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Speaker 1: Welcome to Know Your Foe on Colts dot Com and

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Speaker 1: end Death Book at the upcoming matchup. Here are your host,

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Speaker 1: Casey Valier and former Colts wide receiver Bill Brooks. Time

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Speaker 1: for another installment of Know Your Foe on Colts dot Com.

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Speaker 1: Welcome in, I am your host Casey Valley, joined us

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Speaker 1: always by Bill Brooks, who's member of the Colts Ring

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Speaker 1: of Honor. This week, the Colts welcome in the Pittsburgh

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Speaker 1: Steelers under the bright lights of Monday Night football and

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Speaker 1: again has caught up on all things Steelers. We are

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Speaker 1: joined by Brook Prior, who covers the Stealers for ESPN. Brooke,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much for the time. How are you?

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Speaker 1: I am not too bad. I'm excited for a primetime

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Speaker 1: game of Monday night matchup. Steelers haven't had one this year,

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Speaker 1: and they are always my favorite to cover, my favorite

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Speaker 1: to watch. Well, that's one thing that it's been well

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Speaker 1: documented here. Getting a primetime game at home is something

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Speaker 1: that Colts owner Jim Mercy has been pulling for, so

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Speaker 1: we're really excited to kind of see what this city

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Speaker 1: looks like with a primetime game at home here as well,

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Speaker 1: we had a Thursday night game earlier, but this is

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Speaker 1: the first of three upcoming primetime game for the Colts.

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Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of excitement around the time here. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and the Steelers have had you know, they were supposed

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Speaker 1: to have a primetime game this last Sunday against the

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Speaker 1: Bengals and they got flexed out four Chiefs Chargers. I

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Speaker 1: think the way the Chargers ended probably probably a good thing.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I think the Steelers are also really excited

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Speaker 1: about about playing in primetime. Well, dive into this matchup.

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Speaker 1: First thing. The place to start is when the schedule

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Speaker 1: came out, we see this talking about a Monday night

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Speaker 1: football game. It's definitely a matchup when you listen to

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Speaker 1: kind of the way the AFC has been over the

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Speaker 1: last you know, handful of years, Cold Steelers is always

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Speaker 1: a primetime game. But you look at where both teams are,

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Speaker 1: both teams struggling, and from the perspective of where we

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Speaker 1: are with Pittsburgh, what has been that driving force to

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Speaker 1: this sluggish start through the first ten games. Oh man,

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Speaker 1: There's a little bit of everything, depending on which side

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Speaker 1: of the football you want to start on. I think defensively,

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Speaker 1: one of the issues that played the Steelers early on

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Speaker 1: was t J. Watt was not available right he was

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Speaker 1: on IR with that Tornpack tour. He's now had two

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Speaker 1: games off IR. And you know what, the defense has

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Speaker 1: played better. I know that they gave up thirty seven

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Speaker 1: points to Joe Burrow, and that is you know, that's

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Speaker 1: obviously an issue when you have essentially your entire defense

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Speaker 1: out there and you're still giving up points to me though,

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Speaker 1: I think that that speaks more to the team not

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Speaker 1: playing complimentary football as a whole. But still, I mean,

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Speaker 1: the Steelers have some deficiencies. Their run defense has gotten

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Speaker 1: a lot better, but the past defense, they're still giving

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Speaker 1: up big plays. That is a huge glaring issue. And

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Speaker 1: then offensively, they had a quarterback switch halftime of Week

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Speaker 1: four against the Jets. Kenny Pikett, the rookie is now

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Speaker 1: out there starting, and this offense has not been able

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Speaker 1: to consistently the stain drive. In the first half, they

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Speaker 1: scored twenty points. Before that, they their season high was

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Speaker 1: twenty three points in a game, so scoring twenty and

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Speaker 1: a half was pretty unheard of season. But they come

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Speaker 1: out in the second half and they were just a

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Speaker 1: lot of three and outs, really frustrating to watch, and

