Steelers ILB Patrick Queen recently claimed he could have had six interceptions last year. Now he’s working on his hands. According to The Athletic beat reporter Mike DeFabo, he is putting in extra work on that aspect of his game. Coming off a debut season in Pittsburgh that he considers disappointing, he wants to live up to his contract.
The Steelers signed Patrick Queen last offseason as a free agent on a three-year, $41 million contract. With that type of investment, he served as their every-down linebacker, and figures to do so again this year. If he can make good on his threat as a pass defender, the Steelers will struggle to justify taking him off the field.
“Signed to be the quarterback of the Steelers’ defense, Queen was solid last year but is looking to produce more splash,” DeFabo wrote. “I noticed him often working on the JUGs machine by himself while the offense was on the field during OTAs and minicamp.”
DeFabo was on the Steelers’ beat last year for Patrick Queen’s first season and watched his first practices. Presumably, his habit of stealing extra work on the JUGS machine is thus a new one if he deemed it worth mentioning.
A JUGS machine is more common in baseball and softball as an automatic pitching device, but football teams also use them to simulate throws. Usually, it’s wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs who line up. But defenders like Queen, who want to improve their takeaway ability, can use it just the same, and he is.
Prior to joining the Steelers, Queen had four career interceptions in four seasons with the Ravens. He had three over the previous two years, but managed none in Pittsburgh. He did have a career-high seven passes defensed. But dropped interceptions count as passes defensed, so he wants to shift those numbers to the other column.
The Steelers live by splash plays on defense, and that is why they targeted Patrick Queen. As a Raven, he averaged 2.5 takeaways, 3.4 sacks, and 9 tackles for loss per year. He didn’t hit any of those marks in 2024, though he had overall solid numbers.
Queen doesn’t want to be an “overall solid” player, though, with the Steelers or anyone else. He sees himself as a player at the top of his profession and knows his most recent tape doesn’t show it. And so he is doing the only thing he can to address it: just keep working.
If he doesn’t, he could lose out on playing time. For now, Patrick Queen is the Steelers’ every-down linebacker, but that’s a role Payton Wilson wants. Going into his second season, he is determined to prove he can handle it. And if he does, and Queen struggles, the coaches will have a decision to make.
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