Some say the Steelers need to give him more touches. Jaylen Warren takes it in stride

He has been the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most consistent offensive producer this season, particularly in recent weeks. But while fans and onlookers might be sweating that Jaylen Warren’s snap counts and touches could or should be more plentiful, Warren is content going with the flow.

“I just make sure that every and any play I am in for that I make some shake,” the Steelers’ starting running back said Friday. “I don’t like to calculate how many plays I’m out of a game. I just know that if I’m in on this play, I’m focused on that play.”

Despite missing a game because of a knee injury, Warren easily leads the Steelers in yards from scrimmage with 688. Over the past four games he has 351 yards (290 rushing, 61 receiving), accounting for almost one-third of the team’s production in that time.

But during the Steelers’ most recent game — last week at the Los Angeles Chargers — Warren ranked seventh among skill-position offensive players in snaps played for the Steelers. Despite averaging 5.0 yards on his 14 carries and making two catches for 21 yards, Warren played only 24 snaps. Fellow running back Kenneth Gainwell played more (27).

It was enough that quarterback Aaron Rodgers after the game campaigned for Warren to play more.

The company line — via coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith — is that Warren’s snap count suffered because the Steelers did not have the ball enough (22 minutes, 25 seconds of possession time).

“We win more third downs,” Tomlin said, “we’ll get Jaylen more touches.”

But what about using Warren on third downs? Against the Chargers, he did not play one third-down snap. That was Gainwell’s domain.

Speaking Friday, Warren declined an opportunity to stump for an increased workload.

“I’m just playing football,” he said. “I prepare for whatever scenario is brought to me. So whether that’s third-down or every-down or (early-down) or either or, I’m prepared for anything.”

After three seasons as the alternative to starter Najee Harris, Warren is playing a career-high snap share in 2025. He has appeared in 58% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps after playing 49% and 45%, respectively, the prior two seasons.

Gainwell, meanwhile, is at 44%.

Smith explained the division of labor between the two in regards to playcalling.

“There are some things that are interchangeable,” he said. “There’re some things you do there, try to take advantage of some things the way they’re playing. That does change week-by-week. There’s a lot of packages where they’re both out there together.

“Both those guys are big impact players. Some weeks have been a little bit different in the passing game. There are certain things that you package for guys to try to get a rotation to make sure if you got two key players, that they’re touching the football.”

Warren made a name for himself as an undrafted player, in part, because of his fearlessness with the ball and without it, the latter showing in his pass protection, a skill that earned him plenty of third-down work when Harris was around.

Warren on Friday declined to express a preference for the Steelers’ desire to practice load management with him: taking select possessions off or coming off the field on third downs.

Despite the differences between an early-down running back and a third-down situation, Warren said he keeps the same mindset every snap.

“I just love the game,” he said. “I play because of the physical attrition of it. I take the same approach each snap. I don’t think of anything more. When you think too much out there, that’s when you play slow.”

The irony of the debate about Warren’s third-down deployment is that, headed into the season, some were questioning the wisdom in giving him a two-year, $17 million contract extension because there was uncertainty about whether he could handle a first- and second-down role.

Whether or not coaches are giving it to him on a game-by-game basis, Warren is proving he can handle he workload.

“I always believed in myself,” he said. “I didn’t ever care what the naysayers said or anything. I just play ball the way I’ve been playing since I was 8.”