The Pittsburgh Steelers set out this offseason to add veterans to their secondary, particularly at cornerback, to help young players like Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. develop.
They might have already had one in the room who served as that example on how to be a true pro and prepare week after week though. For Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who spoke to the media Thursday, James Pierre is a guy young players should emulate.
“He’s a true pro. I remember James was a COVID guy and just got him to camp. And all he did when we got here was he’d make a play, make a play. We tried to elevate him earlier and he struggled a little bit, but because of the way he works and the way he approaches things, man, that that wasn’t a setback for him,” Austin said, according to video via Chris Adamski on X. “And so I think that’s why you see, when we put him in the games now as a veteran, he’s really being able to be impactful for us, and we don’t really miss a beat. And so it’s good to see that with him.
“It’s really a good lesson for all young players that you’re never defined by what happens early in your career. It just depends on how you work and how you approach things that you could turn things around and be a really productive guy and play a lot of years in this league.”
Pierre continues to garner quite a bit of praise after another strong performance off the bench, this time in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Pierre played 48 defensive snaps and allowed just two receptions on five targets for 22 yards. He broke up two passes.
Head coach Mike Tomlin spoke glowingly about him on Tuesday, and today it was Austin’s turn. With Darius Slay exiting the Chargers game with a concussion, Pierre stepped up once again. He’s been doing that all season. Across 111 defensive snaps, Pierre has more pass breakups (six) than receptions allowed (four) in coverage.
That’s quite the development from an undrafted free agent who has worked his way into being a very good special teams player.
As Austin stated, the Steelers tried to elevate him into a larger role, doing so in 2021 when Pierre played 415 snaps defensively. He wasn’t ready for it, allowing 29 receptions for 431 yards and four touchdowns that season, according to Pro Football Focus. The Steelers seemingly moved on from him at cornerback, keeping him in a special teams role.
But he kept his head down and continued to work, and now in his sixth NFL season is starting to really carve out a role defensively, creating more opportunities for himself. Young players should take lessons from Pierre. He’s gone from one of the few undrafted free agents to make a 53-man roster in that COVID season to sticking around for six seasons and counting in the NFL.
Heck of a story, and the arrow is clearly pointing up for Pierre.
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