Steelers' Keanu Neal has a good reason for downplaying his recent injury
The Steelers signed Keanu Neal this offseason in an effort to add both physicality and versatility to the defense. And while that was on full display early in camp, the veteran then went down with an injury, preventing us from seeing the secondary at full strength. But that changed yesterday, and Neal never was really […]
The Steelers signed Keanu Neal this offseason in an effort to add both physicality and versatility to the defense.
And while that was on full display early in camp, the veteran then went down with an injury, preventing us from seeing the secondary at full strength.
But that changed yesterday, and Neal never was really worried about missing time, even if the team desperately needs to rep a new package:
Neal: "We've been together for a Minute"
"It definitely helps man, me and [safety Damontae] Kazee have been around for a long time and we've been together for a minute," said Neal on how continuity has helped him while missing time. "So we definitely understand each other, understand how to play together, and how we work off each other. So you know that chemistry is always good, overall chemistry is good period. So, like I said earlier, just getting all the guys back and everything's, it's definitely what we need."
Neal, Kazee, and Fitzpatrick practiced together for the first time yesterday, as all three missed portions of camp for different reasons. But what would be worrisome to many, is no sweat off the back of Neal thanks to his prior experience with Damontae Kazee.
The two played together in both Atlanta and Dallas, before teaming up once again in Pittsburgh. That kind of familiarity goes a long way, and will certainly make a transition to a new team much easier.
But the play on the field trumps all, and is something Neal is looking forward to:
"I mean there are a lot of opportunities to do different things to disguise and really really confused the quarterback," said Neal on the usage of Pittsburgh's version of big nickel. "Different looks and things like that. So like I said, we haven't really got a full chance to really go into it with the injuries and everything but you know we have time now so so we'll get it going."
And the trio of Kazee, Neal, and Fitzpatrick did in fact, "get it going" unveiling our first look at Pittsburgh's newest version of big nickel, otherwise known as three safeties on the field at once.
Something that may seem trivial, this is a sub-package that is taking the league by storm, with the Steelers having the perfect body types and skillsets out of their trio to be successful.
So hopefully the injuries are behind these three, with a lot of interceptions and forced fumbles in the near future.
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