When it came to Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin was judicious with their workload this summer. Both veteran defensive backs saw ample rest time and only played in the final preseason game. Indeed, they only played one possession — and it wasn’t enough for Slay and the rest.
It’s not that they felt that they needed more work to knock rust off or anything like that. No, Slay and the gang just wanted to play. For whatever reason, Tomlin included third-year Joey Porter Jr. in that group of resting veterans, binding the starters together. Now, they go into the regular season having marginal insight into what the unit will look like. But the head coach is okay with that.
“Just seeing us all out there in Carolina out on the field, even though I didn’t get to play for long, I was observant at the fact us three [Slay, Ramsey, and Porter] out here, it looked fun. It was exciting. I was loving it,” Slay said, via the Steelers’ website. “I didn’t want to come out, one series. I was like, ‘Coach, let’s get another one in’, but he said ‘nah.'”
“We’re just looking forward to a real opportunity to go out here and compete,” Slay added.
In a reversal of his prior history, Mike Tomlin rested many starters through all or more of the preseason. For example, Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf did not play at all, despite being healthy. Ditto for T.J. Watt, Isaac Seumalo, and Cam Heyward, though Heyward wouldn’t have played, anyway. Others, like Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, and Joey Porter, only played briefly in the preseason finale.
In all, the trio played nine snaps during the entirety of the preseason, shrouding the Steelers’ new-look secondary in an aura of mystery. For one, there’s actually something mystical about Tomlin’s machinations. The only real play of note made by either Slay or Ramsey was Ramsey’s unnecessary roughness penalty. And that was a penalty I’m sure nobody said anything about. They knew exactly what it was: a bulldog amped up to finally come off his leash and needing to growl.
But we’ll soon see plenty of this group when the calendar rolls over to September. The Steelers signed Darius Slay in March as a free agent. Later in the offseason, before training camp, they made a major trade to acquire Jalen Ramsey. In the deal, they gave up starting S Minkah Fitzpatrick. However, they also gained TE Jonnu Smith, who also did not play, but was dealing with an injury.
This new secondary full of hard-nosed vets is Mike Tomlin’s pet project. He watched Slay and Ramsey dominate the league for years and is giddy to finally have them. They may be past their prime, but he believes in what they have left in the tank. For the rest of us, we’ll just have to wait and see since we barely got a glimpse thus far.
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