Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle Chris Hoke did not hold back on second-year linebacker Payton Wilson’s performance against the New York Jets on Sunday. Hoke believes Wilson was the main culprit for the Steelers getting gashed on the ground for 182 yards (4.7 average).
“No-show by Payton Wilson in the tackles. You’re an inside linebacker, you’ve got to be one of the top two or three guys in tackles in the game,” Hoke said on the Steelers Extra Point postgame show. “Didn’t see a lot of him. I think that’s what he meant at halftime when Coach Tomlin was talking about guys getting on, getting off blocks, shedding blocks, making plays. He’s one of those guys. He’s got to look at the film and improve. I believe that he did not get off blocks enough and needs to make more plays for this Steelers defense.”
Wilson finished with five tackles in the Steelers’ 34-32 win over the Jets, but most of them were when he was chasing plays down. He did have a tackle for loss and one pass defensed, however. His TFL came on a third-and-1 play in the second quarter that forced a field goal.
Hoke also thinks nose tackle Keenau Benton needs to pick up his game.
“He’s got to be a little bit better. He was short on some of his gaps. He tries to make plays and he’s got to play with technique and that’s one of the things when I watch the film, keep pushing, keep pushing,” Hoke said. “Get in your gap. Don’t come off to try and make plays, you get yourself out of position and that opens up a gap in the middle of the defense, and that’s what you saw today.”
The difference in take-on technique from Cam and Keeanu is night & day. pic.twitter.com/s6wamNYqwP
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) September 8, 2025
Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen did not hold back after the game. He was not happy with what the defense displayed.
“We (the defense) played like shit. I am not going to sugarcoat it, we played like shit and if we keep playing like that, we are going to get our face mashed in,” Queen said. “It’s that simple. I call it like it is, and we played like absolute trash.”
Queen said it was minor details that derailed the defensive unit on Sunday.
“It was small things. Just staying in gaps, being physical and not getting off blocks,” he explained. “Every now and then, someone’s got to make a play. Sometimes we chase plays.”
The defense stopped the Jets on their final two drives, so the unit at least finished the game strong. Queen is happy to fix the mistakes off a win.
“Yeah definitely. I’ll take a win all day,” he said.
Wilson also looks forward to cleaning up the mistakes.
“Week One, just a lot of new guys around. We have to continue to communicate. Continue to make adjustments on field and not wait...
