Planning for T.J. Watt is not a chore new to Arthur Smith, having done so in the past as head coach in Atlanta and offensive coordinator in Tennessee. Now, as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coordinator, however, he has to plan for him a lot more—in practice. And he enjoys the cat-and-mouse game, which he considers essential to doing his job. The fact that it gets on Watt’s nerves is just a bonus.
“I always joke with T.J. [Watt], ‘I’m not gonna let you wreck practice today’, Smith said on the Pat McAfee Show yesterday when discussing the value of regularly practicing against the Steelers defense. “You don’t want to be stubborn. Sometimes he gets a little pissed if we scheme around him, but I just, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna be an idiot and just let you wreck practice’”.
T.J. Watt is a former Defensive Player of the Year and a perennial finalist when healthy. He has led the NFL in sacks in three of the past four seasons and should reach 100 for his career early in the 2024 season. A 2017 first-round pick, he is on a trajectory that will land him a bust in the Hall of Fame.
And now Watt is Arthur Smith’s problem every time his offense takes the practice field. Watt is not the sort of player who takes reps off, even in practice, but Smith has business to do. If he just lets Watt do his thing, he is going to blow up plays Smith is trying to work on.
Of course, Watt isn’t the only accomplished defender Smith has to worry about. Alex Highsmith is a respected pass-rusher on the other side, and Nick Herbig is coming up. But they also have Cameron Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Patrick Queen, and Joey Porter Jr., accounting for every level of defense.
“T.J. [Watt], those guys [have] been awesome”, Smith said of the Steelers’ defenders. “Patrick Queen, Elandon Roberts, Cam Heyward, [Alex] Highsmith, Minkah [Fitzpatrick]. You have real conversations. They’re great guys, but they take this job seriously. You see what’s made them great”.
While T.J. Watt doesn’t mind his rest days as he gets older, he gives everything whenever he’s practicing or playing. And the thing is, Arthur Smith scheming around him benefits both, as it prepares him for how offenses play him. It’s not as though he isn’t used to that kind of treatment, sometimes blocked by three players.
It’s one of the reasons that Mike Tomlin holds him out of many team drills at this point in his career. Not only does Watt not need the work, but Arthur Smith’s offense does. The Steelers already know that he can blow the play up, but they need to see how it operates. So if Smith pisses Watt off from time to time, it is for the greater good of the entire roster.
At least, that is what he can continue to tell himself. Smith has plenty to say to Watt and other defenders, unafraid to engage in some friendly verbal sparring. I would bet he has had some colorful things to say about how he doesn’t let Watt touch his players.
