Chris Adamski stories, Page 151
30 years after early-season misery, ex-Steelers stress ‘don’t panic’
A 30-point loss on the road to the most bitter of rivals was a deflating way for the Pittsburgh Steelers to open their season. Thirty years ago this week, though, topped that on the misery index. Easily. “Fifty-one to nothing? Can you even believe it?” Craig Wolfley said this week,...
Four Downs: Steelers prepare for improvisational Seahawks QB Russell Wilson
1. Patient Wilson A week after facing the quick-decision, get-the-ball-out-quickly Tom Brady, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense faces an entirely different style in the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson. Wilson had the third-longest average time to throw (3.02 seconds) among qualifying quarterbacks last season, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats platform....
Will Sean Davis’ return help Steelers’ issues with miscommunication, allowing big plays?
The season opener was, in the head coach’s words, a “catastrophic” loss in which the Pittsburgh Steelers were “failing miserably.” While no particular unit of the team should be spared of blame, the secondary perhaps took the hardest hit. The New England Patriots connected on seven passing plays of at...
If needed, Artie Burns ‘definitely ready’ for return to Steelers’ first-team defense
If Joe Haden’s shoulder does not agree with him in time for Sunday’s home opener against the Seattle Seahawks, a familiar but forgotten face would be back in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-team secondary. Artie Burns would be the proverbial next man up at outside cornerback if Haden cannot play. “I’m...
Both ‘questionable,’ but Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey more confident he’ll play than Joe Haden
Of the seven Pittsburgh Steelers starters who missed practice time because of injury or illness, five were cleared to play via the release of the final injury report of the week. Among the two that weren’t, the designation of “questionable” can have different interpretations. Center Maurkice Pouncey and cornerback Joe...
Steelers defense looks to solve communication breakdownsVideo
For all that went wrong defensively for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their season-opening 33-3 loss in New England, perhaps their defensive coordinator encapsulated it best in a way only he can. “We busted some daggum assignments,” Keith Butler said Thursday. The Steelers sure did, opening an old wound that has...
Maurkice Pouncey again sits out Steelers practice because of ankle injury
With one practice to go before the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home opener, Maurkice Pouncey has yet to step on the field at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex this week. The former All Pro center sat out Thursday’s practice, just as he did the day before after he had left Sunday night’s...
Being Steelers’ new defensive ‘green-dot helmet’ designee no big deal to T.J. Watt
By the time he’d reached the seventh of nine questions about it from media Wednesday, T.J. Watt couldn’t help but laugh. “Way too much on the green dot,” the Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker said of being the new designated defensive player equipped with the special helmet that carries the coach-to-player...
Sean Davis returns to Steelers practice, Terrell Edmunds added to injury report
Safety Sean Davis returned to Pittsburgh Steelers practice Wednesday, three days after he sat out the regular-season opener because of an ankle injury. “We took a forward step today, definitely progressed,” Davis told media after the session at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I was out there, got to be joined...
After leading the AAF in sacks, Jayrone Elliott joins Steelers eager to contribute
The player who will go down as the all-time career sacks leader in Alliance of American Football history is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott was signed Monday to the active roster, ostensibly to replace Tuzar Skipper after Skipper’s release Saturday and claim by the New York...
Back nesting with Steelers: Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges returns to practice
After migrating south for a week and a half, “Duck” was back in his nest at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad Tuesday, quarterback Devlin “Duck Dynasty” Hodges got plenty of practice reps Wednesday with starter Ben Roethlisberger taking his typical veteran’s day off. A...
Steelers trade backup QB Josh Dobbs
‘Duck Dynasty’ is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Devlin Hodges was signed by the team Monday to serve as the No. 3 quarterback after Josh Dobbs was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier in the day. Hodges impressed during training camp after signing with the team following a tryout at...
History shows Week 1 losses don’t doom Steelers’ entire seasonVideo
About 14 hours after a loss that had few silver linings for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bud Dupree managed to find one. “Nobody was getting decapitated,” Dupree said Monday in reviewing a 33-3 loss at the New England Patriots the night before, “or nothing like that.” Indeed, each of the 53...