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Speaker 1: the Bengals players said afterwards that the Steeler's offense was

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Speaker 1: being really predictable. It made it easier for them to

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Speaker 1: know what was coming. And I think that that's just

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Speaker 1: been a common thread with this team all season that

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Speaker 1: they are just a little too repetitive and some of

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Speaker 1: their concepts and it just it's been a pretty stagnant

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Speaker 1: offense as a whole. Now, one of the things you

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Speaker 1: alluded to, you know, Kenney Pickett takes over for Mitch

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Speaker 1: Dubisky and a lot of times with that first year,

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Speaker 1: it's kind of a growing year with a rookie. It's

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Speaker 1: kind of a lot of trial by air, and you know,

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Speaker 1: overall the production has been definitely up and down. But

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Speaker 1: where are they with Kenny Pickett to this point? Mike

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Speaker 1: Tomlins said that he is generally optimistic and likes the

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Speaker 1: direction that Kenny Pickett has headed in, but he said,

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Speaker 1: you know, would we like it to be faster? Certainly?

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Speaker 1: He said, no, Kenny Pickett would like it to be faster.

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Speaker 1: This is not a patient man's business. And he's right.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this has been a baptism by fire for

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Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett. Being thrown in at halftime inconsider the facts

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Speaker 1: that Pickett didn't work with the first team at all

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Speaker 1: during the first couple weeks of the season. In training camp,

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Speaker 1: he was with the twos and threes. Again, not a

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Speaker 1: lot of time with the first team weapons. So he's

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Speaker 1: learning on the fly right now. Someone told me he's

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Speaker 1: dreaming from a water hose, and that's exactly it. But

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Speaker 1: the fact that the last two games he has not

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Speaker 1: thrown an interception, that is one of those things that

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Speaker 1: is pointing up that they like to see out of him. Now,

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Speaker 1: it's just about, you know, finding consistency, getting guys like

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Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson involved. They like his connection with pat fire

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Speaker 1: Movean George Pickens, but you know it's getting the guy

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Speaker 1: who they signed to an extension, they gave a raise

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Speaker 1: to in Deontay Johnson earlier this year. Johnson is obviously

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Speaker 1: frustrated and I think he would like to be more

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Speaker 1: involved in this offense. Now I have to ask because

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Speaker 1: you mentioned how it's not a patients man's game. You know,

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Speaker 1: the Steelers look like they may have a pretty high

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Speaker 1: draft choice in this upcoming draft with a pretty deep

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Speaker 1: quarterback class, unlike what we saw last year with Kenny

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Speaker 1: Pickotby in the only first round quarterback selected. Is there

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Speaker 1: any chance that that would be an interest for Pittsburgh

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Speaker 1: as we head into this upcoming draft. I don't think so.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is an organization that, while football is

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Speaker 1: not a patient, patient man's game, this organization is pretty patient.

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Speaker 1: I mean, they have had not very many head coaches.

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Speaker 1: They don't often make knee jerk reactions to things. I

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Speaker 1: think that Picket's leash is a little bit longer than that,

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Speaker 1: and they have other things that they need to address

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Speaker 1: in this draft. You know, whether they choose to do

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Speaker 1: that with you know, what looks like it will be

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Speaker 1: a top ten pick, or if they trade out and

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Speaker 1: you know, get a good haul for that. But I

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Speaker 1: mean I look primarily first and foremost at the offensive line.

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Speaker 1: I'm also looking at the corner spot. They have not

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Speaker 1: traditionally drafted well at corners, so that makes me a

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Speaker 1: little bit nervous. But those are two areas that they

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Speaker 1: really need some help that I think they would prioritize

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Speaker 1: over bringing in another quarterback. Brook I want to talk

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Speaker 1: about Naji Harris now. Last year, he had a nice

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Speaker 1: Brookie year with twelve hundred yards rushing and seventy four

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Speaker 1: receptions this year is numbers are down and the coaches

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Speaker 1: want to cut back on his touches from last year.

