PHILADELPHIA -- It only seems like Steelers GM Kevin Colbert was watching what the Eagles were doing to his team's inside linebackers early in their preseason game here at Lincoln Financial Field and picked up the phone to call the Jaguars regarding a deal for Joe Schobert.
We know that didn't happen. The trade, which Schobert confirmed to DKPittsburghSports.com Thursday night, was obviously at least several hours in the making.
But the fact that it happened during the first half of the Steelers' 24-16 win here over the Eagles, that was just a coincidence, right?
"I can’t tell you much of anything about it, to be honest with you," Mike Tomlin said following his team's victory. "I can’t speculate on reports at this time. If there is news, I’m sure I’ll be happy to address it when I’m allowed to."
He could, however, talk about the play of his inside linebackers, particularly getting Devin Bush back on the field for a game for the first time since last October after suffering a torn ACL in a 38-7 win over the Browns.
"He got his feet wet, so that’s a great start. We’ll continue to push forward from there," Tomlin said. "Today was a big day from that perspective but I don’t want to make more out of it than what it is now. We just go on."
Bush wasn't out there long, but it was long enough to make two tackles, including this one after giving up a 34-yard pass to Dallas Goedert on Philadelphia's opening possession.
What you don't see in that video is the push with his shoulder Goedert used to gain separation from Bush, who briefly stumbled because of it while redirecting.
But this wasn't about making plays for Bush as much as it was about just getting back onto the field.
"We’re good. It’s good to get out there, get a feel for playing football again in a live stadium, just being out there and being with different groups of guys," Bush said. "It was a good experience."
If he thought he was out there with a different group of guys in this game, wait until he starts working with Schobert, a Pro Bowl player two years ago with the Browns when he had more than 100 tackles to go along with four interceptions.
Now, we're not going to say Colbert made the trade after seeing plays such as this one by Robert Spillane, where he gets buried on a blitz by running back Jordan Howard while blitzing on third down:
But Colbert couldn't have been happy to see that.
He also couldn't have been too happy to see Ulysees Gilbert miss an open-field tackle again as he did in last week's preseason open. This one came later in the first half as Gilbert whiffed on running back Kenneth Gainwell, forcing cornerback Mark Gilbert to come in and clean it up.
Moments later, Spillane was beaten badly on a pass play for a 19-yard gain by reserve tight end Tyree Jackson that helped set the Eagles up for a 50-yard field goal and a 16-7 halftime lead.
The Steelers turned things around in the second half, dominating play after that, but Hurts and veteran backup Joe Flacco combined to throw for 232 yards and a touchdown in the first half, though Tomlin wasn't overly concerned. The Eagles had 12 yards in the second half and turned the ball over twice.
"Our defensive menu’s kind of on a notecard. We’re not trying to trick anybody," Tomlin said of his team's first-half pass coverage as a whole. "We wanna see who can rush, who can cover. So from a quarterback standpoint, in terms of diagnosing it, we’re not challenging them intellectually. They were hit some plays.
"We’re OK with that because we wanna evaluate our guys. Sometimes when you’re tricking quarterbacks, you’re not evaluating your guys. Tonight we faced a veteran guy like Joe Flacco, who came in with that second unit. Okay, you’re playing against Joe Flacco with a notecard ready list; he’s gonna do some things. We’re okay with that. Our emphasis is to evaluate our guys."
Given the trade for Schobert, the Steelers couldn't have been overly pleased with what they've been seeing in coverage from the linebackers not named Bush. Schobert excels in coverage.
"I definitely know he's a phenomenal player," said linebacker Melvin Ingram of Schobert, whom he played with in the Pro Bowl in 2019.
TRENDING UP
• Dwayne Haskins entered the game in the second quarter, and the Steelers went three-and-out on his first possession.
But he then led scoring drives on the next four possessions -- not counting a kneel-down at the of the first half -- as the Steelers erased that 16-7 halftime deficit.
Haskins finished 16 of 22 for 161 yards and a touchdown before giving way to Josh Dobbs in the fourth quarter.
Haskins and the offense really got rolling in the third quarter as the Steelers go their running game going, as well.
"Yeah, definitely," Haskins said when I asked him if he got into a good rhythm. "Coach (Matt Canada) did a great job calling some plays and getting me in a rhythm. Offensive line did a great job blocking.”
Mason Rudolph started the game and completed 8 of 9 passes for 77 yards, including a 33-yarder to Diontae Johnson, but two holding penalties on running plays and a sack -- the only one allowed by the Steelers -- kept the first-team offense (with some notable exceptions) from scoring.
"We had holding calls on our first two drives," Tomlin said. "The third drive (with Haskins), I think we had a third and very manageable — It was third-and-two. We had a pre-snap penalty, it went to third-and-seven and a half or whatever. We lost that possession down."
But Haskins was pleased with his performance, as was Tomlin.
