more
(38:30):
like that Will Gay type, even more so than a
than a Mike Hilton. Like he's not he's he's fearless
like Mike Hilt. He doesn't mind going in there but
I think he possesses the cover traits a lot better
than than Mike does, because right, like you said, Mike
was more like a big nickel type of nickel corner,
right he was. He was a physical I'm gonna go
(38:51):
just punch a guy in the mouth, I'm gonna go
hit a guy in the backfield, Whereas I think Beanie
has such range. And we kind of talked about it
earlier in trading camp, you know, and Wes talked about
this about when he came over from Minnesota, how he
just he changed, he morphed, and he really made that
West Virginia defense something to be feared in the Big Twelve.
(39:12):
And that's a big statement thinking about the Big twelve conference.
Who we know, you know, is a team that or
or a conference that loves to air the ball out right,
it has more air raid than it does score some
y they want to light up the scoreboards. And Beanie's
physical presence and his play rose that team. I mean,
(39:33):
how many how many slots did y'all move up West
from from two years ago to last year? I want
to say it had to have been somewhere at least
fifty places.
Speaker 7 (39:41):
You guys will laugh it's actually double that max.
Speaker 6 (39:44):
WVU had the one hundred and nineteenth ranked pass defense
in Division one college football.
Speaker 7 (39:50):
That's out of like one hundred and thirty some teams.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Now, if you're the defensive coordinator, that's not good.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
That's not greaty the year it's not good for a
contract negotiat.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
Jordan nineteenth, the year before Beanie Bishop got there. Nineteenth,
the one year that he was in Morgantown.
Speaker 7 (40:06):
He led then won one hundred big ones.
Speaker 6 (40:09):
He led the country and passed breakups pass defense, and
he was ranked somewhere in the teens and interceptions.
Speaker 5 (40:16):
I mean, yeah, how do you think get drafted he's.
Speaker 7 (40:19):
I think just his size.
Speaker 6 (40:21):
I mean it had to be because I told you
guys as well too, Like he had some really good
special teams success as a returner early in his career
at Western Kentucky and then never did it at Minnesota
or WVU because he was the number one defensive back
until his very last game, the bowl game at WVU,
where he begged Neil Brown, let me return a punt,
Let me return a punt, Let me return upunt. It's
my last game, Come on, let me return a punt,
(40:42):
and Neil Brown led him at the very end of
the second quarter and he took it back to the
house for a touchdown that completely blew the game open
for the Mountaineer. So he has the special teams, he
has the I think it just had to be his size.
Speaker 5 (40:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
Yeah, So I would say IQ acumen check check check.
And now that leads me even further to support my view.
I don't think he's necessarily Mike Hilton, but I love
I would love the fact if he becomes a will gay.
Oh yeah, I would love the fact if he becomes
that because who else can say they helped their team
go jump one hundred spaces in one year.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
That's ridiculous. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
And it also goes to show that a lot of
people didn't respect him because they kept throwing at him.
Speaker 5 (41:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:28):
But but the fact that you were able to do that,
and that's another thing, the step up in competition, it
didn't diminish his will And I think that's that when
you're talking about looking for traits that resemble resemble Steeler qualities,
that's a trait that resembles Steeler quality, right, you know,
that's something where you can say, hey, if I'm looking for, well,
(41:49):
what do you define as a steeler that right there?
What is that? That? This that willingness and that tenacity
to go after it and not be afraid of competition,
not be afraid that you're constantly getting the ball thrown
at you just answer the call when when you're when
your numbers called. Right, it's just constantly showing up and
(42:11):
being willing to do the work, to put your hand
in the pile. If you get overloaded with work, guess what, Okay,
good for me. But at the same time, I'm also
garnering respect that you're not gonna want to throw to
me after a while because I'm gonna make you pay.
And I think that's kind of what we look at,
you know, when I'm thinking about that nickel slot and
(42:32):
what Beanie brings to this, And that's why I think,
you know, he's one of the guys that they're gonna
be looking at for gunner. Just as you heard begging
to turn back a punt and you return a punt yard,
I think you could beat device on on on punk
coverage unit. As a gunner. I think you can do that.
