LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – A game in, it wasn't perfect, areas to improve, but undrafted defensive back Beanie Bishop did enough to show he could be a starter for the Steelers defense when the regular season begins.
Bishop tied for the team lead Friday against Houston with four solo tackles.
"Beanie is a feisty little guy," said Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin with a smile Sunday before practice. "You got a chance to see it when he came in there and blitzed on the one running back, knocked him around a little bit. He's got a ways to go in his game, but I think he's right in the competition in terms of being in the hunt to be the starting nickel."
"I think I did a solid job," Bishop said. "There were some plays I left out there, made a couple mistakes. Things that I can build off of. Being my first game, this week I will build off of that and correct the mistakes I made and try not to let them happen again."
The biggest correction he wants to make is eye discipline and eye control. Making sure he looks off where he might be and able to read the eyes of offensive players. He said everyone in the NFL are route-runners-not only run them well but can break off and adjust.
"I was really comfortable," Bishop said of his first Steelers game, albeit preseason. "I feel I understand the playbook and all the checks and adjustments. I can just really go out there and see what the offense is doing."
Bishop was an All-American last year at West Virginia, but his listed 5'10" frame left him out of the draft and signing with the Steelers which he has said was strategic to their history of undrafted players making an impact and the opportunity available at that position.
"The chip never leaves my shoulder," Bishop said Sunday. "Even when I get done playing, I always have the chip on my shoulder because of the way that I grew up. It's something that never leaves me."
He said he's been playing football since he was four-years-old, but knows he not only has things to learn on defense, but special teams. It had been a considerable time since he was asked to be a gunner on punt coverage, for example.
"We are going to let this play out over the next couple of weeks and see how it shakes out," Austin said.
Make no mistake, going into the last days in Latrobe, Bishop is more than just a camp phenom you may never hear from again.
