PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He’s just not your typical receiver, in so many ways. The uniqueness of Ben Skowronek as he may be called on to do more if Calvin Austin misses time with a shoulder injury.
How many NFL receivers have you ever seen with this quote attributed to them.
“I truly don’t care how many catches I have,” Skowronek said this week.
Maybe you see a player say that, but you question the sincerity. This seems legit in talking to him, teammates and coaches about the 28-year-old.
“As long as we are winning, I don’t really care,” Skowronek said. “The only stats I truly care about are special teams tackles, if I’m being honest. I just like playing football. I could have five catches in a game. I could have one, I could have zero. As long as we are winning, I really don’t care.”
For the record, the 6’3”, 224-pound receiver has one catch for 22 yards, which also went for the Steelers first touchdown of the season. He has six special teams tackles including a couple Sunday in Ireland.
“I just like tackling guys,” Skowronek said.
It’s not that he dislikes catching, he had 39 receptions in 2022 with the Rams and even had a rushing touchdown that year.
“I feel like as a competitor, you want the ball in your hands,” Skowronek said. “I don’t think I’m like any other receiver in the league. I truly don’t care how many catches I have. I will still be happy if we win. I want to be in the game on offense because I know what I can bring, but I feel like there’s a lot more ways to affect the game than just catching balls.”
To that point, while he had a couple of special teams tackles, he was still beating himself up over a missed block Sunday.
“It’s my role,” Skowronek said. “I like doing it. I like to win, whatever I’m asked to do to get a win. I will go out 100% effort and try to execute it to the best of my ability.”
“Ben is the kind of guy you don’t want on other teams, you want him on your team,” said receivers coach Zack Azzanni. “My daughters were talking about him and how many times they mentioned his name (in the Vikings game). He’s a guy that does all the dirty work. He’s the goon, if you will.”
He does all of that, but Azzanni said he’s a sneaky good receiver too. The Steelers coach says people don’t give him enough credit for his receiving skills because of everything else he does.
Azzanni pointed out his numbers in college when Skowronek had 45 catches in back-to-back seasons at Northwestern, leading the team as a sophomore. He spent his final season at Notre Dame, catching 29 passes for 439 yards, a 15.1 average and five touchdowns, a pair of them against Pitt. He also had four-catch games against Clemson (twice), Alabama and Syracuse and a three-touchdown game against Boston College.
While he appears pretty low-key, Skowronek has a big personality. Azzanni said he’s fun to have in the room and isn’t afraid to verbally mix it up with DK Metcalf or Aaron Rodgers. In fact, he calls Rodgers a friend. The Indiana native, whose father grew up in Connellsville, and the Malibu resident have formed a bond. Skowronek said it is over their mutual love, playing football.
That grew when Rodgers brought the receivers to his house in California this summer. It helped form a trust that is more than just x's and o's between the quarterback and receivers. Now with Austin's status uncertain, he may need to lean on Skowronek a little in the pass game. To which Ben says, whatever.
“It’s just football at the end of the day whether it’s receiver, fullback, tight end, special teams,” Skowronek said. “I just like playing ball.”
“I’m glad he’s on our team,” Azzanni said.