He just hasn't had to do it because, like you said,
he's been a number one corner and a guy that
(42:54):
they've looked at to You have to you have to
be on the defensive side of the ball, over the
special team side. When you get to the league. The
more you could do has to come in and you're
a young guy. You got to earn, you got to
earn the right not to be on special teams. And
so I think that's just him just not getting an
opportunity to really prove himself. Like you said, he did
the practice but didn't get to do the game. So
(43:15):
he's still learning as well. But he has all the
qualities and trace that you want, kind of like we
were talking about, were Broderick, you just need the experience
to go with it.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Well, here's the thing, all right, you got what we
need now is we need somebody to step up because
Cam Sutton's going to be in the back half of
the season and that's gonna be a lot of help.
But right now, grayil and Arnold he got injured, he's waived. Right,
You've got Thomas Graham who's got eleven games of NFL
experience but is in He's currently taken the first team reps,
but strong safety to Shaun Elliott has played the you
(43:46):
don't want to steal his go big nickel three safeties.
You know he's played in there. But I love how
Terrell Austin goes. Whoever shows up is going to win
the job. I think Beanie Bishop has got a great
opportunity to come in and maybe get some playing time.
Speaker 5 (43:59):
And they say he says, I mean, he said he's.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
Gonna play as far as I know, all right, So
he needs that opportunity, grab it and do something with it,
because I really think it's imperative for him to show
that he can hold down that position and do the
things that you've been talking about and say, hey, I'm
the man, I can do this, you know. And so
that's one of the big things that's gonna materialize out
(44:24):
of this Detroit game is somebody's got to step forward
and start to lay claim to that spot.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
No, you have to. Somebody has to snatch the opportunity because,
like I said, it's out there, and I think that's
the biggest thing in Wolf. Normally on teams, you don't
have these many opportunities, right. You know, we're talking about
a center battle that came into camp that's now no
longer a center battle. We're talking about a quarterback battle
that I think is less likely to be a quarterback
(44:52):
battle that was coming into camp. Were still looking for
this nickel corner slot because of the camp Sutton j
and him being suspended, So that became an open spot
that we didn't think was going to be available. And then,
like you said, special teams, you want to cut your teeth,
you want to make this roster. You want to be
one of those guys in the top fifty three. Get
(45:14):
a gunner job. No, show me you can do it.
You know. Also with the new dynamic kickoff rule, show
that you that you could that you could whip a
block within fifteen yards, You're a lot closer. So endurance
is not a thing. So I don't think it's exclusive
to just offen, you know, to just offensive and defensive
skill type bodies. Bigger bodies can get in there. Hello,
Logan Lee, show me what you got, you know, Kyraen Johnson,
(45:36):
Jeremiah Moon, if you could make your name for yourself
in this new dynamic kickoff, whip the block and be
right in position and minimize a return, there's jobs out there, right,
you know what I'm saying. You just have to look
and look at the opportunity and not necessarily be asked
to do it, but willing to volunteer to do it.
That's where I think it's kind of you know, and
(45:57):
that's what we see in like the last half of
of these preseason games, right, I would say second half
of game two through Game three. That's what we're trying
to figure out. Who's the guy that could do the
dirty job? Right? Remember the other show Mike Rowe does, right,
it's on Discovery Channel. It's called Dirty Jobs. Right, you
don't think about these jobs and they're just dirty, but
they're essential jobs in this country that need to be done.
(46:21):
And so the same thing on special teams with a
team construct of football, they're dirty jobs. You know, nobody
necessarily wants to do it. Yes, the punter and the
kicker and the long snapper are the three that kind
of are the trinity of special teams. But you still
got to have eleven guys on the field per per
special teams play. There's no special teams play where whether
(46:42):
it's only one guy out there or two guys out there,
it has to be eleven on the field to play.
So why not be a part of those other nine
individuals or eight individuals that can make a difference in
that area, because that will separate you from the crowd.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
No doubt, my friend. All right, that's a wrap on
the first hour, because the second hour.
Speaker 5 (47:01):
Is what max power hour.
Speaker 3 (47:05):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (47:05):
We got the power hour because we can't let anything
get in our way. And we'll be back with more
because we have the Steelers Audio Network.
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