PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada says he has no idea the accuracy of the reports that first-year offensive line coach Adrian Klemm will leave after the season to join the coaching staff at the University of Oregon.
“There’s rumors about all kinds of coaches going on,” Canada said. “No, no idea. We are worried about beating the Chiefs. That’s my focus.”
“Klemm has done a great job. We all want to be better on offense. We want to have more points and more yards. All we want to do is win and seven times we won and seven times we haven’t.”
“We are working hard up front. We’ve got some young guys and Klemm and Chris Morgan have done a very good job of trying to get those guys going in a real, real hurry in some cases. We’ve had some guys nicked up. Klemm has done a great job for us there.”
“We are all working hard to put our players in position to make plays and what they do the best. Obviously up front we are trying to do that as well. Some plays it works, some plays it doesn’t, but Klemm has done very well.”
Lack of Claypool
Second-year receiver Chase Claypool missed a number of snaps in the fourth quarter of the game Sunday. Was he disciplined? Is it an injury? Here is what Canada said Thursday.
“I think we are trying to get all the guys involved in certain times,” Canada said. “It was just kind of a rotation we had going at that spot. It kind of worked out that way for certain drives. Nothing more specific than that.”
“Chase is a tremendously talented player who we have a lot of belief and faith in and have no doubts will make a lot of plays for us. We will all continue to keep trying to get better. That will hopefully show up really soon for all of us, not just him.”
TE dilemma
Pat Freiermuth missed the team’s first practice on Wednesday and remains in concussion protocol. How would his loss affect the team?
“Quite a bit,” Canada said. “Obviously, he’s made some really big plays for us and his growth has been tremendous for what he’s done in his first year. If that ends up being the case, we will have to make adjustments. You look at Gentry and the year he’s had has been great. You’ve got Rader who has waited his turn, if that is the case we will move on with those guys.”
Freiermuth leads the team with seven receiving touchdowns and third with 49 receptions for 422 yards. Zach Gentry has 10 receptions for 97 yards while Kevin Rader has one catch for one yard.
Diontae No Pro Bowl
Ninth in the NFL in receptions and fourth in the AFC, Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson not named to the Pro Bowl. Johnson became just the 11th Steelers receiver to reach 1,000 yards during the Titans game.
“I’m biased,” Canada said. “I think Diontae is awesome. I would never get into that. I think he’s done a great job and I think his improvement from last year to this year, the way he’s worked is really, really commendable.”
“I’m really proud of him for that. To watch him for what he’s done & how he’s worked. I’ m really, really proud of him and certainly excited to be around him and watch him keep going.”