Despite inconsistent play, Steelers' Devin Bush believes 'I'm the same player' from before ACL injury

As players taken with the team’s top selection in the 2019 and ‘20 drafts, Devin Bush and Chase Claypool are supposed to be rising stars in the NFL, foundational pieces around which the Pittsburgh Steelers can build.

Instead, the third-year inside linebacker and second-year wide receiver have become the lightning rod for criticism on each side of the ball as the Steelers enter the final quarter of their season with a 6-6-1 record.

Bush, in his first year back from a serious knee injury, is rated one of the worst run defenders on the NFL’s 30th-ranked run defense. Claypool hasn’t generated the type of impactful plays he did as a rookie, and his season has been defined by penalties and a recent late-game mental blunder.

Claypool discussed his controversial first-down celebration Thursday after the Steelers’ 36-28 loss at Minnesota. Bush met with the media Monday, the day the Steelers began preparing for their game Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

Bush, curiously, discussed this season in the past tense even though the Steelers have four games remaining.

“My third year was a year I never experienced before, especially coming back from an injury like that,” Bush said, referring to his October 2020 ACL surgery. “It was my first time going through an injury like that, the first time getting a surgery, the first time for rehab, first time being away from the game for a full year.

“It definitely was a learning experience. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of good times, a lot of bad times, but I think I’m still the same player. I feel like I’m the same player. I know I’m the same player.”

The numbers suggest otherwise. In 2019, when he started 15 games as a rookie, Bush led the Steelers with 109 tackles, including a team-high 72 solo. He also had nine tackles for loss. This season, Bush has started 12 of 13 games but is fifth on the team with 61 tackles, and he’s fifth with 36 solo stops. He has just two tackles for loss, another indication he is having difficulty shedding blockers.

“The stat sheet may not reflect that, but nobody out there on the Steelers football team is playing up to their potential,” Bush said.

Bush, though, is viewed as the biggest underachiever on a defense that cannot stop the run. The Vikings piled up 242 yards, the most allowed by the Steelers this season and the third time in a five-game span they have yielded at least 198.

In Pro Football Focus’ subjective grading system, Bush rates as the fourth-worst linebacker in the NFL, coming in at No. 47 out of 50 players who have logged at least half of their team’s snaps. Bush also grades as the worst linebacker at defending the run, and he is No. 50 out of 53 players in stop percentage — the ratio of snaps in which he was responsible for the stop.

Against the Vikings, Bush and Joe Schobert, the other starting inside linebacker, each came off the field while the Steelers gave the first playing time on defense this season to rookie Buddy Johnson (six snaps) and converted safety Marcus Allen (nine snaps).

“I think I’ve progressed tremendously” since the start of training camp, Bush said. “Nobody is playing their best football right now. I’m not going to sit here and single myself out or anybody else out. At the end of the day, we’re a team, and we have to keep building.”

While Bush had physical limitations early in the recovery process, he admits that the mental aspect of playing the position is what has held him back at times.

“If I had to make a good example,” he said, “if you get bit by a dog, who is going to say the next time you pet a dog (it won’t happen again.)”

Bush’s inconsistent play raises questions about whether the Steelers will pick up his fifth-year option for 2023 in the spring. This year, the Steelers declined the option on safety Terrell Edmunds, making him a free agent after his fourth season.

“I just play football,” Bush said. “Honestly, I go week to week. I don’t even know who we play next week yet. … I would love to be here. If they want me here, it will show.”

As for Claypool, he was benched briefly after committing an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Steelers’ first possession against Minnesota. It was his eighth penalty of the season, tops among all NFL wide receivers.

Fourth-year receiver James Washington was on the field in the final minute when Claypool’s first down pose cost the Steelers a few valuable seconds before the offense could run the next play.

“I think he just lost track of what was going on with the game,” Washington said Monday. “It’s a mistake on his part. I’m sure he owns up to it and realizes it. We haven’t talked about it since.”

Washington said the Steelers have practiced such hurry-up situations and the importance of spotting the ball on the hash or handing it to an official in a timely fashion.

“It’s one of those common-sense deals,” he said. “When you’re in the moment, guys make mistakes and do things. Yeah, it was a costly deal for us, but at the end of the day we’re still a team, and we’re going to move on from here.”