"It takes 53," Maurkice Pouncey was telling me a month ago at the Steelers' minicamp, and no, he wasn't referring to himself.
At least not in isolation.
The question that had been posed was about the experienced offensive line, what it might mean to have it back intact with all that intimate familiarity for the 2018 NFL season. He took it further.
"It's great, man, but it's not just about us. It's not just about Ben Roethlisberger or Antonio Brown," the big man spoke. "It's got to be all of us, pulling in the same direction, pushing toward the same goal."
The seventh Super Bowl championship, of course. And one that would be the first for everyone in this group but the quarterback.
"You know it. That's it."
But what would need to be different?
"I just said it: We've got to all be pulling in the same direction, pushing toward the same goal."
Hm.
I hadn't processed the conversation too deeply at the time. Came across as standard stuff, especially in the context of Pouncey long being among the team's most respected leaders. But maybe, in hindsight, there was more of an edge to it than in the past. Because upon further canvassing that locker room at Rooney Complex all through summer workouts, it would become clearer that these guys are grasping reality: This is it.
Excessively dramatic?
Possibly, but this generational offense will be, like all the rest of us mortals, a year older when the coming season has passed. And Le'Veon Bell almost certainly will be gone for more green. And other teams in the AFC will have accelerated their own processes. And this chance will have poofed away, leaving behind a slew of 'We Run The North' T-shirts, a few Pro Bowl appearances ... and ... and what?
Pouncey's right, of course: It'll take 53. It'll take 53 people doing their jobs — underscore, bold-face and jump up and down on that latter term — to pull, push and whatever else is needed. That's how championships are won.
On that note, and on the occasion of the Steelers' 53rd camp conducted at Saint Vincent College, here are my 53 wholly unsolicited and undoubtedly unwelcome challenges, in no meaningful order, for this collective:
53. Start with the man who'll snap the first ball in Cleveland. Pouncey's so much more pivotal to what the Steelers do, by all accounts, than any of us laypeople can process. And to that end, he's logged consecutive full seasons after being a regular injury casualty through his first seven NFL campaigns. He's got to stay on the field, even it that means establishing a different type of pace at age 29. As he told me, "I feel good, but I can always be better."
52. Pouncey can be better as a leader, too. Most of the drama with this group comes from the offensive side. Roethlisberger will handle issues like that in Two Thousand and Never, so it's up to others. The center sets this tone. Time to do more than cook Thursday night dinners for the fellas.
51. Ramon Foster's another leader, but he'll almost surely pass through camp without the contract extension he very badly covets. That's going to be a disappointment. He can't let it bring him down, not if he hopes to reach his main goal. "I'm all about the ring," as he told me at minicamp. This will test that.
50. Joey Porter needs to get results from his young outside linebackers. Which would be a first. If he doesn't, then the firing a lot of folks fairly expected for his off-the-field arrest a couple years back should be weighed purely for football reasons. Standard is the standard and all that.
49. That's not to let the corresponding players off the hook. Bud Dupree's about to see any excuses expire. He's being moved to his natural right side for the pass rush and, per strong indications this summer, he'll be allowed to pursue the quarterback. Advanced studies show he's done well to get close -- among the best in the NFL, actually -- but close doesn't cut it. Neither do six sacks.
48. T.J. Watt created splash, but he was beaten on the rushing edge far too often. He knows it. He'll grudgingly admit it. And he'll no longer have James Harrison on hand to bail him out in that regard.
47. Tune out Harrison. As if that'll be hard. He didn't care about the Steelers' dynamic while here, so no one should care what he thinks about it from afar.
46. Don't worry about showing too much with this safety situation. It'll be fascinating, more than any other defensive facet, to see how Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler supplant inside linebackers with safeties, as it's become somewhat apparent they will. So don't bother with all the usual NFL-style clandestine nonsense while in Latrobe. First game's against the Browns, remember? It's more important to get everyone acclimated.
45. JuJu Smith-Schuster had a richly promising rookie season, but he behaves like a seven-time All-Pro with all his posturing, and his super-accessible social media persona isn't at all how he comes across within actual contact. There's so much talent, so much potential in the football sense. Growing up will only accelerate that.
44. Process that playbook in a raging hurry. I know, I know, Randy Fichtner's using Todd Haley's playbook. Or at least the lingo. But this is the time to iron out any nuances, and Ben's always key to that in Latrobe. He took charge in drills like never before last summer.