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Speaker 1: How has Naji Harris adapted to this running back by

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Speaker 1: committee with Jayalen Warren. Yeah, you know, he told me

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago that it has been a

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Speaker 1: frustrating process at times because he likes to be the

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Speaker 1: workhorse guy. But he said he had a conversation with

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Speaker 1: the coaches where they were very blunt with him, and

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Speaker 1: they said, hey, do you want to keep playing, you know,

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Speaker 1: well into your career. Do you want to be able

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Speaker 1: to walk out of here when you're done rather than

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Speaker 1: being hobbled, needing surgeries, all of these things. We want

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Speaker 1: to preserve your long term health. And he said, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I hear what you're saying. Now it's better for me

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Speaker 1: to share the load. He is a more effective running

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Speaker 1: back when he has a little bit of help, and

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Speaker 1: so he has come to really appreciate Jalen Warreney. He

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Speaker 1: told me, you know, I don't know that I've said

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Speaker 1: this out loud to Jalen, but I appreciate him so

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Speaker 1: much for what he does, and so I think that

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Speaker 1: he's reaching this understanding and he's played a lot better

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Speaker 1: since the bye. He's posted his two highest totals this season,

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Speaker 1: had a ninety nine yard rushing game and ninety yard game.

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Speaker 1: I think that he is just getting more comfortable in

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Speaker 1: his role and he's also learning he doesn't have to

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Speaker 1: do everything. I think that Naji is a kind of

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Speaker 1: guy who he's a leader on this team, a leader

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Speaker 1: on the offense, and when he sees the rest of

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Speaker 1: the offense not clicking, that's he wants to shoulder that burden.

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Speaker 1: And the coaches tell him, hey, man, you got to

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Speaker 1: let that baggage go. You have enough to worry about

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Speaker 1: on your own. You cannot be responsible for everyone else.

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Speaker 1: So I think in the bye he realized that, had

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Speaker 1: some conversations with the offensive line, and now you're starting

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Speaker 1: to see the Naji Harris that we saw most of

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Speaker 1: last year when he was able to get some room

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Speaker 1: and get out there and run. Yeah, that is good

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Speaker 1: and always helps the offense. And also another group that

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Speaker 1: helps the offense is a wide receiver and that's what

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Speaker 1: I want to go to next, and particularly two guys

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Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson and George Pickens. Now regress Deontay Johnson, what

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Speaker 1: has been the reason or reasons for his down year

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Speaker 1: this year. And for George Pickens, what are your impressions

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Speaker 1: of the rookie does far this season. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson's case is pretty interesting because when we talked

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Speaker 1: with Tomlin, he said, you know, Deontay is a known

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Speaker 1: commodity on this offense. Teams are going to try to

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Speaker 1: take him away. That's been why he hasn't gotten the

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Speaker 1: targets that he previously got. That he is just being

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Speaker 1: covered by defenses. I mean, Kenny Pickett said after the

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Speaker 1: Bengals loss that Deontay wasn't getting singled up often enough

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Speaker 1: and so he just couldn't get him the ball. I

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Speaker 1: want to go back and look at that, because it

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Speaker 1: felt like, at least just from the eye test, that

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Speaker 1: Deontay is getting open more often than they're suggesting, and

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason, Pickett just isn't looking his way, and

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Speaker 1: so I think that that's been very frustrating for Deante.

