Let's get to it:
VINCE SCOTTI FROM COLUMBIA, SC: Garrett Wilson made a great catch in the Thursday night game between the Jets and the Texans. I know the rule is you need to get two feet down in-bounds for it to be a catch. When I look at the replay, it appears Wilson did have a foot and a shin down in-bounds. However, it was the same leg. Don't you need two different feet (legs) down for it to be a catch?
ANSWER: If an eligible receiver gets a body part – a knee, elbow, shin – down in-bounds while in possession of the ball it's a legal catch. It doesn't matter which shin or elbow or knee it is, and one shin or knee or elbow is enough. In terms of feet, the eligible receiver must get two feet down in-bounds, and it cannot be the same foot twice for the play to be ruled a legal catch. The knee, elbow, shin part of the rule was precipitated by Chuck Noll, who was the champion of the whole "one knee equals two feet" concept. And the fact Wilson got a shin down in-bounds is what differentiated that play from the George Pickens play against the Giants, where he got the same foot down twice in the end zone and the ruling was that it wasn't a legal catch.
DAVID LEWELLEN FROM GLENDALE, WI: T.J. Watt is listed as a linebacker, but this year I am noticing him playing more right on the line of scrimmage with his hand down. I know that "edge" is the catch-all term, but has there been some change to make it look more like he's a defensive end?
ANSWER: One of the best weapons in T.J. Watt's repertoire as a game-wrecker is his lightning quick get-off at the snap of the ball. Clearly, Watt believes he is quicker off the ball from a three-point stance – hand on the ground – than from a two-point stance.
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JEAN RAWSON FROM MORGANTOWN, WV: Why is Russell Wilson not running? There were a lot of openings where he should've run the ball.
ANSWER: Russell Wilson was given a chance to be the starting quarterback because of his ability to read the defense's coverage and distribute the ball to the open receiver. When the Steelers want to run the football, they will give it to Najee Harris or Jaylen Warren. Running is not a high-percentage proposition for a soon-to-be 36-year-old quarterback.
TODD HILE FROM MOUNT ORAB, OH: I noticed that in several Steeler games and in particular during the Monday night game against the Giants that during regular plays the football was a darker color and on field goals/extra points, the ball was a lot lighter.
ANSWER: There are two sets of footballs that are used in every NFL game. There are the footballs used for the plays from scrimmage, and the balls used for all kicking plays – field goals, PATs, and punts. The balls used for the kicking plays are referred to as "K-balls" and they are treated differently and kept separate from the other footballs used in the game.
ROB WARREN FROM BILLINGS, MT: Everyone has made such a big deal about the second half of the season and the fact that we face all of our AFC North rivals twice in that span. Since 2020, what has been our record against our division rivals?
ANSWER: Starting with the 2020 season, the Steelers are 7-1 vs. Baltimore; 4-4 vs. Cincinnati; and 5-4 vs. Cleveland, which includes a loss in the 2020 Wild Card Round.
AARON LOWE FROM WASHINGTON, DC: Is DeMarvin Leal's injury season-ending?
ANSWER: DeMarvin Leal sustained a neck injury late in the game against Dallas on Oct. 6. It has been reported to be a season-ending injury.
ED JOHNSON FROM GERMANTOWN, OH: In a previous Asked and Answered, you wrote that Chuck Noll did not believe in wasting a roster spot on a long-snapper. Do you know who did the long-snapping?
ANSWER: Through most of his career with the Steelers, Mike Webster served as the long-snapper.
MICHAEL TORSIELLO FROM SUMMIT, NJ: Why was T.J. Watt's strip and fumble recovery at the end of the Giants' game recorded as a sack if he didn't bring Daniel Jones to the ground?
ANSWER: That's the rule. Think about it for a second: the quarterback is in the pocket with the intention to pass, and the play is ended by the defense without the ball being thrown. How else could it be scored? If a running back has the ball stripped from him while running and the defense recovers, the guy who strips the ball is credited with a tackle as well as a forced fumble.
JAMES LABAR JR. FROM WEEDVILLE, PA: Last season Broderick Jones was seen as a potential star, and now he is being seen as a bust. Is his play being impacted due to switching positions? Will he be replaced or does he require more time to improve at right tackle?
ANSWER: I'm willing to bet that the same people who "saw" Broderick Jones as a potential star as a rookie are the same people who "see" him as a bust now. Jones entered the NFL from Georgia as a redshirt sophomore, which is an indication of his level of inexperience when the Steelers used a first-round pick on him in the 2023 NFL Draft. As of the conclusion of the game against the New York Giants, Jones, who will complete his second NFL season as a 23-year-old, has appeared in 17 games, with 12 starts. Jones is a work in progress, and if circumstances had unfolded differently maybe he would've been given more time to ease his way into the lineup, but that didn't happen and now things are where they are. Don't forget there were "people" who "saw" Dan Moore Jr. as a liability at left tackle and as a player who had to be replaced immediately, and now there are "people" speculating that the Steelers might be better off if they could find a way to keep him after he becomes eligible for unrestricted free agency next March. It takes time to for an offensive tackle to make the transition from college to the NFL
During the bye week, all assistant coaches are made available to the media, and this is what offensive line coach Pat Meyer said about Jones, as reported by Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Broderick has been awesome. His attitude is great. He just has to learn. He has to focus. He has to focus each and every play. On some plays, you watch him, and he does some really good things. But he's young. He hasn't played a whole NFL season. He's 23 years old. He's going to grow. The thing about Broderick is he's a confident kid. He plays hard. He loves the game. He just has to continue to learn faster.
