Steelers Now
UNITY TWP, Pa. — The first thing you notice about Darnell Washington is that he is just a gigantic human being.
Even within the confines of an NFL team, where 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds is a fairly average size for some units, Washington is a gigantic freak of a man.
When you get to know Darnell Washington a little bit, his personality doesn’t necessarily jive with his chiseled-out-of-a-mountain physique. Washington is humble and quiet. He smiles a lot. He’s tough, but I wouldn’t call him mean.
Great football players usually have a killer instinct about them. A finely honed edge that borders the line between personality and personalty disorder. That doesn’t mean that all-time greats can’t be great people. But there is usually a switch somewhere that gets thrown where their talent gets a burst of attitude that turns them into someone else entirely.
Washington hasn’t had those moments to this point in his career. But I think we’re starting to see them. At practice on Tuesday, he went up for a goal-line fade over DeShon Elliott. He had Elliott beat and the ball was delivered perfectly. Elliott held him, trying to do anything to stop the completion. Washington shrugged him aside and jump over the flailing safety for what looked like an easy touchdown.
We’ve seen more of that from Washington this season. What he did next, we haven’t seen. He flexed his bicep at Elliott, telling the incredibly, big strong and talented safety that he needs to get a little stronger if he wants to cover No. 80. His against-the-rules dunk in celebration of his touchdown on Saturday fit the same mold.
I’m not saying that Washington should become the next Chad Ochocinco when it comes to post-score antics, but I think that kind of behavior goes hand-in-hand with a level of confidence that I don’t think we’ve seen Washington have to this point in his career, and it’s refreshing to see.
In a red zone 1-on-1 drill, Jalen Ramsey was lined up against DK Metcalf, giving him 10 yards of cushion. Metcalf quickly broke off an in-breaking route and seemed to have easy access to the middle of the field.
Nope.
Ramsey drove and broke on the ball, wrapped around the back of Metcalf and easily swatted it away. I don’t know how many completions Ramsey gave up in 1-on-1s this training camp, but it couldn’t have been more than a handful.
It was a solid day for the offense in seven shots, but it did not come without controversy. The offense definitely won the day, but the winning margin remains in doubt.
🏈 Jaylen Warren took a handoff up the middle and scored easily. Connor Heyward had a nice kickout block on T.J. Watt.
🏈 Aaron Rodgers looked right four DK Metcalf in the right side of the end zone. Joey Porter Jr. had solid coverage and the ball went over Metcalf’s head and out of...
