At first blush coming out of the preseason opener last Friday against the Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was rather pleased by rookie linebacker Payton Wilson’s debut.
Wilson played a game-high 44 snaps and led the Steelers with seven tackles and a tackle for loss. The third-round pick out of North Carolina State was all over the field against the Texans, flying around and showing off his skill set.
Now, nearly a week removed from the performance and able to review the coaches’ film, Tomlin still holds Wilson’s debut in high regard.
“I thought it was a really good start for him. He was highly active on defense and in teams,” Tomlin told reporters Thursday following a joint practice against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “But I think it’s reasonable to expect him to be more detailed with that activity, with more exposure.”
That is certainly a reasonable expectation, one that Tomlin undoubtedly shared and made clear to Wilson prior to speaking to the media.
Coming out of his first preseason game, Wilson was happy with his performance overall, though he did cite his frustration with some plays he left on the field, including two missed tackles and some struggles in coverage. Those initial struggles were to be expected as he’s adjusting to the NFL game, going against new players, better talent and true grown men who do this for a living.
He got beat a few times and wasn’t at his best from a detail aspect, but that’s what the preseason is for.
Wilson took his bumps and bruises against the Texans, made plenty of plays in the process and showed that there is plenty to be encouraged by moving forward. It’s reasonable to expect him to get better and better with every performance.
We’ll see how much he plays Saturday night in the second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Based on his standing within the depth chart, it seems reasonable to expect Wilson to play a large number of snaps once again. Hopefully he is able to grow and learn from those experiences from the preseason opener and take those lessons into his second NFL game, bringing more attention to detail like Tomlin is expecting.