"He just has to learn and grow as a player. He has to focus on every rep. For an offensive lineman, 10 or 15 things go through their mind before the ball is snapped — their alignment, their get-off, their snap, their foot extension, where am I putting my (helmet), my hands? It takes some time to do that. We just have to speed up that timeframe."
KIM OWENS FROM FREDERICK, MD: I have tickets for the game vs. the Commanders. It is currently scheduled for 1 pm. When is the latest they can flex to 4:25 p.m. or 8:20 p.m.? I think the time has passed for changing to Thursday or Monday.
ANSWER: This is taken from NFL.com: "Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in the Flex Scheduling Windows are subject to change generally at least 12 days in advance (and at least 6 days in advance for Sundays in Weeks 14-17) and should plan accordingly." Based on that explanation, Steelers-Commanders will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
CHRISTOPHER GIBSON FROM MANALAPAN, NJ: What's the process and who determines whether an injured player goes on reserve or not and under what reserve classification (designated to return, PUP, etc.). While I am sure the medical staff input is key, there seems to be a lot of strategic roster and personnel considerations in these decisions. Who has the final say?
ANSWER: Allow me to begin with a brief tutorial of the injury classifications:
PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO PERFORM (PUP)
Players put on the active/physically unable to perform list — or PUP — at the start of training camp have football-related injuries, like those on IR, but count against the active roster. These players can participate in all team activities other than practice and can be activated at any point during camp when they are medically cleared. A player can't be placed on the PUP list after he has practiced once or played in a preseason game. Since training camp is in the rearview, PUP is not an option at this stage of a season.
INJURED RESERVE
If a player is placed on this list before the regular season begins, he could miss the entire season unless — per a rules adjustment this year — they are designated to return during the roster cutdown to 53 players after training camp. Teams can designate up to two such players to return. Like PUP, the time frame for the specific designation of IR-designated to return has passed because rosters were reduced to 53 players back on Aug. 27.
With that out of the way, what you should understand is that all other players placed on injured reserve can be designated to return once they have missed a minimum of four games. NFL teams can designate up to eight players to return from IR during the regular season (and up to 10 if they make the playoffs) and an individual player can be so designated twice. When a player is cleared to practice, a 21-day window begins and the player must be activated to the 53-man roster or be placed on season-ending injured reserve at the conclusion of that three-week period. They could also be released or traded.
OK, so when it comes to the decision of whether to put a player on injured reserve, that's based largely on an assessment from the medical staff following an estimated prognosis as to when the player might be able to return to football activity. And once again, like the vast majority of the decisions the Steelers make, neither the general manager nor the head coach has unilateral authority to do things without consulting each other, and everything is subject to the approval of President Art Rooney II. Procedurally, most of that is handled by General Manager Omar Khan once the final decision has been reached.
HANS KOLLER FROM FREDONIA, PA: I am always seeing that every week the Steelers are hosting players for workouts. What is the selections process of the players they bring in to work out, and are these workouts like a mini-combine for the players they bring in?
ANSWER: For the most part, the Steelers bringing in players for workouts just about every week is just due diligence on the part of the personnel department. It's that department's job to know who is available, and then based on the work that had been done on those individuals during their pre-draft process decisions are made to get another look at these people to gauge their fitness and form an idea of whether they might be a possibility to add to the practice squad in the future. Another factor in this procedure can be a rash of injuries at a certain position, but for the most part it is just being prepared for the unforeseen.
ANDREW GAUNT FROM LONDON, ONTARIO, CANADA: Not for a minute am I suggesting that Beanie Bishop is the caliber of perennial game-wrecker that James Harrison was, but since they were both undrafted players it got me wondering if there are any other notable Steelers players who were undrafted?
ANSWER: There are many undrafted players who went on to outstanding careers with the Steelers, because the franchise was in business back in the era when scouting and drafting were nowhere near as sophisticated as the process is now, and so teams had to stock their rosters in other ways. Here are three names worth mentioning among the many: In 1951, the Steelers signed Jack Butler, who played his college football at St. Bonaventure. A cornerback, Butler was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012. In 1974, South Carolina State's Donnie Shell was an undrafted rookie as part of the Steelers' historic draft class, and he became the fifth player from that year to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as part of the Class of 2020. And Willie Parker, a running back from North Carolina, was signed as an undrafted rookie in 2004, and in 2005 he set a Super Bowl record with a 75-yard touchdown in the Steelers' 21-10 victory over Seattle. Parker's run remains the longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history.
TODD FURST FROM ALLENTOWN, PA: Russell Wilson looks like he has a logo with a person in a brown cape on the front of his jersey. Is that what it is, and is that because he is a captain?
ANSWER: Russell Wilson has that logo on the front of his jersey, as does Cam Heyward, to recognize them as being past winners of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