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Speaker 1: But on the other hand, Pickett's really building a strong

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Speaker 1: rapport with George Pickens, and I think that that was

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Speaker 1: a point of emphasis after Pickens was not very involved

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Speaker 1: in this offense. When Mitch Trubisky was starting, and Pickett

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Speaker 1: really wants to show that he trusts Pickens to make

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Speaker 1: the combat catches to you know, show the body control

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Speaker 1: that we saw from him all throughout training camp. I

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Speaker 1: have just been really impressed with the way that Pickens

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Speaker 1: has fit into this offense. But the biggest thing that

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Speaker 1: he's got to work on is just, you know, being

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Speaker 1: smart and being a mature player. Some get injected at

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Speaker 1: the end of the Bengals game for leading with his

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Speaker 1: helmet on a hit on Tyler Boyd there as Boyd

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Speaker 1: recovered the on side kick attempt. Those are things that

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Speaker 1: he's got to clean up and he cannot make. I

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Speaker 1: would say make those mistakes, but he can't jeopardize himself

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Speaker 1: and his team and the safety of other players in

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Speaker 1: making decisions like that. We're talking with Brooke Pryor, who

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Speaker 1: covers the stealers for ESPN before I switch over the defense.

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Speaker 1: One of the things you did mention is that connection

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Speaker 1: between Pickett and Pat fryar Mouth. He's a guy that

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Speaker 1: exploded onto the scene the last half of last year.

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Speaker 1: Has been very consistent. This year seems to be one

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Speaker 1: of those young up and coming tight ends in the league.

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Speaker 1: Would you agree, Yes, absolutely, and his role has only

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Speaker 1: increased since Chase Claypool was traded away for that second

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Speaker 1: round pick to the Bears. That Pat Finemouth has become

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Speaker 1: that consistent target in the middle of the field. He

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Speaker 1: had twelve targets the last game. I believe that was

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Speaker 1: a career high. But yeah, I think that he's well

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Speaker 1: on his way to being one of the top tight

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Speaker 1: ends as long as this offense can kind of put

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Speaker 1: him in position and give him opportunities to make those catches.

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Speaker 1: But he and Kitty Pickett have a really strong connection

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Speaker 1: and I would expect to see that continuing to develop

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Speaker 1: this season. Now switching over to the defense, it's it's

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Speaker 1: been a defense that's always good. It seems like year

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Speaker 1: in year out, the Steelers defense has always one of

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Speaker 1: those top in the league. It's been a little down

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Speaker 1: because we mentioned, you know, the loss of TJ. Watt

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Speaker 1: for the expended amount of time, time raining defensive player

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Speaker 1: of the year. You know, where is he in his

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Speaker 1: recovery stage. I know a guy that tore his pick

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Speaker 1: just two months ago had a nie scope in October.

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Speaker 1: For me, I'd probably be sidelined for the next five

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Speaker 1: to ten years if I had any of that. But

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Speaker 1: where would you put his progression since he'd returned. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean you and me both. I don't think you

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Speaker 1: would see me doing anything active at any point after that.

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Speaker 1: But Tjatt is not like you and I. T J.

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Speaker 1: Watt is an alien and nothing gets him down. He

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Speaker 1: is playing like you would expect t J. Watt to play.

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Speaker 1: And it's not just that Watt himself is applying pressure

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Speaker 1: to the quarterback, it's what he does to the defense

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Speaker 1: around him. I mean Alex Highsmith got AFC Defensive Player

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Speaker 1: of the Week in Watt's first week back because all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden, offenses have to pay more attention to

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Speaker 1: t J. Watt and he's getting blocked and chipped in. They're,

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Speaker 1: you know, pulling extra guys to try to minimize Watt's impact,

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Speaker 1: and it's freeing up a guy like Alex Highsmith to

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Speaker 1: go make a play. I just think that Watt is

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Speaker 1: so complimentary to everyone else on the field, not to

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Speaker 1: mention that he himself is a great player. So it

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Speaker 1: seems like he's playing in one hundred percent because again,

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Speaker 1: he is an alien and he can do things and

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Speaker 1: heal himself in ways that just defy logic, and Mike

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Speaker 1: Tomlins said, you know, it's nothing mystical. He's just t J. Watt.

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Speaker 1: And I was a coach, I know that that is

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Speaker 1: mystical in and of itself. The Watts are mystical, Brooke.

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Speaker 1: Another leader on that defense is defensive lineman Cam Hayward.

