The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
FELIPE MORILHO FROM MARECHAL FLORIANO, ES, BRAZIL: Been a Steelers fan since 2012 when I started to watch football. That said, I am enjoying this season like the others, but I see something different from the previous ones. When we needed the offense to step up, they did. When we needed the defense to step up, they also did. That also can be said about special teams. I've seen a team getting more balanced, with good plays from both sides of the ball. Like you have written, Aaron Rodgers brought something that we've been missing. Sitting atop the AFC North, I think we can achieve good things this year. Do you see the team progressing towards a good postseason? I know that may be too early, but I can see good things coming from this team.
ANSWER: In an effort to try to answer your question, let me use what Aaron Rodgers said after the win over the Browns when he was asked if he was seeing indications this Steelers team could become a factor in the AFC?
"We're putting ourselves in position to start entering the conversation, but a lot can happen. There's a lot of time between now and December football. December football is when you want to be playing your best, but you also want to be healthy. We got some (injured) guys back today. I thought Joey (Porter) played really well. Getting Alex Highsmith back was great. We can throw Highsmith and (Nick) Herbig and T.J. (Watt) at you, and that's pretty tough for any offensive line.
"I think DeShon (Elliott) coming back on the back end (of the defense) has been a big deal for us. You go out and also get guys like Darius Slay and Jalen Ramsey.
"I do want to make a point and talk about Ramsey, because what he did this week getting ready to play, I've been around the game a long time, and I've seen a lot of guys in a situation where you've got a Sunday/Thursday, skip both games. Where maybe they're 85 precent, but they want to be 100 percent, because I think there's a fear of failure almost that can paralyze them where if I don't play my best game, then what does that say about me if I'm not 100 percent?
"I think some guys are scared to go out there and play, but for Jalen to go out there with everything he's accomplished in this league, I just can't say enough about the level of respect I have for him. He had, what, two sacks and pass break-ups and tackles. If there was any question about the type of person that he is – take away the incredible player – but the person and teammate, I think he just showed all of us the kind of guy he is by going out there and playing today."
In my opinion, signing proven veteran players from winning environments such as Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott and Darius Slay and Kenneth Gainwell and Jalen Ramsey, among others, and mixing them in with lifetime Steelers such as Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and Chris Boswell give the 2025 Steelers a chance. But as Rodgers said, "There's a lot of time between now and December football."
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JIM ANDERSON FROM TOLEDO, OH: I know that the Steelers organization was planning to replace the turf after the Cleveland game. However, with Chris Boswell badly slipping with his plant leg, do you think they will better watch the condition of the turf? Boswell could have gotten injured, or in a closer game this could have cost us the game.
ANSWER: I will admit to knowing little if nothing about turf maintenance and management – in fact I haven't even cut the grass since I was a teenager living at my parents' house. But here are some of the factors that came together this particular year:
Over the 6 weekends between Aug. 30 and Oct. 4, there were 4 games played at Acrisure Stadium – three Pitt games and the Steelers home opener on Sept. 14. That came after a brutally hot summer in the area, and the area also has been going through what the meteorologists have referred to as drought conditions with up to two straight weeks with no measurable rain not being uncommon.
In past years, the Steelers have re-sodded between the hash marks once around this time followed by a full-field re-sodding after the WPIAL Championship Games, which are played there on the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, the conditions necessitated two full-field re-soddings, and the first one began after the Browns game because Pitt's next home game is on Oct. 25, and the Steelers next home game is on Oct. 26. That will allow the crew to perform the work and give the new grass time to take root before being exposed to a football game.
And to answer a question appearing in other submissions on this topic, the Steelers pay all of the expenses for every re-sodding.
JEFF STENZEL FROM ORCHARD PARK, NY: Can you explain the non-intentional grounding call against the Browns? The ref said something like "there was a receiver in the area", which was more baffling to me than simply not addressing it.
ANSWER: I cannot, and the only receiver in the area I noticed was a guy wearing an orange Browns hoodie in the fourth row behind the end zone.
KEN MAULDIN FROM CLYDE, TX: What is the contract situation of Darnell Washington, has he signed a second contract yet?
ANSWER: Darnell Washington is in the second year of the 4-year rookie contract he signed as a No. 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and teams cannot re-sign players who are on rookie contracts until their third season in the league.
VICTOR CLAYPOOL FROM GOOCHLAND, VA: Why was Jalen Ramsey's injury designation changed from questionable to nothing at all? If I know my football correctly, it seems that he could have played either way so why go through the trouble?
ANSWER: At the time the Steelers changed Jalen Ramsey's injury designation, they were sure he was going to be able to play in Sunday's game, and the team chooses to adhere to the spirit as well as the letter of the NFL's injury reporting guidelines.
KEVIN KARASINSKI FROM ALIQUIPPA, PA: Are you guys going to use Will Howard at any point of the season, or are you guys not going to play him for the rest of the season?
ANSWER: The time to give rookie sixth-round picks playing time "to see what they can do" happens during the preseason, and that's over. These games count in the standings now, and so I don't expect to see Will Howard get any playing time unless there are a couple of serious injuries. For that reason I hope his first action comes in August 2026.
DANIEL GEISSINGER FROM LEHIGHTON, PA: Referring to the question from Keith Miller in the Oct. 12 Asked and Answered, wasn't it Tom Coughlin who would sign a player from the Steelers practice squad before a Steelers vs. Jaguars matchup? Was the rule regarding putting the player on the 53-man roster for 3 weeks in effect at that time? Side note: Tom Coughlin was the head coach of my alma mater, R.I.T., from 1970-1973. The R.I.T. football team has not lost a game since 1978, which was the year they eliminated the football program.
ANSWER: Yes, it was Jacksonville Coach Tom Coughlin who regularly signed players off the Steelers practice squad before those games and then released them once the games were over, and that practice was the impetus for that 3-week rule. But Coughlin earned a soft spot in my heart when his New York Giants teams beat the Patriots and Tom Brady twice in Super Bowls.
CHRIS WELBURN FROM GLASTONBURY, CT: Please clarify when the inactive game day roster decisions are required? When are they made public or released to the media?
ANSWER: Teams must submit their game day inactives to the NFL 90 minutes before kickoff of their game. There are no rules about when those inactives are to be released to the media/public.
JERRY LUTZ FROM RED DEER, ALBERTA, CANADA: A follow-up to your stat about there being only 14 No. 1 overall draft picks since 1936 who have earned election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Can you name them please?
ANSWER: Bill Dudley (1942), Charley Trippi (1945), Chuck Bednarik (1949), Paul Hornung (1957), Ron Yary (1968), O.J. Simpson (1969), Terry Bradshaw (1970), Lee Roy Selmon (1976), Earl Campbell (1978), John Elway (1983), Bruce Smith (1985), Troy Aikman (1989), Orlando Pace (1997), and Peyton Manning (1998). A 15th player — Buck Buchanon — was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1963 AFL Draft, which was before the common draft era. And so it is not counted in this statistic.
