It's now been a month since the Pittsburgh Steelers won a football game. That came the weekend after Thanksgiving when they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-10 in Cincinnati. And while it was an offensive explosion by no means, the Black and Gold would gladly take a similar outcome this weekend when they play those same Bengals at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.
Jim Wexell writes for 247sports.com and has been a Steelers beat writer since 1995 and he joins us now.
Jeremy Scott: Jim, it's been a week — two weeks, a month — of bad publicity for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then yesterday, the team posts pictures of a child who visited them through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And the cherry on top of this kid's visit was linebacker T.J. Watt, surprising him with Super Bowl tickets. Despite this bad publicity the team has gotten since it started this recent losing streak, the fact they do have guys like T.J. on the team tells me there is something to build off of, regardless of how the rest of the season plays out. What are your thoughts on that?
Jim Wexell: I love T.J. and he's so — he's all guy, you know? He's all dude. And he is a still a nice guy. And you know, there's there's talk of trading T.J., to get high draft picks, not just [from] one writer. I keep hearing it. And not from the team, but people want to rebuild. And T.J. would be a great piece to rebuild. I mean, send to another team for high draft picks. But I don't see the Steelers doing that because of acts like this. I mean, they need more character, not less.
Scott: So on the topic of character, wide receiver George Pickens has taken all kinds of flak over the past week because he didn't block for running back Jaylen Warren in the Indianapolis Colts game last Saturday. Then Warren more or less called Pickens out for that, saying 'I would have blocked for him.' Did Warren step out of line with his words or did he basically just say the quiet part out loud that other guys in the locker room aren't saying?
Wexell: You got that right with your latter question. You know, Jaylen Warren, if you're hearing bad words from Jaylen Warren, you might be a really bad dude. Jalen is one of the nicest guys I've come across. Willie Parker's cousin. They put him in Willie's old locker. Nobody even knew it. And just he's put up with being the backup when he should be a starter and he is not. He's lost game checks for lowering his helmet into blocks. He is just all football player and nice guy. So I don't know if saying the quiet part out loud is a problem. Not for Jaylen Warren. He can be on my team all day long.
Scott: Is he really Willie Parker's cousin?
Wexell: He is. Yeah, I asked him. He's from Clinton, North Carolina, and I've been to Clinton. I did my book, "Steeler Nation," the road trip book, and I went to Clinton to talk to Willie Parker's people. Meet his dad. I went to his house. And so when Jaylen came, his birthplace was Clinton, North Carolina. Oklahoma State was his final stop, but he bounced around some western schools. So I saw Clinton, North Carolina. I say, 'Jaylen, do you know another guy from North Carolina who played on his team?' He goes, 'yeah, he's my cousin. That's Willie Parker.'
Scott: I'll be darned.
Wexell: And so Jaylen moved when he was one or two years old out west, bounced around a little bit. And Willie had called him when he signed as an undrafted free agent out of college, just like Willie had. And so he told me a pretty good story. That was the first summer he was here two years ago. And, you know, Warren rushed for 3,000 yards as a senior in high school. 3,000. I mean, 10 games at most, 12 games at most in high school ball. 3,000 yards. And he did not get one scholarship offer. All of his linemen went tp super high D-1 powerhouse schools. Texas, Washington, UCLA and everybody thought it was the o-line. But, you know, this guy just keep proving everybody wrong.
Scott: Well, his backfield mate, Najee Harris has one year left on his contract. Do you foresee the team moving on from Najee after next year? Because they have this guy in Jaylen Warren, who from all accounts has character just, you know, in spades, but also arguably is the better all around running back.
Wexell: Well, I would definitely move on from Najee Harris in two years, but personally, I would move on from him tomorrow if I could. But at the end of this season, I would look to trade him or cut him. I have no need for him. Sorry.
Scott: Well, the last time these two teams played, the Steelers got two quarterback Jake Browning four times and really made him look like the backup that he is. But he's looked All-Pro since then. Is there anything you've seen over this last month that leads you to believe the Steelers can repeat that sort of defensive performance?
Wexell: Oh, my goodness. Absolutely not. Oh, I hate to be the bearer of bad vibes here, but Jake Browning is number two in the NFL in passer rating. He is closing in on a five game stretch of first career starts that would surpass Ben Roethlisberger's completion percentage. And Chad Pennington, who is number one, Ben's number two. All he has to do is keep doing what he's doing. And Jake Browning will be the all-time leader for completion percentage in his first five starts. He's really gotten hot lately. And I know Ja'Marr Chase is out but Tee Higgins is back, Tyler Boyd's back, and the Steelers are just decimated in the middle of the field at safety and linebacker.
Scott: For the Steelers, it'll be Mason Rudolph getting his first start in two years. Over two years. Talk about the leadership qualities or lack thereof, that he brings to the locker room. How are the guys rallying around him? How have you seen that played out this week?
