By Dale Lolley/Steelers.com
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith came away from his first full game with veteran Russell Wilson at quarterback impressed.
And what impressed Smith the most was not the five completions Wilson had that went for 20 or more yards downfield or the two touchdown passes he threw. Those were good, to be sure, but what made a lasting impression on Smith was Wilson’s unblinking attitude through a start that saw him begin the 37-15 win over the Jets completing just 2 of his first 8 passes for 19 yards.
“I don’t care how many reps you have in the NFL, when you haven’t played in a while, some of the practice reps, you’d love to come out of the gates smoking,” Smith said of Wilson, who was making his first start of the season after missing the first six games with a calf injury.
“He and I talked about it. I give a lot of credit to him because that’s not easy. First drive was OK. Ended up getting three points. Next couple drives, a couple things obviously didn’t go our way. That’s a tough spot to be in. You find out a lot about a lot of people.”
What he found out about Wilson, who like Smith, is new to the Steelers this season, is that he’s got an even temperament regardless of circumstances.
“He stayed neutral. There was no panic in him. He’s an upbeat person. You get to really see who somebody is by their actions,” Smith said. “Really that next drive after those three that didn’t go well, we were actually off track. He and I talked about in practice being aggressive in certain moments. Hit that ball to George (Pickens). It was kind of like he got back into sync.”
Just in time for the Steelers, who take a 5-2 record into Monday night’s game at Acrisure Stadium against the New York Giants (2-5).
Wilson finished his first start with the Steelers after being signed in free agency with 16 completions on 29 pass attempts for 264 yards and the two touchdowns. His passer rating was 109.0, the highest for a Steelers quarterback this season.
It also was the most passing yards by a quarterback in his Steelers’ debut since Earl Morrall in 1957.
But, it was far from perfect with three consecutive three-and-outs after a field goal drive to start the game. And that’s what Wilson is focusing on fixing.
“I think the biggest thing is starting cleaner,” Wilson said. “I think the best thing we did as a team was we responded well, obviously we scored 37. We felt like we left some more touchdowns out there on the field that we could have had potentially, so we’ve got the right mentality.”
That mentality comes from Smith and Wilson being on the same page.
“Arthur does a great job of packaging plays and thinking about where we want to go and how we want to get there,” said Wilson. “Great job by the offensive line. Everything starts with those guys up front.”
And Wilson does a great job of understanding what it is that Smith is trying to accomplish with his packages.
Understanding that, he’s able to better look to the checks that Smith has placed in the offense if the defense gives the Steelers a certain look.
A 4-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson in the fourth quarter came off a call that Wilson checked into. Unfortunately, it came late in the play clock because the Steelers were slow to the huddle.
But Wilson was still able to make the check and get the ball where it needed to go.
“It’s not his fault. We need to operate faster,” Smith said. “The end result was great. A lot of times when you go back and look at it, you have to be sober-minded and objective. What do we need to do better? You need to be a little cleaner there. End result was great. We got what we wanted. But we didn’t need to be rushing that moment.”
But having a 13-year veteran at quarterback who is a nine-time Pro Bowl player helps cover up some of those issues.
That’s why even when Wilson wasn’t playing in the first six weeks of the season, he was always next to Smith, watching and learning as the coordinator called played in practice and in games.
“I’ve always believed in understanding and learning every play,” said Wilson. “There’s never a play off. There’s something we can gain, something we can learn and see. For me, I want to be an example of that.”
