PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Not just from the starters, but many helped themselves, some for a second time, and their opportunity to make the Steelers roster or solidify a position Saturday in a 27-15 win over Buffalo.
Joey Porter, Junior
Joey Porter, Junior said coming into the game, his confidence has grown with a couple of interceptions in training camp. He wants to prove to the doubters wrong about his hands having only one interception at Penn State. Porter in the right position and picked off a Matt Barkley pass leading to a Mitch Trubisky to Connor Heyward touchdown.
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Nick Herbig
The rookie had 1.5 sacks in 13 snaps in the opener. Wisconsin outside linebacker Nick Herbig got around starting Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins to knock the arm of Josh Allen for an incompletion. Later in the game, he was on the ground, but quickly jumped to his feet to force a Barkley fumble and was credited with a sack on the play as well.
“Dynamite comes in small packages,” Herbig said.
“It’s my coaches and my teammates making my job easier and taking a load off my back. TJ and Alex really dumb the game down for me. It’s really simplified so I can go down there and let it loose.”
Herbig said he has three All-Pros in his room (Markus Golden the other) and some of the best to ever touch the field at this position.
“A wise man once said be a sponge and soak up all the information you can,” Herbig said.
Pat Freiermuth
So much talk of Darnell Washington, it was Pat Freiermuth darting down the middle of the field for the second touchdown of the game.
“It was a hell of a ball, he protected me from a big hit and threw it away from Milano,” Freiermuth said. “It was a big throw, hell of a linebacker.”
That’s three touchdowns on explosive plays for the first-team offense.
“Very confident, it helps us going into practice and watching film,” Freiermuth said. “Reassuring us that we can make those explosive plays and that we will make those explosive plays. It’s been three drives, three touchdowns.”
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Jaylen Warren
The second-year tailback said it was a great job by the offensive line and there is rarely a situation where you go 62-yards, untouched for a touchdown in the NFL. That’s how the Steelers got on the board Saturday.
“I was just reading my blocks,” Warren said. “Everybody got on their guy which made it easy on my part. I saw it and (said) ‘excuse me, excuse me, excuse me’ and just ran down the sideline.”
Kenny Pickett
Not even close to an interception in the limited work he’s received. Kenny Pickett three for four for 44 yards and a touchdown Saturday after going six for seven with a 33-yard touchdown in the first week.
“It’s good to see all of the hard work coming into the games,” Pickett said. “Obviously it’s preseason but we put a lot of time in together. You want to come out here, put points up. That’s what we’re doing. We are going to continue to do that and continue to push for perfection.”
“Kenny has been more comfortable with us and how we run routes,” Freiermuth said. “I think it’s hard for any quarterback, not just a rookie coming in mid-season getting adjusted to the new receivers.
We had the full offseason and camp to get adjusted and on the same page, it’s paying off now.”
Connor Heyward
He’s just a football player, after a couple of failed short runs, nearly the goal line, Trubisky finds Connor Heyward in traffic in the middle of the end zone for a three-yard touchdown. It was his second reception of the game. The second-year tight end/H-Back/running back had a couple of receptions for 34 yards and a five-yard run in the first preseason game.
Calvin Austin
Following up the 67-yard touchdown reception and 17-yard jet sweep run, Calvin Austin made another couple of plays in his second-ever game. Austin caught a 12-yard pass, but also had a 54-yard punt return to set up the second touchdown.
“Calvin is one of the guys who’s put a lot of work in this offseason,” Pickett said. “I think we are doing a good job of getting him the ball in space. He did a great job on the return setting us up for that second touchdown.”
Elijah Riley
Noticeable a number of times during training camp, Elijah Riley continues to help his stock as a slot corner/special teams option. Riley had the first interception of Barkley on a tipped pass by linebacker Cole Holcomb and batted a pass down at the line of scrimmage. He played in four games with the Steelers last year and having just turned 25, it’s his fourth season in the NFL starting seven games for the Jets as free safety in 2021.
Riley has played well in special teams and has four tackles this preseason including a couple of picks in practice.
“It’s a lot more fun in a game, in a stadium,” Riley said. “It’s progressions. I can make it happen in a practice day, there’s confidence I can make it in a game.”
“The defense is coming more second nature, now I’m able to read the offense. To be able to lean where my help is and having a better understanding of what my job is and the job of others helps the performance.”
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Chandon Sullivan
The starting nickel or slot cornerback for the first two preseason games, Chandon Sullivan intercepted a Barkley pass early in the third quarter leading to a Chris Boswell field goal. He also had a pass defended. The 27-year-old is a free agent signing after 17 games (10 starts) with Minnesota finishing with a pass defended, a fumble recovery and career-high 60 tackles (45 solo).