JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Week 2 of the preseason was supposed to show progress for the Steelers' rebuilt offensive line.
Instead, the team's 16-15 victory here Saturday night over the Jaguars might have created more questions than answers.
Second-year left tackle Dan Moore, who played reasonably well in the team's 32-25 win in Week 1 over the Seahawks, struggled holding the edge, even against backups, playing well into the third quarter.
James Daniels, the team's high-priced free agent acquisition, struggled again at times, as well. And the Steelers were still rotating Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson at left guard.
With less than a month no to go before the start of the regular season Sept. 11 in Cincinnati, the line was supposed to be starting to come together.
Instead, the Steelers rushed for just 24 yards on 14 carries in this game, a week after rushing for 185 yards on 27 carries in a win over the Seahawks.
Worse, after watching Ben Roethlisberger harassed and hurried into 38 sacks last season in his final year, the Steelers were supposed to have fixed this thing.
In this game, the pressure came early and often. And though the Jaguars recorded just one sack and were credited with four quarterback hits, that was largely because quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph are far more mobile than Roethlisberger was at the end of his career.
There's no panic -- yet -- from the offensive linemen, though.
"I think the biggest thing is being in these game situations and learning each other and also learning the system," said center Mason Cole, signed to a three-year, $15.75-million contract in the offseason after Green failed at center as a rookie in 2021.
"There are going to be games where we come out one game and be really fast. And then we’ll go through a struggle in the second and have a two-minute drill to win the game."
The key, the linemen say, is that progress continues to be made.
But the question begs to be answered, was any progress made in this game?
"Yeah, from a communication standpoint, it was better," Daniels told me. "But we’ll have to wait until Monday to see. From my standpoint, the communication was better. I think that was one thing that was kind of sloppy last week. We didn’t have a lot of crowd noise, but being in a different environment was kind of nice."
There was a reasonable expectation that a line with new starters at center and right guard, along with a camp battle at left guard, might take some time to come together. But with only one preseason game remaining before the Steelers starting playing real games, fans are getting understandably anxious.
So is Mike Tomlin when it comes to trying to evaluate the play of Trubisky, the starting quarterback. Trubisky failed to lead a scoring drive in three offensive series despite completing five of eight passes for 60 yards and also scrambling once for 10 yards. But, at least according to Mike Tomlin, that was hardly the fault of the quarterback.
"I thought Mitch played well," Tomlin said. "I thought he created and extended some things when there wasn't much there. We've got to do a better job in protecting him and having some semblance of a running game if you want a fair evaluation, and I'm just being bluntly honest.”
But some of the pressure on the quarterbacks might be created by plan. The Steelers made an obvious commitment to getting more mobile at quarterback this offseason, adding Trubisky in free agency and Kenny Pickett in the first round of the draft.
The idea is to not have to have the quarterbacks get rid of the ball as quickly as Roethlisberger did a year ago, when he led the NFL in getting rid of the ball quickly, throwing it in 2.38 seconds on average.
But perhaps it's no coincidence the offense has looked its best thus far in the preseason in no-huddle situations when the quarterbacks have been getting rid of the ball quickly and in rhythm.
"I think we’re just trying to figure out what we are as an offense," Trubisky said. "I think moving the pockets, using my legs when plays break down and using my mobility is a factor. And the RPO game here is something that can be very beneficial to this offense."
There's little doubt, however, that the blocking must be better.
Daniels, in particular, has been disappointing thus far. Signed to a three-year, $26.5-million contract, the former second-round pick of the Bears was expected to help solidify the right side of the line next to offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor and Cole.
But that hasn't happened yet.
"I just need to focus on my technique," Daniels told me. "I’ve been sloppy with my technique the past couple of weeks. That’s why practice is great, but it has to transfer to the game. I want to focus on my technique. That’s what we all should do, focus on ourselves, focus on our technique and getting better each week."
The newness of the group is one thing. There is some learning being done here. But sloppiness? That might not be something fans want to hear.
But to Daniels' point, the group might be so concerned with the big picture -- such as getting on a same page as a unit -- that it's losing focus of the little things. Communication was an issue in Week 1 against the Seahawks. That seemed to get cleaned up against the Jaguars.
However, a new problem can't arise every week.
Daniels isn't concerned about that at this point. He feels it will all come together.
"No. I’m not trying to peak in August, so I’m not worried about that," Daniels said.
Besides, even though the results were not exactly what the Steelers would have liked, prior to watching the film, which will happen Monday, the overall feeling from looking at the plays on the sideline is that there weren't overall breakdowns -- which occurred on a regular basis in 2021.
"It was just 10 guys doing something and one guy did something bad," Daniels said. "We’re close, but that’s the difference between a 1-yard loss and an 8-yard gain, one guy. We just never got the opportunity to have all of us doing a good job at the same time."
