Just when we thought the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense had left its communication issues from last season behind, the joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers showed that might not be the case.
Following the session with Tampa Bay, which saw the Buccaneers' offense shine to the point that head coach Todd Bowles decided to sit Baker Mayfield in the preseason Week 2 contest, Steelers cornerback Brandin Echols pointed to communication as an issue for Pittsburgh's defense during the session.
"We (need to) come out, way better energy, way better swag, way better communication," he said after the practice.
Of course, Pittsburgh's communication issues from 2024 were well-documented and several players touched on the problem throughout the season.
Despite that fact, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said he isn't "sweating it" in the wake of Echols' comments.
"As for Thursday's joint practice with Bucs, Teryl Austin says Baker Mayfield and Co. made some plays but 'that's just football,'" Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. "As for communication among a reshaped Steelers secondary, (Austin said) 'I'm not sweating that.'"
That's certainly not the answer we want to hear from Austin when communication issues played such a big role in the Steelers' defensive downfall in the second half of last season.
And it's especially troublesome to hear any semblance of a concern about the same issue after all the turnover the Steelers have had in their secondary in 2025.
Unfortunately, it's tough to truly gauge just how big of an issue communication is right now, as the Steelers' defensive starters haven't played in the preseason.
Perhaps they'll see some snaps this week, but if not we won't have a clearer picture of the situation on defense until Week 1 rolls around.
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