Kovacevic: Mitchell 'trying to play smarter'

By WES CROSBY

Mike Mitchell knows how to hit.

The Steelers' starting free safety has shown that throughout this season, including Sunday when he separated Raiders running back Latavius Murray from the ball in the third quarter:



“I think anyone that’s watched me play, since the time I started playing football at 6 years old, they would say Mike Mitchell has been a pretty hard hitter,” Mitchell said Monday at the Steelers' South Side headquarters. “I think I have a six-minute YouTube video you can watch from my college days. I’ve always kind of been known as a hitter. It’s nothing new. I think it’s just getting attention now because people are starting to see it again this year after having not so many big hits last year.”



And he’s done it without getting consistently flagged. Mitchell has learned to target slightly lower than he would have in the past, which normally leads to a collision with a receiver’s midsection.

Mitchell said he’s noticed receivers don’t enjoy getting hit in their ribs, so they tend to duck and cover up. As a result, he's adjusted, too.

“This is a very vulnerable area of your body,” Mitchell said in motioning to his midsection. “So, (receivers) always tend to duck, and I was getting frustrated with the rule. You always see them ducking into the hit, but I’ve learned over the course of the past two or three years, experimenting, getting penalties, that if you aim just slightly lower, if they do duck, you still kind of catch them in the chest (and) ribs area and if they don’t, then it’s in the thigh (and) upper-knee area. You’re not trying to hurt him, but this is how I earn a living. I don’t want to continue to donate money to the NFL, and I don’t want to continue to get 15-yard penalties that penalize and hurt my teammates. So, I think I’m just trying to play smarter and the rules are the rules.”

But like Mitchell said, sometimes the receiver doesn’t duck and his knees get taken out. And sometimes, the defensive player is left “feeling a certain type of way” when they know they’re going in low on a receiver.

When asked what specifically is that “certain type of way,” Mitchell paused to find the appropriate wording.

“That’s a risky hit. I think everyone’s aware of that.”

Mitchell said the NFL’s rules have caused him to shift his targeting lower.

“I can’t speak for the NFL, but I’ve interpreted the rules that the head is a no-go, so I am not trying to hit people in the head when they are defenseless.”

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The Steelers are 5-4 and hold the AFC’s second wild card spot, despite several injuries and suspensions to prominent offensive players. Actually, the Steelers probably should have two more wins -- against the Ravens and the Bengals -- if it wasn’t for late-game miscues and mental errors. But it does say something that they're still alive.

One glance at the Cowboys can tell you that. Tony Romo is sidelined until at least Week 11 and Dallas has imploded, losing six games in a row.

"I don’t know what really goes on in those other organizations,” Mitchell said when asked about the Cowboys' predicament. “I know, for us, it comes from the top with our leadership. We don’t get rattled easily and we really do adopt that ‘next man up’ mentality. I think Mike Tomlin does a great job at the beginning of every week, outlining the issues we have before us, and I think guys follow suit. He stays calm. We stay calm. I think when they don’t panic, it just trickles down.”

It’s yet to be seen how the Steelers respond to life without Ben Roethlisberger for a second time. So far, they have won one of three games in which he played from start to finish, each of the two games in which he was injured and two of the four in which he did not play at all.

There's more: DeAngelo Williams has averaged 5.3 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns in place of Le'Veon Bell. Cody Wallace has filled in admirably for Maurkice Pouncey at center. And Landry Jones, who didn’t seem to be a capable third-string NFL quarterback during the bulk of the preseason, has closed out two wins -- one with a dart to Bryant for an 88-yard clinching touchdown against the Cardinals and one Sunday with a similar pass to Antonio Brown that set up the winning field goal.

Then there’s the defense. For the first time, the Steelers got torched Sunday, surrendering a season-high 35 points. But that wasn’t without another forced fumble by Mitchell and another interception in the end zone, this time by Ross Cockrell with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter:



The Steelers' performance has been reminiscent of the 2010 team, which started 3-1 while Roethlisberger served a personal-conduct suspension. If not for a last-minute Joe Flacco touchdown pass, they would have finished that stretch 4-0.

“We’re confident with every guy who gets a helmet, to be honest,” Mitchell said. “Coach Tomlin really stresses that and I think every guy really buys into that and I think that’s why we’ve been able to handle the situation of injuries so well. You would not be a Pittsburgh Steeler if you weren’t capable and weren’t a good football player. So, the fact that you’re here, when you get your opportunity, that’s your opportunity. Show us what you can do."

Not many teams can survive the injuries the Steelers have experienced. There are the 2008 Patriots, who went 11-5 with Matt Cassel -- the same quarterback who has lost each of his three starts for this year's Cowboys -- in place of an injured Tom Brady. Then there are the 2011 Colts, who went 2-14 without Peyton Manning on their way to selecting Andrew Luck first overall.

The Patriots were built to survive. The Colts weren’t. The Steelers seem to be more the former.

“No matter if we have our full arsenal on offense or whatever’s going on, we have a set list of goals every single week that we’re trying to accomplish no matter who’s playing, who’s healthy, the opponent, where we’re playing, those type of things," Mitchell said. "We have a reputation that we want to live up to.”