Listed at 5-9, Beanie Bishop Jr. isn’t going to overwhelm you with his size. But the undrafted free agent CB has gotten the majority of the team’s slot reps through the first two days of training camp, and Bishop is confident that he’ll be able to thrive in the slot. Despite not being a “tall, pretty” corner, Bishop said he plays with a chip on his shoulder because he’s always been overlooked and undervalued, and that in addition to his coverage ability, he’s going to go and make tackles.
“I always play with a chip on my shoulder. Because I was always overlooked and undervalued. So it’s just one of those type of things to be able to separate myself from the tall, pretty corners, the guys that just like to cover. I like to cover and go make tackles,” Bishop told reporters after practice today via Steelers Live on Twitter.
Russell Wilson, DeMarvin Leal, Beanie Bishop, Payton Wilson, and DeShon Elliott talk to the media after practice on Friday, July 26. @MillerLite pic.twitter.com/p9dtnWdeCy
— Steelers Live (@SteelersLive) July 26, 2024
Bishop said it’s about playing angry, and that goes back to his childhood, which he talked about a little bit during an interview with Steelers Depot at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
“Putting a helmet on and just going back to the ways that I grew up, and some of the circumstances that I went through when I was younger. I just always get to my mindset, you can’t go back to that, so I try to be angry.”
Playing angry has worked for Bishop so far, as he’s earned the opportunity to potentially win Pittsburgh’s starting slot corner job. During his childhood, Bishop, one of three boys, had to move around often and admitted his life wasn’t one of luxury.
“I don’t have the luxury life of living in the big house or anything like that. I kind of had to move to different places, I had to live with different family members. Life wasn’t always as peachy. So that’s just why I work as hard because I know I didn’t come from the glitz and the glam and having as much ability as anyone else,” Bishop said in Frisco, Tex. back in January at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
That mindset has shaped his attitude on the playing field, and always giving the extra effort and playing angry has led to him impressing coaches enough to earn the majority of reps so far.
While Mike Tomlin was careful to tell reporters not to overanalyze Bishop’s reps through two practices, it is meaningful that he’s gotten the bulk of them. While the Steelers signed Cameron Sutton to work in the slot, Sutton is suspended for the first eight games of the season, which means it’ll come down to Bishop and the likes of Thomas Graham Jr. and Josiah Scott to battle for the slot corner job.
Bishop is used to having to work hard, and his work in college paid off as he led the nation in pass deflections last season and was named an All-American at West Virginia after transferring from Minnesota. Back in January, Bishop summed up his mindset.
“If you work hard enough, you’ll accomplish a lot of your goals.”
In the next few weeks, we’ll find out if Bishop’s work paid off to earn a spot on Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster.
