PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Joggin’ Juan. It’s the stigma new Steelers safety Juan Thornhill left Cleveland with and he’s here to prove he can be an impactful piece. Following the trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick, that opportunity comes sooner than anyone thought.
It was expected Thornhill would be a depth player, maybe working himself into packages, as the roster sits currently he is likely the starter with DeShon Elliott, although Mike Tomlin has promised Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter and Darius Slay will all be on the field at the same time. The only other safeties currently on the roster are special teams captain Miles Killebrew and undrafted rookie Sebastian Castro.
In four years with Kansas City, the production was noticeable at times—eight interceptions, 20 passes defensed, even five tackles for loss as Thornhill transitioned from free to strong safety. In his second season with Cleveland, Thornhill played in 11 games with 49 tackles and three passes defended.
As for what happened in Cleveland.
It was a play in Week 11 last year as the Browns were playing the Saints. New Orleans receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was breaking free for what ended up a 71-yard touchdown catch. As he ran down the sidelines, Thornhill didn’t bring max effort in what likely was a futile chase.
It drew the ire of Browns fans who were already upset about their season. Social media and talk shows were quickly flooded with Thornhill being the lightning rod for all of their frustrations.
After signing with the Steelers, Thornhill said he was playing through an injury which caused him to play a little bit slower.
“It did bother me if I’m being honest with you,” Thornhill said. “The reason why is because that is not me as a player. They saw that one clip of me and they put that as a title of the player that doesn’t play hard for his team.”
“It was one clip. I was exhausted. If you play a long series and you are constantly running, you will get tired. It got caught on camera. It looked like I was jogging. I wasn’t trying to jog, I was trying to run.”
Thornhill said if you watch the film he made a lot of plays and was ‘really productive in the defense’.
The former Virginia star believes he can still grow in Pittsburgh, like he did with the Chiefs. Part of that improvement in his game came from practicing against an elite quarterback. Thornhill says Aaron Rodgers is going to make the secondary better just by being him Monday through Saturday.
Thornhill is ready to show he’s not a jogging afterthought.
“It’s not to prove anything to anyone who is outside this building, it’s more to prove something to myself,” Thornhill said. “I’ve played in one of the biggest games, multiple times. I’ve had great seasons and I’ve had not so great seasons, so I’m just excited about this season and going out there and really showing the growth.”
At full speed.