Good Thursday to you Steelers fans.
The practice report from Wednesday was as dizzying as it was last week but there is hope. A lot more hope than there was last week at this time I know that much. Kenny Pickett remains in concussion protocol but was a full participant yesterday. That’s no guarantee of his availability for Sunday night but it’s trending in the right direction. Larry Ogunjobi, who was such a force on Sunday, did not practice yesterday due to a bum knee. I’m not ready to count him out yet. Both Levi Wallace and Pat Freiermuth were full participants yesterday as well after missing last week due to concussions. Ironically, the Steelers will likely see the guy (Tua Tagovailoa) whose head trauma started a renewed focus of head injury treatment. He revealed this week that he didn’t remember anything from the Bengals’ game. That’s pretty alarming if you ask me but it is what it is. I think he plays Sunday night. The Steelers survived last week with a patchwork secondary and now have to face significantly more speed in Tyreek Hill and company. Having some starters back in there would be most ideal. The NFL after all is a week to week venture, meaning that what happens one week has ZERO to do with what happens the following week.
Something Out of Nothing
The majority of Steelers’ media continues to fixate on the Mitchell Trubisky-Diontae Johnson dust up in week four. The minority of Steelers’ media is actually interested in more pressing issues like who is getting healthy and who isn’t or questions specifically related to the activity on the field. I appreciate those in the minority.
Mitch’s Mastery
Mitchell Trubisky admitted this week that his good play in place of the injured Kenny Pickett was due in large part to not being conservative and being aggressive. That’s actually surprising considering how stiff and conservative Trubisky was in his starts. Upon further review however, it shouldn’t be too shocking. When QBs come off the bench there is typically a feeling of “no pressure because I’m the backup and not much is expected.” I think this often explains why so many QBs are better coming off the bench then they are being starters. They’re almost like those guys in basketball who are great sixth men but just average as starters. While it’s also true that guys like Chase Claypool made plays for Trubisky, I’m hopeful that his new found confidence leads to similar play in the future should the opportunity arise.
Pre-Snap Movement
The Steelers defensive front did a lot of ‘stemming’ on Sunday against Tampa Bay and it sure seemed like it was paying off. Stemming is the act of moving from your current location to another just before the snap of the ball. At lowers levels this often occurs after the QB or offensive line has made the alignment call before they snap it. The reasoning is still the same in the NFL – to cause confusion for the offensive line – but with alignment calls being much more complex at the professional level it’s hard to say just when the D-Line moves. Either way it was successful and clearly had Tom Brady and his young offensive line perplexed. Will that continue this week in Miami? It certainly could but that will depend more on the Miami O-Line than anything else.
Kenny F*&#ing Pickett
In light of the fact that many fans have taken to calling our new QB “Kenny F*&#ing Pickett,’ I’m excited to present you with this awesome new shirt from DC4L Custom tees!
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