PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – “Let’s Go Baby!”
That is the message from Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to outside linebackers Nick Herbig and Markus Golden. They will be the primary duo filling in for injured All-Pro linebacker TJ Watt.
“We got those guys here for a reason, Markus and Nick,” Austin said Thursday. “We got those guys for this reason in case we do lose one of our guys outside.”
Herbig came in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft after 20 sacks in his last two seasons at Wisconsin, while Golden has four sacks in limited action this year and had 11 with Arizona in 2021.
“Or course, you hate to see anyone go down, but your best player on your team, you want to be able to take him out there,” Golden said. “You hate to see TJ go down because I’d rather have him out there. I know we can win with him. I know he wants me to go out there and go hard. He still is helping me this week. I will be ready to go.”
Golden said he’s been preparing as a starter all year. He knows what he needs to do, saying he’s been playing football his whole life. The 32-year-old is ready for whatever reps he gets, saying he just can’t wait for his third opportunity to be in the playoffs.
“We’ve been in this position,” Austin said. “We were in this position last year and I don’t think we were ready or had as much depth behind TJ as we would like. I think we have two solid guys this year.”
“We all know they are not going to be TJ, TJ is a one-of-a-kind guy. We like the way their mental makeup and the way they play and their temperament. They will give us some positives there.”
“It’s part of the NFL,” Golden said. “You got to be ready. We are all excited to go out there and win for TJ.”
Formidable Forecast
Whatever ends up happening, it will be winter in Buffalo on Sunday. The current forecast is for snow with 25 mile-an-hour winds. Austin said he doesn’t even look at what the weather will be like because both sides has to play in it.
“I don’t think it’s an advantage or disadvantage for the defense,” Austin said. “It’s the field, how are the guys playing? How are they executing? All the other stuff is just noise because you can let yourself into well the weather is bad, you can build in some excuses. There are no excuses.”
“The bottom line is you line up and you line up to play and when we line up on that field, we line up to win. Whether it’s rain, sleet, snow, it doesn’t matter.”