LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers had finished practice in the rain Saturday, it’s early into camp where you can’t see the finish line. The middle linebackers are playing together for the first time, learning each other and then word Saturday night they’ve added a veteran to the room.
It’s not that projected starters Cole Holcomb or Elandon Roberts think now they are going to the bench, but after building chemistry with that assumption they are the two starters, now they bring in Kwon Alexander, who has played 95 NFL games. The soon-to-be 29-year-old played half of the Jets snaps in 17 games with New York last year, so the anticipation would be he will cut into someone’s playing time.
Roberts initial reaction was not a negative, rather a positive for the collective.
“I think competition is pushes the room to be better,” Roberts said Sunday morning. “I love competition. I hate to be feeling complacent because sometimes you might miss something in your own development.”
“I love to be pushed. I feel like it makes the team better when it’s a competitive practice every day.”
It shouldn’t be a total surprise Alexander is joining them. He visited the Steelers in May but didn’t end up signing. He started a dozen of the 17 games last year with 69 tackles including six for loss in 2022 with the Jets. He led the NFL in solo tackles in 2016 with Tampa Bay, but has dealt with injuries each of the previous six seasons before last year.
“Kwon is a hell of a player,” Holcomb said. “I think he will bring a lot to the room. It’s great competition. I’m excited to get to work with him.”
He went through the Sunday morning, unpadded practice and will go again in the afternoon. It’s not as if he’s walking into a room with a number of players with tenure with the Steelers. Alexander will put on the pads in practice for the first time on Tuesday, which will be the same for Roberts and Holcomb in black and gold.
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“At the end of the day, Coach Tomlin and (GM) Omar (Khan), they have to do what is best for the team,” Roberts said. “It’s about the team. It’s my job to come out here every day and be prepared to go from my position and what’s called for me. At the end of the day, that’s being a physical linebacker, that’s communicating well, that’s being reliable.”
Neither have a previous relationship with Alexander although Roberts is familiar with watching him play. Holcomb called him a ‘hell of a player, he’s a Pro Bowler’. Now it’s about getting the three on the same page, not that it changes the goals of either.
When Roberts was asked if it changed hit role (or his opportunity), he stared at the reporter and smiled saying ‘nah’.
“I want to start,” Holcomb said. “I want to be that every down backer. I’ll do whatever I got to do.”