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Speaker 1: Last year he was an All Pro and he's having

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Speaker 1: a good year this year in his twelfth season with

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Speaker 1: the Steelers. What does Cam mean to the Steelers defense.

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Speaker 1: You know, he's a lot like t J. Watt. He

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Speaker 1: is a leader, he's a team captain, has been a

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Speaker 1: team captain for a long time, and when TJ's out,

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Speaker 1: that's the guy that everybody is looking to. And even

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Speaker 1: when Watt's in, they're looking to Cam to really set

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Speaker 1: the tone there. But I mean, I think that he's

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Speaker 1: a part of this group that actually has a pretty

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Speaker 1: good run defense, which is impressive considering a year ago

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Speaker 1: they were near the bottom of the league. Now I

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Speaker 1: leave they're in the top five. But they have a

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Speaker 1: really scout group there in the middle, with guys like

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Speaker 1: Cam Hayward, Larry Ogunjobi when he's healthy, Tysono lu luum On,

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Speaker 1: Trevis Adams. I think that that group is the strength

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Speaker 1: of this defense because while the pass rushes is getting

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Speaker 1: pressure on quarterbacks, the back end and the secondary is

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Speaker 1: struggling a little bit giving up some of those big plays. Well,

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Speaker 1: that's why I want to go to next. I want

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Speaker 1: to go to the secondary. The past couple of years,

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Speaker 1: safety Mica Fitzpatricks has played at a high level for

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Speaker 1: the Steelers, and they signed him to in a big

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Speaker 1: extension this offseason. What makes Manka one of the top

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Speaker 1: safeties in this league? You know, I think it's his versatility.

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Speaker 1: They they've primarily let him, you know, just be free

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Speaker 1: safety back there for most of this year. But I

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Speaker 1: think in him they see a Troy Palamalu like player. Now,

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Speaker 1: they're very cautious when they make those comparisons because they

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Speaker 1: don't want to give that pressure. Put that pressure on

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Speaker 1: a guy right now, Hey, we could see you being

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Speaker 1: Troy pa Alamalu, because he's one of the all time

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Speaker 1: greats in the league and especially in Pittsburgh. But they

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Speaker 1: like his football acumen, he's in the right place at

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Speaker 1: the right time, and also like what he kind of

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Speaker 1: has that alien quality, the fact that he had his

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Speaker 1: appendix out on Saturday and a week later is starting

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Speaker 1: the game. And he even told Mike Tomlin, yeah, I

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Speaker 1: want to play Sunday, like the day after his appendix

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Speaker 1: came out, and no it didn't rupture, but they still

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Speaker 1: had to cut through stomach muscle and he was, you know,

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Speaker 1: right back out there. So I don't know. We all

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Speaker 1: eat in the same cafeteria. I don't know if they serve,

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Speaker 1: as you guys, different things than what I get, because

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Speaker 1: if I get a paper cut, I'm on ir. So

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Speaker 1: they just have some some really impressive defensive guy. Final

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Speaker 1: a couple of things with Brooke Prior covers the Steelers

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Speaker 1: for ESPN. The Steelers really haven't had a losing season

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Speaker 1: since two thousand and three, which is just crazy to think.

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Speaker 1: And one of those things that I've heard throughout this

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Speaker 1: struggle of the season is maybe there are talks that

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Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin isn't the right guy for the job. Now me,

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Speaker 1: I come from a family where my dad is a

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Speaker 1: diehard Steelers fan, so he is pro Mike Tomlin always

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Speaker 1: has been. You cover him every day? Can you kind

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Speaker 1: of put that to bed? I mean, look again, this

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Speaker 1: is a patient organization. They are not I don't. I

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Speaker 1: have not gotten the sense that they think there's somebody

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Speaker 1: out there that's better than Mike Tomlin. I keep thinking

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Speaker 1: back to what Mike Tomlin said before the season that

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Speaker 1: he was excited and and just in a different mindset

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Speaker 1: with the challenge of this season, that he was excited.