43. Add to it, too. What Haley lacked, more than anything, was imagination. That was never more exposed than against the Jaguars, when Jacksonville's offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, came across as a creative genius by comparison.
42. Emphasize timing and rhythm. The Steelers' 42 points against Jacksonville were the result of little more than Ben heaving to AB. It worked, but it's not a ball-control offense. It doesn't keep the opponent off the field.
41. Play-action, please. Again, learn from Jacksonville. It's a weapon woefully underutilized by Haley, and the Steelers might be better equipped to use it than any offense in the league.
40. Vance McDonald's being set up to be a primary passing target, never mind the No. 1 tight end. That trust between McDonald and Ben, already forged late last season, has to be allowed to grow in Latrobe. These kinds of drills, especially the tackle-free kind, offer all kinds of middle-of-the-field route running that can help.
39. Don't forget about Jesse James. All he's done is climb above every tight end placed above him on the depth chart to date, no matter how often it's happened. Heck, if not for Al Riveron, he'd be the local hero who brought down Bill Belichick, right?
38. Xavier Grimble, too! Camp beast!
37. Kick the ball straight and very far. Sorry, I'm not going to come up with much for Chris Boswell and Jordan Berry. They're both pretty good at their jobs.
36. Keep the block numbers. Not just as alternate jerseys. For good. Yeah, this has nothing to do with camp, but hey.
35. Tell Mike Hilton he's "too small" all day long. Tomlin and Hilton had this going all through camp last summer, and Hilton rode it all the way to a starting role. But in all seriousness, Tomlin's great at this. He individualizes his handling of players as well as any coach I've covered, finds just the right button to push and often makes it fun.
34. Put Artie Burns on AB to the point he follows AB through the Saint Vincent cafeteria line. Joe Haden's capable of island coverage, but Burns is only getting there. The running duel between Burns and AB -- which Burns won more often than not -- was entertaining, invigorating and helpful to both, as they'd both attest.
33: Don't be too locked in at safety. Morgan Burnett's the obvious default choice to partner with Sean Davis, but Terrell Edmunds needs to get a meaningful look, even if only in select packages. Sitting a first-round draft pick in the NFL is awfully tough. Or it should be.
32. Not sure anyone's noticed this, but Edmunds still hasn't signed. Wow, would that be stupid on his part.
31. Everyone in that secondary, not just Edmunds, can learn from Tom Bradley. One of the Steelers' more understated moves of the offseason was replacing Carnell Lake — I don't believe for a second that he quit — with a secondary coach who's more of a teacher, an instructor. I've loved this. Even Haden and Burnett can learn from someone like that.
30. This won't be easy, but someone's got to ascend to a moment funnier than the one at the previous camp when Foster approached a handful of uncomfortable-looking young dudes on the media sideline and barked out: "You guys from Pro Football Focus?" And when they acknowledged that they were, Foster came right back: "Y'all grading sucks!"
29. Wait, I made it this far without mentioning Mason Rudolph? Ha! Yeah, I guess no one will talk about him, right? Well, maybe that's appropriate. The kid's poise is so easy to notice, and I could easily envision him just keeping that same level of cool through the whole camp. Even into preseason games, where he might take a starring role.
28. Landry Jones will be safe at No. 2, contrary to some misperception. That's as it should be for now. And after his season-finale performance against the Browns, he shouldn't overreach that. Solid, smart, sound.
27. Hail and farewell, Josh Dobbs. Can't picture him staying.
26. The other rookies who'll be the most visible are James Washington, who's starting to look like a shoo-in at slot receiver with Eli Rogers shopping his services in Kansas City and elsewhere, and Jaylen Samuels, the all-purpose running back who'll get all kinds of extra snaps with Le'Veon Bell missing.
25. What I wrote above about Porter needs to apply to Butler, too. Playoff games are the ultimate test of a coordinator, and he's been utterly embarrassed two times too many now.
24. He's allowed to get a little inventive. This defense seldom showed an unpredictable feel to it. Second-half adjustments were fine, but being the first-half aggressor is that much better. That was Dick LeBeau's hallmark: No one knew what they'd be facing from kickoff onward.
23. Almost too minor to mention, but not quite: Things have to change for this team. The past doesn't just wash away. So picture Tomlin sending that signal by conducting himself in a less acrimonious, less condescending manner when speaking publicly and ... nah, not happening.
22. Anyone up for actual splash in the return game? It's well past time to look beyond simply catching the ball and trying out some different faces who might gain more than 3-4 yards on a kickoff. Hint: Not Fitz Toussaint.