Wexell: Well, everybody loves Mason. You know, he came here and his psychological profile really impressed the Steelers. He graded highest in resiliency. Ability to bounce back, ability to not stay down psychologically. An energy bringer. Keeps his head up. And we've seen that play out, especially the day he was drafted. Ben Roethlisberger ripped the organization for drafting a quarterback. And then said he wasn't going to help them and he didn't help him. So Mason gets his shot, gets a helmet to the head — his own helmet to the head — and pretty much things went into a spiral from there. For his next start after that helmet game was the Bengals and he won. But he had gotten yanked after a half and they beat the Bengals. Mason's 2-0 against the Bengals as a starter. But then Mason just lost favor here, and all he does is report to work with a smile on his face and a businesslike attitude and a positive attitude.
Diontae Johnson said 'I'm a starter and I cry more than he does. And he just inspires me.' So that's the kind of player, you know, in a really bad storm of a week of lack of character. This guy's got character and I think he gives them a fighting chance because of that character and just the story of what it would be. Who's not rooting for Mason Rudolph on Christmas Eve? And he throws the best deep ball on the team. He has since been left. Ben really threw a great deep ball, of course. Mason doesn't have the strongest arm, but he lofts it and gets it there, and accurately. So I think the receivers are excited about that. Whether George Pickens comes to play or not will remain to be seen. But Diontae Johnson is excited. I know that.
Scott: Attendance prediction for tomorrow. More Bengals fans than Steelers fans? Do the Steelers faithful show up. Or will there be plenty of fans dressed up like seats?
Wexell: My daughter lives in Richmond and she is an avid Steeler fan and so is her mother. And she bought her tickets, they bought tickets to go to this game like a month ago when things were riding high and she paid premium price for them and she said 'I could have got them for five bucks today.' So she's excited. She's coming back to Pittsburgh for Christmas. I wonder if that's going to be representative of the type of fan who's going to be there. Young, fresh people returning to the city who haven't been to a game and really want to enjoy football and not the booing and the disgust and the vitriol. So it could surprise us. This crowd could surprise us just based on that. Those two people alone. I'm sorry. I wish I had more, but that's about it.
Scott: Well, sometimes anecdotal evidence is all you have to go off of. And like I said, I was just asking for your prediction and that. So we'll wait and see how that plays out. One of the long standing Steelers traditions that unfortunately is no longer there because the person who purveyed that tradition is no longer there, former defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who would act out, not just recite, but act out "The Night Before Christmas, before these games, before Christmas. Is there any sort of tradition in the locker room now or has there been since Mr. LeBeau left?
Wexell: Okay. I thought you were going to tell me something bad had happened to Dick LeBeau.
Scott: Sorry to trigger you. That would have triggered me just as much. I would not sound this peppy if something had.
Wexell: Boy, you know, traditions in the locker room. I can't think of anything and I wish I had more. I don't. It seems like a long time ago that locker room was packed with character like that. And it's sad.
Scott: Hearing you talk like that as somebody who covers the team on the weekly and for that matter, the daily, you sound rather browbeaten when it comes to the character aspect of this locker room. It sounds like everything that we've been hearing in the media; all the reports coming out of the locker room about people loafing and what we see on the field is not just window dressing. That is really what's going on. What sort of overhaul can be done at this point just going into next season? I mean, obviously we could be here all day talking about that. But obviously you don't expect the Steelers to sit tight and just take it as it is right now. The front office is not just going to sit there and be okay with what's going on. Do you see major moves being made to make sure that you and for that matter, all of Steeler Nation isn't this browbeaten this time next year?
Wexell: Well, I think one major move has been made, and I'm not pointing at Kevin Colbert as a problem. I don't know how his philosophy changed over the years if it did. But they brought in a new general manager and many new scouts. The personnel department really was overhauled, all kind of new positions, all kind of support guys in that role that nobody knows. Even their positions have changed. And they had a terrific draft brought in Elandon Roberts, terrific character. And Joey Porter, Jr. has character just oozing. He's got an edge like his dad, but he's a smart, nice person like his mom. So he's just a total class individual. And I think Broderick Jones is the same and Keeanu Benton and Nick Herbig. And it's very impressive. So if that's an indication, then character's coming back in vogue. Now, also let me just add that it's only two or three guys that suck the air out of the room and I would get rid of them. I mentioned one, and I would get rid of Pickens and Diontae Johnson needs a long look, too. So you get these three egotistical offensive skill players out of there and you've got T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick. There's some character to build there. Elandon Roberts, Joey Porter, Jr.... So I don't want to dismiss this entire team, but I would make two or three changes, get rid of some surprising players and continue drafting as I did. And, you know, they could go with a new coach and that could alter character as well. I know I told you last week I did not see Tomlin leaving, but, last week was an even worse game and things are really looking bad. So maybe this is Mr. Tomlin's last year.
