Their reputations preceded them to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Jaquan Brisker's as a box safety and Sebastian Joseph-Day's as a nose tackle, but upon arrival both maintained there's more than meets the eye.
"I just feel excited to be used like a Swiss Army knife," Brisker emphasized. "Playing free (safety), playing strong (safety), playing that (six-defensive backs) 'dime' 'backer or whatever, just being moved around to showcase what I can do and help this team win and elevate my teammates and elevate the defense.
"Whatever I can do to help the team win and showcase what I can do, I'm willing to do it."
As a result, Brisker, 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, has a perceived to-do list as he transitions from four seasons with the Bears, where he had been a second-round pick out of Penn State, to the Steelers.
The way he sees it, the evolution of the safety position demands versatility.
"Just making sure that I can play in the post and play in the box, but also being able to play in, I'll say, field-boundary," said Brisker, a product of Gateway High School in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville. "If you really think about it, safeties are now playing 'Will' (linebacker), 'Star' (rover), you that you see that from (the Chargers') Derwin James, (the Ravens') Kyle Hamilton, the young safety in Seattle (Nick Emmanwori), and I could name plenty of other players that you see it from. You just have to be versatile but you have to be willing to know the playbook and know everything, and that's what comes with it.
"Because everybody's going to want to play man (-to-man coverage), if you think about it. When you blitz, when you run 'Cover Zero' or 'Cover 1' or when you don't have any help in the middle you're going to have to learn how to play man. So just upping my game in that category and obviously in the middle of the field, in zone and things like that, just being able to do it all."
Joseph-Day, 6-4, 310, is a former sixth-round pick of the Rams in 2018. As he's experienced subsequent stints with the Chargers, 49ers and the Titans, he's prided himself on becoming more than just a traditional nose tackle.
"Honestly, it's me not boxing myself in from the start," he said. "The beginning of my career, I played a lot of nose next to Aaron Donald. And then when I left the Rams, we kind of had a need, we had one of our defensive tackles that they signed with me get hurt. So they were like, 'Hey, can you play this 3 (-technique)?' And I was like 'whatever the team needs me to do.' And I did it, I just didn't box myself in.
"And then when I went to Tennessee, I was like, 'I'll play the 5 (-technique), I'll play the 6- (technique), I'll play the 4 (-technique).' I think it's me just not letting myself get boxed in, just being able to adapt and taking pride in being that guy that, whatever you need me to do I'll get it done, be that Swiss Army knife."
The versatility Brisker envisions was on display in what turned out to be his final game with the Bears, a 20-17 postseason overtime loss to the Rams on Jan. 18. He registered 14 tackles, a sack and two passes defensed while playing 100 percent of the defensive snaps.
"I could do a lot more," Brisker maintained. "I think that was just an opportunity that just came to me, just me being around the ball, coach calling great calls.
"I feel like I can do a lot more than you guys have seen. I can't wait to showcase that. That's what I'm waiting on, for me to be used a lot more."
