Kovacevic: Steelers try to downplay pristine preseason, but ... yeah, no

ATLANTA -- "No ... way! Can I have that?"

I'd just shown Jaylen Warren a fresh photo I'd saved into my iPhone, this from his 8-yard touchdown run early in the Steelers' 24-0 flattening of the Falcons in both teams' preseason finale Thursday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And his reflexive reaction was kinda meh ... until he realized Kenny Pickett's pose in the background.

First, I'll share the play:

Then the still image:

KYLE HESS / STEELERS

Kenny Pickett points skyward as Jaylen Warren runs for an 8-yard touchdown in the first quarter Thursday night in Atlanta.

Yeah. Pickett didn't exactly wait for the refs to raise their arms before raising his own. That's Warren embarking for the big hole but with plenty of ground still to cover, plenty of Atlanta defenders still to crush for that final yard and change.

That's quite the show of confidence.

"Oh, no, not really," Pickett replied when I showed it to him, too. "I knew he was in."

And when I brought up that finishing push, all I'd get back was another, "I knew."

So did Chuks Okorafor, who blew out the right side from the tackle position.

"Ah, come on," the big man would respond in his characteristically dismissive way when I broached it with him. "Everybody knew he was going to score. Those guys are not gonna stop him. I knew that, too."

Man, that's a tough crowd. Either that, or they're raising expectations of both themselves and each other.

They know, my friends. They do.

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's preseason. And the Falcons stink. And they didn't start most of their guys. And blah, blah, blah.

Look, the outcomes don't count, obviously, so I couldn't care less about the 3-0 record. But the caliber of the performances does. Just like every practice. Because that builds up consistency and, in turn, confidence. And that's precisely why these things are conducted, anyway. They separate the cream from the cuts and, always most important, they prepare the relevant players for what's to come.

Buckle up, because this is as real as real gets in late August:

• The first-team offense ran five drives and finished all five with touchdowns, averaging 11.3 yards over the 28 plays therein, achieving 25-plus yards on five of those plays and, as if to show they're human, converting all four third-down attempts.

"We're getting better each time out," Pat Freiermuth would tell me. "That's what stands out the most. But also that we can still do a lot better."

• Pickett, specifically, was 4 of 4 for 86 yards here, most of that on bombs of 33 and 35 yards to Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, respectively:

For the preseason, the one player who's invariably attached to most of the outside doubts about this team's short-term future wound up 13 of 15 for 199 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions -- computing to a perfect 158.3 passer rating -- accompanied by an average of 13.2 yards per pass attempt and targets all over creation, both in scope and personnel. He heaved deep, he showed touch over the middle and he fired bullets into tight quarters.

And yet, it's the intangibles that appear to have impressed Mike Tomlin the most about Pickett's maturation since his rookie season.

"I think the growth is probably associated with being him, and not necessarily the surface level things associated with the position," Tomlin would say after this game. "It's the leadership things, the communication things, the bringing-people-together things. When you have a high level of comfort in terms of what it is you’re doing, then those things probably happen more. It’s not play-related, but it's because he's the catalyst for their unit. He controls the pace and the tenor of that unit. And I just think that, if he’s comfortable, that unit has an opportunity to be comfortable."

And of those two bombs, Tomlin would add, "We’ve done it in practice, so I expect to see it in stadiums."

Yep. Been telling everyone that for a while. Nothing new in those scenes. At all.

• Pickens, specifically, was targeted three total times in the preseason. And since I'm running out of words for this dude, and I definitely wouldn't have any for how he tried to swing his arm around while still in the air in hopes of smacking the cone ... let's roll 'em all again:

“Seeing those guys one-on-one," Pickett would say of both Johnson and Pickens, "I always want to give them a chance. They’re both great players and really talented guys, so I want to make sure I do my part, put the ball out for them, and they do the rest.”

• Najee Harris rammed home a 1-yard touchdown after Pickens' catch, Warren had that 8-yarder, and Anthony McFarland added a rugged 5-yarder of his own, all reflective not only of their own resilience but also that of an offensive line that's shown precious few leaks to date, including in pass protection. Combined, those three backs rushed 34 times for 188 yards, a per-carry average of 5.53.

"We're running hard," Harris would tell me, "but that's not just us."

No, sir. Watch the line. Watch Freiermuth:

• The first-team defense, which has yet to have Larry Ogunjobi and seldom saw Cam Heyward or Minkah Fitzpatrick this preseason, almost one-upped the offense in taking the field for five total series ... and delivering five three-and-outs.

"We're flying to the football out there," Nick Herbig, the wonderful fourth-round rookie out of Wisconsin, was telling me after another sack, another tackle for a loss and a vital special teams block I'm about to show. "You can just see how much we as a defense all believe in each other."

• No one's a higher priority on that side of the ball than T.J. Watt. He appeared briefly here, he registered a belligerent sack, he's made it through the offseason in "excellent health," and I've got tons more from the man in my second column. He kinda matters.

• Wait, special teams, too?

Uh-huh:

This one's worth every millisecond and not just Calvin Austin's latest striking punt return, this of 21 yards. Watch Herbig, as promised, providing the first chip to set him loose. Then watch Tomlin relishing it like a fourth-grader who just beat all of Batman's baddest villains in a video game.

Austin caught six punts this preseason. He returned five for 107 yards for a 21.4 average, to go with one fair catch. He's electric with every touch.

"That's the thing," Watt would tell me. "It's really all three phases. And it feels like we're all feeding off each other, including what we're getting from Cal. One just seems to lead into the other. It feels good. But at the same time ..."

He paused.

“Like we were just talking about in here, it means nothing if we don’t bring it into the regular season. I feel really good about coming out of Latrobe having the success that we did. I feel very comfortable with this team and where we’re at. The word is just, ‘jelling.’ We’re jelling well together -- offensive, defensive and special teams. It’s encouraging.”

I brought up the syncing of all three phases with Harris, too:

"This is the ultimate team sport," he'd reply. "Having every group contribute to the pile is always big. You got Calvin making big plays. You’ve got the defense making big plays. You’ve got the offense making big plays. We’ve just gotta find a way where we don’t get carried away with things. From here on out, this is real. This is gonna count toward the season. And, we’re trying to go far this year. Just chop wood and carry water.”

If the latter sounds like a Tomlin-ism, it is. Several players repeated it afterward, which invariably means he used it in his postgame speech to them before the room was opened to reporters.

He'd later put forth similar pragmatism from the podium, saying, "Not only through tonight, but through this whole process of development, I just can’t say enough about the group and the energy that they bring daily. Hopefully, this is a catalyst for us as we transition out of preseason ball to regular-season ball. I appreciate the efforts tonight. We saw some of the things that we wanted to see from the units and had the opportunity to highlight some guys. Still got some growth ahead of us."

There's another 16 days until the 49ers come rolling through the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Plenty of time to chop wood, carry water and, of course, print out a copy of that pic for Warren.

Or maybe I'll do him a solid and swap it out for this sizzler instead, to show why they "knew:"

KYLE HESS / STEELERS

Jaylen Warren heroically, all by lonesome, bursts through three Falcons for a touchdown Thursday night in Atlanta.

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• Steelers who didn't play: DE Larry Ogunjobi (foot), G Nate Herbig (shoulder), G Kevin Dotson (shoulder), S Minkah Fitzpatrick, DT Cam Heyward, G James Daniels

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