Robert Spillane's return to the Steelers seemed a foregone conclusion after the way he stepped in at linebacker when Devin Bush tore his ACL against the Browns in Oct. 2020.
Playing in 12 games while starting in seven, he recorded 45 tackles, four for loss, four pass breakups and an interception on Lamar Jackson he returned for a touchdown in his second career start.
But the Steelers also brought back Vince Williams on a cheaper contract after releasing him in 2021, and drafted Texas A&M inside linebacker Buddy Johnson in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Those moves brought questions as to where Spillane might find a place on the team.
But context clues from things said about and to Spillane in recent months hint at the Steelers' plan to make him the primary linebacker to line up next to Bush in 2021, especially because of his cover skills.
Minkah Fitzpatrick talked Tuesday about having both Spillane and Bush at the same being a boost for the Steelers and how not having either of them put the defense in a bind in 2020, which is why I wrote about that in my Talking Point Wednesday.
And Spillane revealed Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex after OTAs finished what his head coach told him going into the offseason.
"Coach (Mike) Tomlin mentioned how he liked my underneath coverage as a linebacker and hug blitzing abilities in post-year meetings," Spillane said. "He said those were two things he loved he wanted me to focus on to get better next year. I want to take off where I left off last season but show I can be a blitzer and be more of a cover player."
Spillane did record two sacks and three quarterback hits, but his biggest hit was undoubtedly his blow up of Derrick Henry in the hole during a goal line stand in Spillane's first career start.
"That's a play that's special to me," Spillane said. "Not only because it was a third down goal line stop against, perhaps, the best running back we've seen in the NFL in some years, but also being that the Tennessee Titans were the team that released me after my rookie season and that being my first career start at inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers. My whole family renting a bus and coming down to Nashville for that game, it brings back a lot of good memories."
But even with his successes, Spillane knows he has to get better in 2021 and who the real star of the Steelers' linebacker group is with Bush raring to get back into action this season.
"Adding a guy like Devin back onto any team is a major attribute," Spillane said. "He's one of the top inside linebackers in the league. He rush the passer, play the run downs, and cover people. He's an all-around player and a guy that you'd love to have on your team. I didn't get many snaps next to him last year so to be on the field after how much we talked this offseason with our abilities that match up well. We communicate well, we're good teammates with each other and I'm very excited to get onto the field with him."
Spillane only had a total of ten defensive snaps with the Steelers before Bush went down to injury, so he's right that their experience together in live games is extremely limited. But that's why their communication off the field could be a boon for the Steelers if the two can develop some form of chemistry early into the 2021 campaign.
Spillane's coverage numbers didn't illustrate a talented cover linebacker on their own with being targeted 35 times allowing 23 receptions for 207 yards and a touchdown, but during those targets he was also the Steelers' primary cover linebacker due to how limited they were at the position after Bush's injury.
Now with both of them healthy, Spillane could go to being the purely underneath cover linebacker Tomlin told him to be, allowing Bush the chance to be the primary linebacker covering the middle of the field. Bush booms confidence taking on that role, even when he said this about Jarvis Landry Wednesday while he's still working back to practicing at a full capacity during OTAs:
Like I said, booms confidence.
But even though Bush and Spillane can't do full OTA practices together yet, they're still working on how to play around each other slowly in the limited capacities they're allowed.
"We've been working through walkthroughs as well," Spillane said of him and Bush. "That's good for our communication on the field, but one thing we have is communication off the field. We've been talking about this since the end of last season. We understand each other's skillsets and we're both very excited to get out there. I know he's gnawing at the bit to get out there and be the best linebacker he can be. We'll figure it out."
Helping them also work out these details will be the team's superstar safety Fitzpatrick, who Spillane said already contributes to their understanding of not just their own defense, but other teams' offenses.
"Yeah Minkah is so good at what he does," Spillane said. "He's back in the middle of the field being a total cover guy seeing the whole field. So when he comes and speaks to us, it's from his knowledge and ability on certain receivers' tendencies and route concepts. He has a real knack for the game and understanding what different guys like to do and he's always trying to feed information to different guys. He's a leader of the defense. We trust him and we believe he's going to give us good information. He has since the day he got here."