PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – In his ninth season in the NFL, there isn’t much that TJ Watt hasn’t seen, but Sunday it will be a first for him. Watt talked a number of topics Friday before the Steelers host the Browns.
Never before
“This will be the first lefty quarterback I’ve ever played in my life,” Watt said. Hard to believe with all he’s seen, Watt has never faced a left-handed QB.
“It’s interesting. We don’t have a scout lefty either, so it will be different on game-day. He can bootleg both ways. It will be interesting to do, I’ve never done it before, but he’s very capable.”
About the lefty
In his first NFL start, Browns third-round pick Dillon Gabriel was 19-33 for 190 yards and two touchdowns with five yards rushing on two attempts.
“This rookie quarterback is very different,” Watt said of Gabriel who played six years in college. “He’s well decorated, very talented. He’s got good arm talent, he can move, mobile, quick, decisive guy. He had a really successful college career at (multiple) programs. It’s a little different of a rookie quarterback than guys in the past only had one or two seasons.”
Browns RB
Cleveland’s leading receiver, Harold Fannin, is a rookie, so is the starting running back. Quinshon Judkins rushed 23 times for 110 yards against Minnesota and has at least 82 yards in his last three games, without having the benefit of a training camp due to his suspension.
“He continues to get better and gets exposed to the NFL,” Watt said. “He runs hard, runs behind his pads. Like Mike T. always says ‘riding the waves the bigs are providing’. It’s been really effective for them especially in short yardage or anytime you can get those chunk situations to help a young quarterback.”
“I think more than anything it’s a team that is continuing to run the football and that’s been really effective for them. If we stop that, we are able to get at that rookie quarterback and see what it’s all about.”
Play like Ireland
Asked if the Minnesota game is the standard the Steelers want in that they limited the Vikings to 70 rushing yards, six sacks and a pair of turnovers.
“It would be awesome if we get takeaways like that and sacks and all the splash we are able to have,” Watt said. “It’s obviously tough to do each and every week but it starts with fundamentals of everybody doing their job stopping the run, being able to create those turnovers, being able to pin our ears back in those situations. It’s much easier said than done.”
Stunts
Cam Heyward brought up the success the defense had two weeks ago when it ran a number of stunts, moving the defensive players around. Watt traditionally likes to play on the left side, is he down with moving around?
“Just continue to try to break down max protection,” Watt said. “It’s no secret teams max protect us significantly more than other teams. Just trying to find way to continue to break the pocket down and not just get chipped to death the whole game.”
Rivalry
“Physical, you can throw records out the window for games like this, it’s very physical. Home field advantage is huge in games like these. We know them. They know us. Like Mike T. says, a lot of guys are brought here for these type of matchups. Guys get drafted, guys get brought in free agency for the AFC North matchups and specifically these types of games.”