Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed after Sunday’s 27-20 upset win over the Indianapolis Colts that veteran defensive back Jalen Ramsey gave an impassioned speech to the team on Saturday night.
“I noticed that something kind of changed last night when Jalen spoke,” Rodgers said when asked about defensive players saying they brought a different energy on Sunday. “It’s not easy to speak in front of the team, even when you’re a player. It’s unnatural. They do it every day. Mike [Tomlin] is fantastic about it. Jalen went on and on. Had the attention of the room. He said good stuff. I’m not going to get into it. It’s kind of need-to-know information. It was meaningful to me on the offensive side. I felt like we had a different energy in the locker room today.
Rodgers didn’t get into the details, but he did provide a small piece of information of Ramsey’s speech.
“I think he played with an edge. The only peek into the conversation last night was that he wanted to us to play with an edge on defense,” Rodgers said. “Didn’t feel like we were doing that enough. And they played with an edge today for sure. Really thankful that Jalen is here and that he felt comfortable speaking up and the guys responded the right way.”
The Steelers’ defense certainly had their way with Indianapolis, forcing five turnovers. With the Colts playing from behind for most of the game, the Steelers’ pass rushers were able to tee off on quarterback Daniel Jones. Watt had a strip sack and recovery. Highsmith also had a strip sack that was recovered by rookie defensive lineman Derrick Harmon. Steelers second-year linebacker Payton Wilson had a tipped pass that resulted in an INT by rookie outside linebacker Jack Sawyer.
“I give 5 a lot of credit for his leadership the last 24 hours. I haven’t seen the film. But the eye test, felt like he was in the right place at the right time on defense, and we were opportunistic,” Rodgers said.
Tomlin also gave Ramsey high praise after the game. With the Steelers dealing with a slew of injuries at safety, Ramsey stepped up and performed well at the free safety position.
“I can’t say enough about Jalen. He does anything and everything we require him to do,” Tomlin said. “We needed him to play exclusively free safety today. He did and did it at a high level. I’m glad he’s on our team.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Jalen Ramsey’s Passionate Speech Lifted Steelers in Win over Colts
