PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on Thursday that Alex Highsmith will be filling in for Bud Dupree and he's excited to see him respond and improve.
Like Tomlin, Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler compared it to LB Robert Spillane getting a chance when Devin Bush suffered a knee injury.
"Very easy to coach, meaning this, once you tell him something once, he gets it and you don't have to constantly repeat everything you say to him," Butler said of Highsmith. "He understands. If he doesn't understand, he asks very intelligent questions. He has a good football mind, and he does what we ask him to do."
"The thing that he's going to have to do is he's going to have to do it a little bit more than he has been, and that is OK. I feel good with him coming in for us."
The Steelers third round pick out of Charlotte will also have to learn more about his teammates.
"How we communicate together," said linebacker TJ Watt about the changes from Dupree to Highsmith. "He's been getting a handful of snaps a game. Now these snaps are very meaningful and he's playing a lot more of them. We are just trying to communicate with him how we like things communicated."
Butler elaborated on Highsmith understanding mistakes, taking us back to a key play in early November.
"The first time we played Baltimore this year, they ran a pass on us where he's outside, and he's got what we call the curl flat," Butler said. "The curl flat is basically outside about 10-12 yards deep. They ran one play on him, he got to the sideline and I told him, 'You've got to see the end of the line of scrimmage so if that guy comes off the ball, it's going to be passing, and you need to get up under the pass'."
"And the next time he does that, he intercepts the pass because he drops, just doing what he's supposed to do and stuff like that. That's the type of player he is. He's not going to make the same mistake twice."
"In order to maintain a long and fruitful career playing linebacker in this League, you've got to be able to make the mistake once and once only, and that's what he does. He doesn't repeat mistakes. I think that will give him a chance to have a real good career, and hopefully that will give him a chance to play really good for us on this journey that we're on trying to be world champions."
"He's always come to work ready to grow and get better," Watt said. "He's always asking the right questions. I know he's prepared. I feel very confident in his ability to step in."
"We have great confidence in him," said veteran corner Joe Haden. "They are starters in waiting. Waiting for their opportunity. We have two All-Pro linebackers, the chances are limited, now they get more of an opportunity."
"When Highsmith is in there. When Ola is in there. They are always making plays. They are always very attentive in meetings. They know their assignments. They are just waiting on their opportunity. It's going to be a two man job, I don't think just one of them will be able to fill in for what Bud was doing."
Butler agrees with that sentiment.
"In order to continue getting pressure on the quarterback, we need for Alex Highsmith to step up, and we need for Ola [Adeniyi} to step up and Jayrone [Elliott], all three of them," Butler said. "We need for them to stay up so
we don't have a drop off even when T.J. [Watt] comes out. T.J., I think, is close to leading the League in sacks, and he is doing a good job for us in that respect. Alex [Highsmith] is going to have to step up in this situation because of where we are at."
So there will be times when Watt is off the field and Highsmith will move over to that side and Adeniyi and Elliott will also be playing. That's easy to say, but you'll be trying to make up for 39.5 career sacks, 54 tackles for loss, 65 QB hits and 8 forced fumbles with a group that combined has 5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 9 QB hits and 4 forced fumbles.
Steelers have been able to hold it together without Bush, this will be another challenge for Butler and his defensive assistants. Butler has some family reasons to make sure they reach the end goal.
"The biggest thing for us is to get in the playoffs and then the next biggest thing is to win the Super Bowl, especially for my third son," Butler said. "I've got three sons, and I have two Super Bowl rings. That's all I've got, so we have to get one more of them, for sure."
