Steelers Now
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Roman Wilson’s first year and change with the Pittsburgh Steelers has been anything but ordinary. His first catch of the preseason, though?
Pretty routine.
After watching Wilson string together a handful of good practices this week, Mason Rudolph looked his way for a 19-yard pass on the offense’s first play of Saturday night’s clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Wilson, a Michigan product, fought through contact to haul it in.
“It was just a real blessing to be able to start the game off like that,” Wilson said. “Just a nice little in cut. It was nothing crazy. It was just a nice little dig.”
Wilson was tasked with beating Tyson Campbell, a known press cornerback, to make the catch.
“I didn’t really think too much about that,” Wilson said. “(I was) just coming into this game trying to perfect my craft a little bit and go out there and just play ball.”
Rudolph connected on each of his first six passes, including another to Wilson for a five-yard pickup. Rudolph found hulking tight end Darnell Washington for a 19-yard strike to cap the nine-play, 65-yard scoring march.
“Just coming out and executing,” Wilson said when asked what allowed for the early success through the air. “Starting the game off running. Mike Tomlin likes to say, ‘Don’t beat ourselves.’ So I think the offense did a really good job with that.”
Wilson played just five snaps as a rookie last season while dealing with a few injuries. Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said earlier this week that the second-year pass-catcher needs to get “out of his head a little bit.”
“Especially with what happened before, it just feels good,” Wilson said.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Roman Wilson Jump-Starts Steelers Passing Attack
