Chris Adamski stories, Page 45

Now that he’d had 72 hours to digest the ghastly 30-7 letdown of season-opening loss, Kenny Pickett on Wednesday cleared the mental side of culpability. It was all physical that ailed the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense Sunday, Pickett said, referencing the players on offense in general and himself — and his...

Diontae Johnson was present and donning his practice jersey as he walked the locker room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex after Wednesday’s practice. He definitively, though, will not be wearing his game jersey when the Pittsburgh Steelers play their next game Monday. “I’m acknowledging that he’s out this week,” coach...

After a trio of brief preseason outings during which everything seemed to come so easily for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, in their first game that mattered, that was anything but the case. How could a unit that looked so unbeatable in August struggle so much during its opener in September?...

By most accounts, the preseason was a perfect for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-team offense. Kenny Pickett’s passer rating? A perfect 158.3. A perfect 3-0 record. A perfect ratio of five touchdowns in five possessions, too. Perhaps that makes the 30-7 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers in the regular-season opener...

The lauded Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 draft class might yet make a major impact on the organization. Its members barely registered notice in their NFL debut, though. No rookies were in the starting lineup for Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But five of the six rookies on the...

When the day began, T.J. Watt sat in third place among the Pittsburgh Steelers’ career sacks leaders. He ended it tied for first. The sixth three-sack game of Watt’s career lifted him into a tie with James Harrison for the most sacks in franchise history with 80½. Watt brought down...

Eleven days, apparently, was not enough time for Desmond King to hop on the proverbial moving train. But more than three weeks without practicing fully was not a hindrance to Larry Ogunjobi. King, a veteran cornerback signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 31, was one of four players designated...

Veteran Pittsburgh Steelers starters Cameron Heyward and Diontae Johnson did not finish Sunday’s season opener because of injury. The Steelers’ oldest player at 34 and a longtime co-captain, Heyward suffered what the team described as a groin injury during the first half of Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the San Francisco...

1. Need better from Najee The data compiled by NFL Next Gen Stats last season said the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Najee Harris was one of the worst starting running backs in the league. Among the company Harris kept toward the bottom of those lists, Harris is the only one to hold...

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi did not fully participate in any practices this week and was officially deemed questionable to play in Sunday’s regular-season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Ogunjobi has been listed on the league-mandated injury report as dealing with a foot ailment that has hindered him...

It was just two years ago the Pittsburgh Steelers started five rookies during their season opener, the most they’d deployed for a season’s first game in three decades. This year, depending on the packages the offense and defense open up with, there might not be any rookies in the starting...

For those who still watch old-fashioned (non-streaming) television that features ads, it’s been difficult to get through any commercial breaks during this season-opening week of the NFL season without seeing T.J. Watt. Watt, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ star defender, stars in two humorous commercials this week — one for an at-home...

Tasked over the past week-plus with formulating a plan to limit San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey, savvy veteran NFL defensive coordinator Teryl Austin devised a unique strategy. “We’re going to try to play with 12 guys,” Austin said, laughing. Presumably, Austin won’t want to actually subject the...

Each started four years at quarterback for a Power Five college, breaking myriad school records along the way while lifting their programs to heights not seen in decades. Each, too, was eligible for the 2022 draft. Kenny Pickett and Brock Purdy also had success as rookie NFL quarterbacks, and they...

Anthony Brown and Josiah Scott have combined to play 10 NFL seasons, 133 regular-season games and four postseason games. They’ve been on division title teams, combined for 12 career interceptions and figured in on 387 tackles. Each, though, for the moment is spending this week on the scout team at...

Three days out from their regular-season opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ two most important defensive linemen remain on the injury report and continue to miss practice time. Cameron Heyward (stomach) and Larry Ogunjobi (foot) each remain expected to play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Acrisure Stadium. But each also...

The tradition-philic Pittsburgh Steelers have never joined other NFL teams in adopting the usage of a “C” on the front left of a player’s uniform to denote a captaincy. With that in mind, Kenny Pickett’s rationalization for taking over a share of the Steelers’ captaincy from Najee Harris is more...

When it comes to the supersized expectations much of the NFL community has bestowed upon him for his second season, George Pickens is unfazed. “I don’t really pay too much attention to it, to be honest,” the prodigious receiver said after Pittsburgh Steelers practice Wednesday. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Pickens has...

Cory Trice meandered his way around the locker room at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Leaning on crutches that resembled the tall and slender cornerback himself, Trice made his way to his locker. This, of course, isn’t the way he wanted his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers to go....

A highlight of Desmond King’s football career came at none other than what is now called Acrisure Stadium. So you could forgive King, a veteran defensive back, for getting a little nostalgic less than a week into his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “A lot of people (are having) a...

Countless times, Qadree Ollison had been on the fields of UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Pittsburgh’s South Side. For five years, he spent plenty of time on them while playing for Pitt. For Ollison’s final season with the Panthers, when he gained 1,213 rushing yards, it was Kenny Pickett handing...

For the fifth time in nine NFL seasons, Kwon Alexander will be sporting a different uniform number. For the second time in five weeks with the Pittsburgh Steelers, too. A veteran inside linebacker who signed July 30, Alexander was wearing No. 54 for what can reasonably be classified as the...

When Mason Cole signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, he was joining his third team in three seasons. The Steelers, meanwhile, were on their fourth starting center in three seasons. Turns out, both found desired stability — in each other. Cole, by all indications, has been a perfect fit...

Miles Boykin didn’t even need to hear the end of the question. He didn’t want to hear the numbers or metrics or any “fancy stats,” either. “I don’t need analytics to tell me that ‘Tae’ can get open,” the veteran receiver said of Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Diontae Johnson earlier this...