LATROBE, Pa. -- Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. Maybe it was a reminder for the rookie to stay humble. But Mike Tomlin made a serious slip up when talking about the play of linebacker Ulysees Gilbert last Friday night.
Tomlin was asked about the uneven play of rookie cornerback Justin Layne and morphed that into a conversation he had with his team earlier that morning coming off a preseason-opening 30-28 win over the Buccaneers last Friday night.
"Ulysees Grant (Gilbert), made a lot of splash plays," Tomlin said Tuesday at Saint Vincent College. "But I pointed out to the team those plays were made between plays 80 and 89 defensively. So the people who he was on the field with were not the same quality of people Justin Layne was out there with. So we had better not read too much into the quality of the performance. We all just better keep our heads down and keep working."
All accidental references to the former U.S. president and Civil War general aside, the point is well taken with Gilbert. So much for that first impression, rookie.
Even though the sixth-round pick out of Akron celebrated his 22nd birthday with three tackles, 1.5 sacks, four quarterback hits, forced a fumble and intercepted a two-point conversion pass, Tomlin wasn't about to throw him a party.
There's still plenty of work to be done for the eighth of the Steelers' nine draft picks if he's going to earn a spot on the 53-man roster this season.
"Did I have two sacks? I had a strip-sack for a fumble. Yeah, I did have two sacks and an interception," he told me with a big smile on his face. "Already forgotten. I was just happy to be out there with my teammates, happy to play fast."
Playing fast isn't a problem for Gilbert. At 6-foot, 230 pounds, he was timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.46 seconds at his pro day. That speed was on clear display throughout the time he was on the field in the fourth quarter against the Bucs.
It was reminiscent of the speed displayed by Ryan Shazier when he was still playing. Interestingly enough, the Steelers had Gilbert sharing a locker with Shazier in a crowded locker room at Heinz Field.
But that was just fine with Gilbert.
"He's somebody I grew up looking up to. He was my favorite linebacker," Gilbert told me. "I loved the Steelers ever since I was little. Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, those were all my favorites. Shazier was my favorite linebacker in the league, so it’s a blessing to share a locker with him, be in the same room with him and also have him like a big brother helping me through this process."
Gilbert played early on special-teams units against Tampa Bay, but didn't get onto the field defensively until the fourth quarter.
But his efforts in the game might have earned him a bump up in competition when the Steelers host the Chiefs Saturday night in their second preseason game.
And that will be needed to earn a spot in what has become a crowded inside linebacker room for the Steelers.
A year after struggling to find consistent performances at the position, the Steelers brought in veteran free agent Mark Barron to replace 2018 starter Jon Bostic, who was released. Devin Bush was selected in the first round of the draft and had a stellar debut, one Tomlin called reminiscent of the preseason debut of Shazier in 2014. Gilbert was taken in the sixth round of the draft, while veterans Vince Williams and Tyler Matakevich, a special teams ace, are holdovers. First-year pro Robert Spillane and undrafted rookie Tuzar Skipper also have had their moments.
"Those that performed well in the groups they were running with will get the opportunity to see if they can sustain that level against stiffer competition," Tomlin said.
That will be fine with Gilbert, though he realizes his true path to earning on a spot on the 53-man roster lies not on what he can do defensively, but what he does on special teams.
Gilbert failed to record a tackle on those units Friday night. But he'll get another chance to show his wares against the Chiefs.
"That’s the track. That’s what I’m going to work hardest on to make this team," he said. "That’s what I’m going to prepare to do."
But the fact he got to play early on special teams helped set the table for what he did in the fourth quarter on defense.
Because he got in there early, his nervousness of playing in an NFL game for the first time -- on his birthday -- was gone.
"I think the nerves were already out of the way because of special teams. I started out on kickoff and kickoff return," Gilbert said. "All that got out of the way. When I was out there, there was a little because I was finally on defense. But all that went away and I just started to have fun."