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Speaker 1: You know, I have a new quarterback. I have all

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Speaker 1: of these things that I have to figure out. I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is an obstacle that he hasn't had in his career, right,

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Speaker 1: and he is the definition of a football junkie. So

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Speaker 1: he sees this and he's kind of salivating, like, this

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Speaker 1: is great. I really have something to sink my teeth

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Speaker 1: into this season, unlike any that he's had. And so

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Speaker 1: I don't get the sense that he's ready to give

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Speaker 1: up on the challenge and that the front office is

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Speaker 1: to give up on Mike Tomlin. I think that this

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Speaker 1: locker room is, you know, it's in the middle of

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Speaker 1: a transition. They're learning just how difficult it is to

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Speaker 1: move on from a franchise quarterback, not only at that position,

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Speaker 1: but just in the way that that ripples down the

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Speaker 1: line and the things that they have to establish, the

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Speaker 1: culture they have to re establish all of those things

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Speaker 1: that you know, maybe you take for granted when you

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Speaker 1: have a built in guy like Ben Roethlisberger in there.

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Speaker 1: So I don't I don't get the sense that Mike

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Speaker 1: Tomlin is not the guy for this job, even if

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Speaker 1: right now he's going through a rough stretch. Well, final

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Speaker 1: thing for you, both teams in need of a victory

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Speaker 1: for the Colts looking to revenge a tough loss last

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Speaker 1: week to the Eagles. For the Steelers, you know, they're

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Speaker 1: just looking for any positives for Kinney Pickett to move forward.

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Speaker 1: What are your expectations to what to see on Monday night?

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Speaker 1: You know, the biggest thing that I'm looking for is

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Speaker 1: how Jonathan Taylor runs the ball against this defensive front,

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Speaker 1: and especially because I think the Bengals did a great

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Speaker 1: job last week of the way that they used Joe

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Speaker 1: Burrow and Sma JP Ryan. Joe Mixon goes out with

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Speaker 1: a concussion and Soma JP Ryan ends up with three

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Speaker 1: touchdowns where Burrow essentially just dumped it off to him

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Speaker 1: in the flat. That's something that I want to see

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Speaker 1: how the Colts kind of exploit that weakness. If the

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Speaker 1: Steelers are able to fix that in the week and

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Speaker 1: having a bonus day that to me is going to

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Speaker 1: be really indicative of how this matchup goes. And I

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Speaker 1: also just want to see the offense disdain some drives

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Speaker 1: and be able to do it from one half to another.

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Speaker 1: They're so hot and cold that it's not enough that

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Speaker 1: can he pick it isn't turning the football over now now.

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Speaker 1: I want to see the offense be able to keep

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Speaker 1: something going, not get held back by penalties, and just

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Speaker 1: have a rhythm consistently all the way through it. It's

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Speaker 1: such a little thing, but I haven't seen him do

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Speaker 1: it yet this season, and that would be just I

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Speaker 1: think a huge benchmark for them to clear. Well, there

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Speaker 1: you go. Brook Pryor covers the Steelers for ESPN. Brooke,

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Speaker 1: thank you so much and appreciate the time. Absolutely, guys,

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Speaker 1: thanks for having me on. Well. As we've mentioned, the

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Speaker 1: Colts host the Pittsburgh Steelers to Lucas Oil Stadium under

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Speaker 1: the bright lights of Monday Night Football. Coming up on Monday.

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Speaker 1: Following that Monday Night Football game, the Colts will travel

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Speaker 1: to Dallas to take on the Cowboys for Sunday Night Football.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk with Todd Archer, who covers the Cowboys

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Speaker 1: for ESPN next week. But before that, it's an AFC

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Speaker 1: clash in Indianapolis with the Colts and Steelers on Moday

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Speaker 1: Night Football for Bill Brooks. I'm Casey Valley and enjoy

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Speaker 1: the game and go Colts.