Kovacevic: Finding a fair goal for these 2-6 Steelers the rest of the way taken on the South Side (DK's 10 Takes)

KARL ROSER / STEELERS

Karl Dunbar, the defensive line coach, holds the sled for Chris Wormley at practice Monday on the South Side.

"Recharged. Energized all over again."

This was Cam Heyward, and yet it was everywhere across the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on this summery Monday afternoon that saw the Steelers back from their bye week, back from ... well, all that badness.

But here again ...

"Outstanding. Really. Everything's healed up. Everything's great."

That was Mason Cole, pointing down toward his long-nagging ankle, no longer wrapped.

"Beautiful. Never better."

That was Terrell Edmunds. Big smile, too.

"Awesome. Tremendous. Never better. It's going to be a great week."

And that was T.J. Watt, who'd just left the field following his first fully padded practice. And his smile, as he spoke those words my way, was so broad it might've stretched from stall to stall.

This wasn't exactly some enterprising, capital-J-journalism I'd been executing, even if all of the above was culled one-on-one. Nothing's easier in this business than bouncing around a locker room and asking everyone how they're doing. But I honestly felt, in this case, with the Steelers at 2-6 and owning the NFL's ugliest points differential at minus-77, and carrying infinitely more questions than answers out of a bye week that felt more like some merciful reprieve ... maybe it'd be, at the very least, a good place to start.

Which leads to this modestly more enterprising question: What's a good place to end?

No, really, what's the fairest way to measure what'd constitute an acceptable -- or better -- second half?

Please, no playoffs. It's beyond absurd. Three-and-a-half games out of first in the division, three-and-a-half miles back of the AFC pack ... no, just no.

And please, please, please spare me anything related to the NFL Draft. If we're being equally real at the other end of the spectrum, no team with T.J. and a suddenly healthy defense around him is going to stink enough to secure some top-three or top-five pick or anything in that prism. I know that first half in Cincinnati seems like light years ago, but it did happen. And the guy who authored a ton of that damage is about to do more.

So I ask again: What's a good place to end? What's a reasonable and, above all, relevant goal for this group?

Is it getting back to respectability, like the 2013 team did in going 6-2 after its own 2-6 start?

Eh. I mean, that'd obviously represent real progress on all fronts, even independent of the outcomes. Several facets of this team, and within that several vital players, would've had to rise up to make that happen. That's far more valuable than a handful of slots in the draft, and it isn't close. Kenny Pickett, George Pickens and the left side of the offensive line, for example, would have to be among those and, if they are, oh, my goodness, what that'd mean toward 2023.

Is it just about individuals?

Double-eh. Again, it'd be nice, but if it doesn't occur as a collective, especially when it comes to something as chemistry-based as blocking, it's little chance to carry into next summer, let alone next season. Same applies to Pickett and Pickens connecting. Or Najee Harris becoming more of a threat by becoming more acclimated with the line and, in turn, way more aggressive.

I asked a bunch of guys about a goal, and the reply that resonated the most with me came from Kevin Dotson: "Keep pushing. Keep getting better."

Yeah, that's it. That's boring, but that's it.

There's no point in pouting. And there's absolutely no point in anything approaching tanking. But the benefits of continuing to push and, ideally, continuing to get better are innumerable, even in the event that the latter doesn't happen. Meaning if, say, certain facets or certain players simply stagnate. Because it's then that Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and all concerned will have the clearest conceivable outlook of what's needed into 2023, both in the draft and free agency.

I don't think we'll see that stagnation, though. I swear I don't. And for a handful of reasons:

• Not that these Steelers are in any position to look down their noses at anyone, but they're about to flip scripts from the NFL's toughest first-half schedule to the easiest second-half schedule. The Saints, their opponent Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, are 3-6, they're still shoving the 35-year-old remnants of Andy Dalton into their huddle, and they'll be on a short week. After that, the only remaining opponents with a winning record are the Ravens and Bengals. Every game with Baltimore's invariably separated by a field goal, and the first meeting with the Bengals went quite well. Otherwise, it's the Colts, Falcons, Panthers, Raiders and Browns, a parade of putridity. 

• It's got to be weighed, I'd imagine, that we wouldn't think nearly as little of all of the Steelers' facets if they'd have had the occasional breather in the first half. Meaning one more W akin to the one that beat Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Maybe there'd be more confidence. Maybe, as a result, more depth. But regardless, it's also got to be weighed that facing the likes of the Eagles can have an iron-sharpening-iron effect. All the holes are exposed, and all of the smartest adjustments can be made. Including at the individual level by the athlete himself.

Matt Canada will be fired. No, it won't happen in-season, which I still strongly feel is a mistake of massive proportions. But that doesn't -- and I don't believe it will -- prevent Tomlin from maneuvering behind the scenes to add some ingenuity to the offense. Not on his own, of course, but this head coach has a history of replacing coaches in-season without visibly replacing them. He'll assign help from this corner or that corner, he'll heed his players, and he'll try to make it look on Sundays as if nothing happened. After which, optimally, he'll rocket Canada into orbit.

• I mentioned that T.J.'s in great spirits, but that goes for all of his defensive mates, too. And not without cause. As Minkah Fitzpatrick put it, "It's hard to replace a guy like him." Well, actually, it's impossible. And no one will benefit from that more than Minkah and the recently rattled secondary, since quarterbacks will now have to worry about a whole lot more than a half-as-effective Alex Highsmith or an invisible Malik Reed. A defense that's built for the pass rush will finally get its fangs back:

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• I have faith in Pickett. I have faith in Pickens. And within that, I have faith that both will perform far better with more reps in more stadiums and, again, against lesser opponents. That's hardly some outlandish reach. And I feel like I should make at least parenthetical mention of having faith in Pat Freiermuth, who's quietly become Pickett's preferred target.

What'll all that mean as far as wins and losses?

Truth be told, I don't care much. And I'm not sure the management should, either. 

If forced to attach a figure, I'd say 6-3 would be wonderful because, once more, there'd have been a wealth of goodness as an undercurrent. But if it's 5-4 and some of these pivotal scenarios play out positively, that wouldn't be awful. Anything below that, though, given the caliber of competition, that'd be a bummer.

Whatever. Work toward winning, and all the peripherals address themselves.

Swinging back to Dotson on this count:

"I feel like we've turned the corner," he'd say. "When you start getting down, you can start feeling like, 'I've gotta make something happen. I gotta do it.' And those are the times you mess up. That's the kind of thing we're trying to eliminate now."

And his own goal for the week?

"Beat the Saints."

Might as well.

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