‘He jumps off the film at you’: Steelers DC Teryl Austin praises LB Patrick Queen

For only the third time in his career, Patrick Queen is in a stretch of accumulating 30 tackles over a three-game span. The Pittsburgh Steelers veteran inside linebacker has three passes defended and a sack over the past three games, as well.

Queen has never left the field for a snap during any of those meetings against the New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns — and the Steelers won all three.

“Boy, he just is really coming along, man,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said Tuesday of Queen. “He’s been playing well.”

There is no shortage of playmakers on the Steelers defense, which has allowed opponents an average of just 14.7 points over the past three games while delivering 17 sacks and seven turnovers.

But only one defensive player has not left the field over any of those games — the same one who played every single defensive snap of last season, too.

Queen.

Signed in March 2024 to the most lucrative contract the Steelers have ever given an external unrestricted free agent, Queen by most appearances has taken his game up a level from where it was in his first season as the standard-bearer in the middle of the Steelers defense.

Austin attributes that to Queen’s heightened comfort level in the defense and his role as a “green-dot” play-caller within it.

“He’s really playing fast right now, and it really shows,” Austin said. “I think you watch last week and the week before — I mean, he just kind of jumps off the film at you in terms of his speed and violence. We need that. That’s why we got him.

“It’s good to see that he’s really starting to feel comfortable and confident in that regard. He’s always been a confident player, but you know how it is. Sometimes you get into a new system it takes you a while to really get your feet on the ground and going. He’s got it going right now.”