Like everyone in the organization, Defensive Coordinator Keith Butler is looking to take advantage of a more normal practice week and an extra day off. He also unveils a great nickname, drops a folksy saying and gives us not one, but two, “dadgums” as the Steelers try again to clinch the AFC North.
A lot of us thought Butler’s defense looked tired in the second half at Buffalo and he didn’t exactly dispute that - “We had those three ballgames within what 11, 12 days. When you play football, your body has to have some dadgum time to rest and to heal and stuff like that.”
Stuff like also letting the mind rest – “I’ve always felt like defensively what beats you are mental mistakes and missed tackles. We have to tackle better at times, and we have to make sure that we know what we are doing.”
Butler seemed particularly bothered but not coming up with a stop after the Steelers had pulled to within 8 points in the fourth quarter Sunday night, giving up a 12-yard completion on a 3rd-and-10 – “We have to dadgum get them, especially when our offense scores like that. We can’t give them first downs like that. We have to get them out on third down and give our offense a chance to win the football game.”
After Mike Tomlin had called his players out for getting pushed around in Buffalo, Butler was asked if it’s possible to teach a player to be more physical – “I think it’s something your mom and daddy give you. I don’t know if you can teach that.”
But Butler says being more physical doesn’t really concern him, anyway – “I’ve never worried about our defense being physical because I think they have been. I’m always trending toward the people I like on defense are the people that are going to hit you. I don’t have to tell them to hit you, they just have that. They do it. Do we want them to get more fumbles and stuff like that? Sure, to get the turnovers and stuff like that to help our offense get in position to score.”
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Butler is happy that Joe Haden is out of concussion protocol – “Well, I’m always in favor of having Joe back” – and he is also in favor of a healthy Mike Hillton, so much so that Butler has an endearing nickname for his favorite slot corner.
“I called him “Sawed Off” all the time,” Butler smiled.
“That’s my nickname for him because I love the way he plays. He plays hard.
He’s a very tough guy for his size. He will get in there and mix it up a little bit. He loves the blitz. He’s got great timing and great feel for blitizing, so we are going to use him in that regard, knowing that’s one of the better things he does.”
Despite missing, in essence, 5 games Hilton has 3 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery. Sound like mom and daddy raised Hilton right.