From High Down, Steelers Getting ‘A Lot Higher Clarification’ On Protection This Yr, Patrick Queen Says

In Patrick Queen’s first year with the Steelers, the defense suffered from a failure to communicate—or to communicate well. Speaking to reporters yesterday, he clearly expects different this season. And that, he repeated, is from the top on down, including the coaches and the new players.

“It was a lot of new people on defense last year. DeShon [Elliott], me, Payton [Wilson]”, Queen said, via Pittsburgh DSEN, about the Steelers’ defense. “When you get those kind of guys going in a rotation, you got one in the secondary and one up front, and sometimes two in the linebacker group, it’s kind of tough trying to jell with everybody, get a relationship with everybody”.

Queen is just one of the new faces the Steelers brought in on defense last year, continuing this season. This year’s additions, however, are largely seasoned veterans like Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay. One trusts they can step right in and know what they’re doing, and so far, that appears to be true.

“I think everything is flawless right now”, Queen added of how the Steelers’ defense is operating. “Especially explaining the details of the coverages, blitzes. I think everything’s super details. You’ve got guys who care about football, you got coaches who care about football”.

Recently, Payton Wilson, Queen’s companion in the middle, also talked about improved defensive communication. He echoed the same sentiments about trusting who’s out there now, being more comfortable in the unit. The fact that the Steelers had new mouthpieces at inside linebacker likely exacerbated issues. It also helps this year that their rookies are largely reserved to the defensive line, a less pressure-packed communication hub.

Patrick Queen also praised the Steelers’ coaching staff on defense, insisting that it comes “from the top down”, delivering “a lot better explanation going on this year”. Echoing Wilson, He also claimed “from all the tools and pieces we’ve got, you could play man across the board, play zone. Everybody’s got a great understanding”.

Of course, the Steelers prioritized communication on defense last year, and it fell apart at the end of the season. Although Queen didn’t say it, Wilson did have some comment to the effect of, “you know what happened last year”.

Really, though, the inside linebacker group is probably a big part of it. Guys like Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson will be the center of communication on defense. That’s just the nature of the position, and now they have a full year under their belts. Queen also assumed the green dot for the first time in his career, which is an adjustment.

From natural growth from one year to the next, to veteran additions, to changes on the coaching staff and how they handle things, it seems there is optimism they have things figured out. With that in place, perhaps Queen can be the heart of the Steelers’ defense they brought him in to be.