Steelers injury reports: Joe Haden has sprained AC joint, JuJu Smith-Schuster’s toe ‘OK’
Of the four former Pro Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers who were injured during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s season-opening loss, three were in the locker room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Monday afternoon. Cornerback Joe Haden (shoulder), linebacker T.J. Watt (hip) and receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (toe) were spotted — seemingly...
Steelers’ Chuks Okorafor unsure why he was Sunday inactive, takes it in stride
Sunday, for the first time in his NFL career, Chuks Okorafor was not activated to play during a Pittsburgh Steelers game. The 2018 third-round pick, apparently, has been surpassed on the offensive tackle depth chart by Zach Banner. “It is what it is,” Okorafor said Monday at UPMC Rooney Sports...
Steelers trade No. 3 quarterback Josh Dobbs to Jaguars for 5th-round pickVideo
A week after Mason Rudolph was named backup quarterback, Josh Dobbs’ tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers is over. Dobbs was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a fifth-round pick Monday afternoon, ending his tenure with the Steelers at 2 ½ years since he was drafted with a 2017 fourth-round pick....
Four Downs: Steelers embrace 5-WR sets
Four Downs is a weekly feature composed of quick-hit thoughts and analysis on the Steelers and the NFL. 1. High five (wides) Lacking depth at tight end? Feel good about everyone in the wide receivers position room? The logical and intuitive answer is to use more wide receivers and fewer...
Steelers add WR Johnny Holton to active roster, release rookie LB Tuzar Skipper
The Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday signed a veteran wide receiver who had recently been released by the Oakland Raiders. No, not that one. Veteran receiver and special teams standout Johnny Holton was promoted to the Steelers’ 53-man roster from the practice squad. The speedster could serve as the No. 6...
Steelers have tradition of losing to Tom Brady at Gillette StadiumVideo
Aside from a 10-story lighthouse beyond one of the end zones and adjacent pedestrian overpass modeled after Boston’s iconic Longfellow Bridge, Gillette Stadium has no distinguishing features. The New England Patriots’ home field ranks 22nd among the 31 NFL venues in seating capacity, and it will be right in the...
Johnny Holton happy to stick with Steelers on practice squad, staying ready for call-up
Turns out, the delay in naming Johnny Holton to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad earlier this week was a simple matter of family and logistics. A veteran of parts of three seasons and 32 NFL games with the Oakland Raiders, Holton opened eyes with the Steelers during a strong preseason...
Steelers going increasingly hybrid on defense, showcasing versatility with secondary
It wasn’t that many years ago the Pittsburgh Steelers had, in effect, only two defensive packages they used the vast majority of the time. Even after a six-DB dime was added to nickel and base, the personnel groupings would remain the same, with the one body swapped in to play...
Sean Davis almost certainly out for Steelers’ opener at Patriots; Kameron Kelly will start
Sean Davis completed the first practice week of the Pittsburgh Steelers regular season without participating at all because of an ankle injury. That opens the door for Kameron Kelly, a castoff from the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent last season (Dallas – nor any other team – did...
Patriots cornerback: Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster not among NFL’s best receivers
Three days before JuJu Smith-Schuster’s debut as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 receiver, did one of the players who will be tasked to defend Smith-Schuster diss him? New England Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson had an exchange with Boston-area radio reporter Ryan Hannable that suggests so, according to a post to...
Ulysees Gilbert, Tuzar Skipper the other rookies part of Steelers linebackers corps
One-third of the linebackers on Pittsburgh Steelers season-opening roster are rookies. One, No. 10 overall pick Devin Bush, was assured of making the team. The others had to show enough to do so. A pair of Mid-American Conference standouts, Ulysees Gilbert and Tuzar Skipper, were playmakers throughout training camp and...
WPIAL alumni Kevin Rader, Trevon Mathis happy to make the Steelers practice squad
While Trevon Mathis and Kevin Rader were in high school, their football teams played each other. “The two of us talked about that this morning,” Rader said earlier this week. “At the Wolvarena.” On Oct. 21, 2011, Rader’s Pine-Richland Rams lost 26-7 at The Wolvarena in Turtle Creek against Mathis’...
