Pittsburgh Steelers S Kyle Dugger practiced only a couple of days with the team last week after a mid-week trade with the New England Patriots. Despite that, he stepped in as a starter and played almost every defensive snap against the Indianapolis Colts. That’s a tall order for anyone.
Dugger impressed his safety partner Jalen Ramsey. Not just starting on such short notice, which Ramsey called “extremely difficult,” per video from the team’s website, but also for how Dugger played in the Steelers’ 27-20 win over the Colts.
“Super impressed by what he did,” Ramsey said Friday. “I’ve been enjoying being out there on the field with him and communicating and getting familiar with each other’s game and how we play and how we play off of each other. But I’m super impressed with what he did, because I know from experience that is not easy. Being traded in the middle of the week, getting somewhere, practicing for Thursday, Friday, walk-through Saturday, then you have a game, that’s extremely tough. So he did super well. He was in right positions. He communicated well when it was time for him to communicate.”
Kyle Dugger impressed everyone with his performance against the Colts. It wasn’t so much that he was a standout in the game. He finished the game with four total tackles. But he didn’t make any mistakes and limited big plays by the Colts’ offense. And to do that with barely any practice time?
Dugger didn’t have much time to learn a new defense. He not only had to learn the language, but he also had to prepare to start only days after joining the team. But he did just that. Head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that he knew Dugger “was gonna be okay” because of how he moved around on the field. There wasn’t any hesitation on Dugger’s part. He reacted to the offense’s pre-snap motion well and was confident with his play.
And Ramsey said he was in the right spots on the field at the right time. Plus, there weren’t any communication issues with Dugger, which isn’t something we’ve been able to say about the Steelers’ secondary a whole lot in recent memory.
Will Dugger continue to play a ton of snaps going forward? Part of why he started last Sunday was due to availability. Safeties Chuck Clark (illness) and Jabrill Peppers (quad) both missed the game. Peppers was ruled out for Sunday’s game, but Clark doesn’t have a designation, so he will be available for Sunday, barring anything unexpected.
We do know that Jalen Ramsey will play safety against the Chargers. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin isn’t committing to keeping Ramsey there, but he will be there Sunday. Will Ramsey get a chance to enjoy working alongside Kyle Dugger even more? Time will tell. But the first impression was a darn good one.
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