PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada is careful not to give away secrets. Careful not to tell how many reps certain players get in his offense. He was, however, fairly bold in describing why they kept quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
“There is a great upside with Dwayne,” Canada said. “He’s worked very hard. We feel very good about where we are headed. The progress he has made and what the future holds.”
Canada said there are good days and bad days not just in practice, but in games alluding to the preseason finale where Haskins started and went 9 of 16 for 108 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The first year leader of the Steelers offensive, Canada believes there is ‘a very talented player there’.
Now Haskins will sit and wait, rarely getting the opportunity to work with any group during game weeks, let alone the first team.
“We want him to get better every day,” Canada said. “We want him to look and watch. The reps he gets, which there are a lot more mental than physical when you are in that position. There are guys around the league and in every level of football who are in that spot.”
“Some guys grow and work at it very hard. Some guys sit back say this is my role and don’t get any better. All indications he will be the first example that gets better every day.”
Offensive Line
Canada wouldn’t say they will move forward, even if just for week one, with Dan Moore, Junior as the starting left tackle and Chukwuma Okorafor on the right. Canada noted they’ve moved a number of players around during practice, but as much to get looks and get people comfortable as anything else.
“We are looking at those possibilities and what’s the best for us,” Canada said. “We haven’t yet determined what that is going to be. Chuks played a lot on the right last year. Dan played a lot on the left in his previous life.”
“We’re looking at how the best pieces fit working by themselves, next to someone else, where they are most comfortable, where it gives us the best advantage match-up wise.”
“Nothing is set in stone yet, Coach will make those determinations when he is ready to.”