PITTSBURGH --Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Brandin Echols believes the team came out a bit “flat” in their practice against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Echols, who said he received some first-team slot cornerback reps with Joey Porter Jr. limited, wanted to see more immediate urgency from the team in a big practice.
“We just didn’t come out with energy,” Echols said. “We came out a little flat. Flatter than usual. So we just have to fix that. Come out stronger.”
Echols said the team went back into later team periods with the understanding they came out flat, but the expectation needs to be a fast start in every practice and game.
That is something the team will look to rectify when they get out onto the field on Saturday.
“It’s very much understood,” Echols said. “We know we have to come out way better and show way better swag and way better communication. We have got to show that we are a dominant group and excel in it.”
Linebacker Patrick Queen was mad about the team’s inability to stop the Buccaneers’ two-minute drill, which the Pro Bowler confirmed ended in a Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans touchdown against Jalen Ramsey. For Queen, he says he believes that the Steelers were communicating fine, but are not executing the little details.
“There’s just stuff that we’ve got to do on our part to be more attentive. Pre-snap we’re talking, we’re communicating, seeing everything. We just have to execute,” Queen said.
There is no panic button from the Steelers defense, but this might be the first hiccup in the road for a defense that shone for much of training camp against the Steelers’ offense.
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