21. Talk about Cleveland. Not Jacksonville. Not New England. Opening with a loss to the Browns ... yeah.
20. The whole O-line — Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Alejandro Villanueva, Pouncey and Foster — just needs to survive camp without killing someone. Those five get so agitated when anyone takes any liberty with one of their own, and it often results in one of those camp pileups. Not worth it, guys.
19. B.J. Finney's got a lot of, um, tricks to his game, and he'll again represent fine depth on the line. But if Foster isn't brought back, he's next in line at left guard, and he'll need to be more versatile, more vocal to approach Foster's level. Remember, Foster's the one communicating with Roethlisberger more than anyone pre-snap.
18. In the interim, make this count, because it's rare and special:
17. Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, Javon Hargrave ... just forget it. Forget it happened.
16. No, really, it's a gifted defensive line. They're athletic, aggressive, disruptive ... there's nothing they can't do except stay on the field. I'm not savvy enough to suggest how they do that through a long camp, but it's incumbent on all concerned — including Tomlin — to ensure that it happens. They saw the consequence for when it doesn't.
15. Don't shy away from settings, even smaller drills, that pit QB against QB. Ben with an edge is so much better than Ben without an edge, as history will show. Throw footballs through a dangling tire. Whatever it takes. He'll take the bait every time.
14. Davis is so much closer to being a sharp NFL safety than most seem to realize. He's missed a couple of plays -- and tackles -- deep downfield, so those stand out. Same for the coverage on Rob Gronkowski, on which he was actually near perfect but still got beaten. I lay a lot of his being exposed on Mike Mitchell not being able to cover any ground alongside him, but we'll see. He can take over, beginning now.
13. Fichtner needs to be right in the huddle, as he was all through OTAs and minicamp. It's perfect. He'll hear all the communication — and miscommunication — and be right there to absorb it all. And, ideally, take shared concepts to the next level. This is the only chance to do that.
12. Ryan Shazier will be around a lot, which is wonderful. But the Steelers, to an extent, need to make sure that presence isn't a constant reminder of what they're missing. No one can replace him. No one should try. That'll be on the mix of personnel and schemes.
11. Vince Williams came up with seven sacks in 2017, a stunning figure at inside linebacker. He wanted 10. He told me at minicamp, "I can be a better player. I can always be better." He can, both in run-stopping and coverage. He'll need to do both. His surge began last summer in Latrobe, where he was obliterating everyone in sight, including in the backs-on-backers drill. The next phase can start here, too.
10. Establish a social media policy. I'm serious. It doesn't have to be made public. Do it internally, offer advice or even guidelines. They're virtually impossible to enforce, but at the very least, players will know expectations. This is as close as I'll come to commenting on the awfully overblown discipline discussion.
9. Wait, no, one more: Tell AB his personal Instagram photographer isn't allowed on the field at workouts. My goodness, what a sight that is.
8. AB can lead, too. Not just by the example of his extraordinary work ethic, either. He can try to get through the entirety of camp without any of the trademark pouting episodes when anything less than 75 percent of the passes go his way.
7. Pound James Conner through the middle. I know he'll be reporting 10 pounds lighter than last season, and I know this isn't the ACC, where he could plow through bodies like he did at Pitt. But all Haley allowed him to do last season was the occasional sweep, and more of that won't show anyone anything.
6. Don't fuss over Bell. The Steelers overall actually were great about handling this last summer, meaning from Tomlin down to the players, so I'm purposely not making much of this, either. He'll show when he shows. And he will show before Cleveland. He isn't passing up a single $985,000 game check.
5. Tyler Matakevich ... I'm not sure what to say here, because this was part of a convincing conversation we had at minicamp ...
... and I respect his drive as much as his candor there. But there's got to be more at that position, particularly when facing a run-heavy opponent. Which is why ...
4. Jon Bostic had better rise up. Sorry, Tyler, I'm totally buying the bum shoulder, but Bostic comes with so much more pedigree that playbook knowledge shouldn't matter by now. Bostic needs to be the starter by the time camp breaks.
3. Add inside linebacker depth, Kevin Colbert. Pretty please.
2. Tackle people, for crying out loud. Picture every person carrying a football in the image of Leonard Fournette and do what should have been done in January. As Tuitt told me at minicamp, "It's not a complicated game when you bring the man down." Tomlin and Butler have vowed to make this a priority. We'll see.
1. Keep Ben healthy. Some things never change, and this is always No. 1 any time of year.
Hate to end on a boring, predictable note, but that's just doing the job, right?