In the first live look in a stadium with a rebuilt inside linebacker room, things went pretty smoothly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
According to veteran free agent signee Elandon Roberts, who will play a key part of that new-look linebacker room moving forward, communication was key in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
With moving parts in Roberts and Kwon Alexander sharing snaps next to fellow free agent signee Cole Holcomb, and young pieces around them without the likes of T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and Larry Ogunjobi up front, the linebackers had to communicate quickly and efficiently.
Job well done.
“Yeah, it was very calm. One thing about us three, even including the other ones, everybody’s kind of been in this situation. One thing that Mike T and the coaching staff do a great job of is putting us in them situations in practice,” Roberts told reporters after the Steelers’ 27-17 win, according to video via Steelers.com. “So, once the game time kind of came it was just real fluid. And, like I said, we all have to be calm and we all have to do our job, communicate well. ’cause that’s first and foremost. We gotta get the call in, gotta communicate well so all the other guys can play fast because they depend on us.”
Getting the call in quickly and cleanly is the first priority. That’s why not just anyone can wear the green dot as the communicator in today’s NFL.
After the last few seasons struggling to find those quick, concise communicators who didn’t panic in tight situations, the Steelers seem to have found the right guys in Holcomb, Roberts and Alexander on the inside with Holcomb wearing the green dot Friday. All have been lauded for their communication skills, and they’ve been tested in training camp.
That continued Friday night with a number of moving parts against the Buccaneers. New faces, new roles, a new scheme: no problem for the linebackers. They are well-versed in those types of situations at this point, like Roberts pointed out.
It’s just one preseason game, but the Steelers looked rather sharp in a game with vanilla schemes. No pre-snap penalties, no miscommunications, guys lined up in the proper spots. It was a good start. It shouldn’t be a surprise though. That’s what those veterans at inside linebacker were brought in to do.
