Despite never being a primary defensive play caller in his NFL career, the Pittsburgh Steelers are entrusting Patrick Queen with the green dot to call plays on defense. That news comes from Bo Marchionte of College2Pro.com.
“Yes,” Queen said via Marchionte about wearing the green dot. “It’s really nothing. Everybody has got to make calls and communicate and talk to each other. Having that green dot is just getting that play out there.”
In Baltimore, Queen said he wore it in practice sometimes. But in games, the duty of calling plays went to Chuck Clark for the first three years Queen was in Baltimore before Roquan Smith took it over after Clark was traded before the 2023 season. Last season, the Steelers had Cole Holcomb wearing the green dot, but it went to Kwon Alexander after Holcomb got injured and then Elandon Roberts after Alexander got injured.
Queen has already talked about how well communication has been going thus far, which is a testament to him and the defense as a whole. It should only get easier when the Steelers have their full defense, including Cameron Heyward, on the field, and that should help the learning curve for Queen as he eases into his role as the primary defensive signal caller.
Roberts talked about how defensive communication and play calling was a true team effort last season, and as Queen is currently, downplayed actually being the person who is in charge of getting the plays in and communicating with the rest of the defense. It’s a big responsibility and you have to ensure everyone is on the same page. With Queen new to the team and learning new terminology, it’s likely an additional challenge.
But things worked well with Holcomb calling plays last season, and he joined Pittsburgh ahead of last season and underwent a similar challenge that Queen is likely going through now. Holcomb’s status to get back on the field is currently undetermined after he suffered a knee injury last season, but he could potentially take over green dot duties from Queen whenever he does return. But if things are going well with Queen, there should be no reason to make a change.
It’s good for Queen to begin wearing it and working on getting the plays in now when there’s lower stakes in OTAs, and hopefully he’ll be familiar with the terminology and there should be no issues with communication when the Steelers report to Latrobe, Pa., for training camp.
