Trey Edmunds steps out of shadow of brother for Steelers in victory

Anyone in a friendly sibling rivalry with a brother or sister who is too athletic, too pretty or too smart can relate.

Even during his best game as an NFL player, Trey Edmunds was Marcia Brady-d by the league.

The NFL’s official social media accounts sent out notifications that the injury-depleted Pittsburgh Steelers turned to safety Terrell Edmunds for usage at running back Sunday, and he responded with a 45-yard run that was the team’s longest in more than three years.

Morons pic.twitter.com/ftgJ5z0Ujn

— Dave Thomas (@davepit6sb) November 3, 2019

The only problem was it wasn’t Terrell Edmunds, the former Steelers first-round pick,who had the big gain. It was Trey Edmunds, Terrell’s undrafted older brother who was getting his first extended shot at playing offense meaningful minutes in a regular-season game.

Like the thankless role he plays, Trey took the perceived slight in stride.

“I don’t have no problem with it at all,” Trey said after he had 12 carries for 73 yards in the Steelers’ 26-24 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. “When Terrell wins, I win. When I win, he wins. That’s just who we are. As long as they’re saying somebody’s name, we’re happy. We’re just blessed, man.”

Edmunds began the regular season on the Steelers’ practice squad behind James Conner, Jaylen Samuels and rookie Benny Snell on the running back depth chart. But he was promoted to the 53-man active roster when Samuels’ knee necessitated surgery last month. Edmunds stayed on it after Samuels’ return to the lineup because Conner (shoulder) and Snell (knee) were injured during last week’s win against the Miami Dolphins.

Samuels and Edmunds handled the majority of running back duties against the Colts, although Tony Brooks-James had one carry for no gain a day after being promoted from the practice squad.

“Trey is a one-cut, downhill type of guy. Obviously, Jaylen is good out of the backfield (catching passes),” coach Mike Tomlin said. “It was a nice division of labor. Simply, Edmunds replaced Conner in a lot of ways in terms of things that they specialized in doing.”

Edmunds had long established himself as a quality special teams player, having filled that role for the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted rookie in 2017. Edmunds was signed to the Steelers practice squad in September 2018, about four months after Terrell was drafted by them and days after the Saints released Trey.

He was promoted to the Steelers’ 53-man roster for the final four games last season, serving a special-teams role. Edmunds had his first carry with the Steelers late in the win against the Dolphins, after Conner and Snell went down.

The past week represented the first time Edmunds went through a regular-season game week as a part of the offensive gameplan. Any nerves for him or the coaches melted away on Edmunds’ first carry.

Edmunds burst through a hole in the right side of the offensive line during a zone-run play and ran 45 yards down the sideline for what was the longest carry by a Steelers running back since 2014 (it was the longest carry by any Steelers player since receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey’s 60-yarder in 2016).

First touch ➡️ 45 yards

Trey Edmunds‼️#INDvsPIT

(Via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/WuvUwV4FKG

— PFF (@PFF) November 3, 2019

“Chances are scarce,” Edmunds said, “so when you get an opportunity, you just want to take advantage of it the best way you can.”

Edmunds’ lone NFL carries before these past seven days came late during a blowout Saints win at Buffalo on Nov. 12, 2017. Edmunds had a 41-yard touchdown run that day, so two of his 22 career carries have gained more than 40 yards.

Edmunds’ affinity and respect for special teams seems genuine. He takes great pride in his work covering kicks and punts. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t longed to play running back in a regular-season game.

“It’s something that he always talked about and something that he always wanted to do,” Terrell Edmunds said. “He got the opportunity, he went out there and made the best of it. So I am happy for him.”

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