A route jumped along the sideline for an interception, prompting a sideline full of gold-jerseyed defensive players to jump up, whoop and cheer.

Two practice-rep snaps later, a defender made a play on a ball, deflecting it up in the air, where Mike Hilton sprinted and dove to cradle it before it hit the ground.

Again, another raucous collective cheer from the defense.

Hilton and linebacker T.J. Watt confirmed this sequence of events took place midway through Wednesday’s Pittsburgh Steelers organized team activity session at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

Interceptions – even in an otherwise-inconsequential early June, non-padded voluntary practice, one in which Ben Roethlisberger was not participating, no less – are being celebrated by the Steelers’ defense these days.

A #Steelers unit that ranked 29th in the league with 15 takeaways and 28th in the league with eight interceptions last season will simply have to force more turnovers to have any kind of success. https://t.co/kRQO5eBBYK

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) May 22, 2019

“Every year turnovers is a big point of emphasis (but) especially after last year not getting that many, just leaving a lot of plays out there,” Watt said.

“We have to bring the excitement, bring the juice and bring the swag, because if you make a play in the NFL it’s very hard to do, so why not celebrate it? That stuff is contagious and it keeps the energy going throughout the whole practice and throughout the games.”

The Steelers had just eight interceptions in 2018, tying a decades-old record for fewest in a season.

“We really (stunk) at getting turnovers last year,” Hilton said, “so that was really something we are thriving on – lot of plays on the ball in OTAs. We want to find ways to carry that into the season.”

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