"I really thought he was in command," Tomlin said. "He did a great job of communicating with people, going through progressions, and so forth. He had a third-down play. It was third-and-eight or so, and I saw him go through three or four reads and throw the ball over the middle of the field and convert for us. And that was just a snapshot of the type of night he had tonight. I thought he was very much in command of his play."
• Anthony McFarland looked decisive on his runs, gaining 34 yards on nine carries with a long run of 11 yards. He also caught the ball well, running a little waggle play with Haskins on a rollout for a 7-yard gain and a first down.
McFarland's improved strength -- he's put on about 5 pounds from last year -- really showed up on a 1-yard touchdown run in the first half. Initially stuffed, he bounced off the penetration at the point of attack, bounced a couple of steps outside and bounded into the end zone for a score.
"Last year, he missed some work during the development process due to his lack of readiness, which is very common for a young guy," Tomlin said. "He’s been very available this year, and I think that’s just aided in his growth and development and it is producing the play you are looking at."
McFarland also saved a touchdown on a kickoff return in the third quarter.
• Kevin Rader continues to be the strongest of the blockers. among the team's tight ends. But he also had two receptions for 16 yards, while Zach Gentry had a drop on a pass that was thrown slightly behind him but should have been caught.
• Jamir Jones continues to impress at outside linebacker. He had two QB hits in this game, forcing Nick Mullens to throw before he wanted on a pass that was intercepted by Justin Layne in the third quarter.
He also had a sack and a solo tackle on special teams, as well as an assistant.
"Last year around this time, I was sitting at home just waiting for a call," said Jones, who went undrafted a year ago before spending a little time with the Texans. "I just stayed at it, just put my trust in God and myself and my abilities, and knew that one day this time would come. Just kept working, put my head down, and I was ready."
At this point, I don't know how that guy doesn't make this roster.
• Kevin Dotson and B.J. Finney were throwing people around in the run game in the second half, leading to the Steelers running for 152 yards in this game, 112 of which came in the second half.
Heck, Jaylen Samuels had 10 carries for 45 yards, most of which came in third quarter, when he was getting handoffs and not getting touched until he was three or four yards past the line of scrimmage.
• Lafayette Pitts had a nifty interception in the fourth quarter, jumping inside of Adrian Killens to pick off Mullens, reading the quarterback's eyes.
Pitts just joined the Steelers last week because of injuries at the cornerback position, but he's actually played 40 career NFL games.
The former Pitt star is 28 years old, but he's the kind of veteran player teams can now put on the expanded 16-man practice squad just in case.
TRENDING DOWN
• It's time for the first-team offensive line to get on the field.
Zach Banner was held out of this game, giving Joe Haeg the start at right tackle. Trai Turner and Chuks Okorafor were seeing their fist action. And in the case of Okorafor, he only began practicing earlier this week.
With Dotson relegated to the second unit after missing time, Rashaad Coward got the start at left guard. He looked overmatched against the Eagles, who have one of the better defensive lines in the league.
But with Tomlin saying Ben Roethlisberger will play next week against the Lions, you can bet Banner and Dotson will be on the starting offensive line in that game.
Then, and only then, can we make any real pronouncements about what this is going to look like.
• Benny Snell had better get back in action soon or Benny Snell football will be being played elsewhere this season. With Najee Harris, who had two carries for 10 yards and a catch for 9 yards in limited duty, and McFarland looking like they have throughout camp and Kalen Ballage having a strong game in Week 1, Snell can't afford to miss any more time.
As mentioned, Samuels, Tony Brooks-James (9 carries, 51 yards) and Pete Guerriero also had their moments in the second half.
• Isaiah McKoy got a chance to be the punt returner in the second half and went for a big gain instead of taking what was available to him. He had a 5-to-10-yard return set up in the second half, but when it closed down, he tried to reverse field and wound up taking a 7-yard loss.
He also short-armed a pass over the middle, catching just two of the five passes targeted in his direction for 4 yards. There are too many other receivers flashing on this roster to make the practice squad doing that.
• We're going to put rookie punter Pressley Harvin III on here because he didn't get a chance to perform in the second half at all.
Jordan Berry did the punting in the first half, averaging 44.0 yards on 4 punts and having two downed inside the 20, including one at the 2.
Harvin was slated to kick in the second half, but the Steelers never punted. Tomlin walked off the field and down the tunnel with the young punter, telling him to keep his head up, the chances will come. But they didn't in this game.
The Steelers did not miss a kick in this one, so both did a good job holding.
• Rookie safety Tre Norwood got a welcome-to-the-NFL moment in the first quarter when Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins, who ran a sub-4.4 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine last year, caught a screen pass and beat Norwood to the corner on his way to a 79-yard catch-and-run.
Norwood, who started this game in place of Minkah Fitzpatrick, has been good throughout camp, but this was one on which he didn't look great. He has to know he's the last line of defense and he can't get beaten to the sideline, which is your friend on a play such as that.
