The Steelers have been relying heavily on running back Jaylen Warren during Rico Dowdle's three-game absence and Warren's response has been to consistently produce when called upon.
Warren has also found ways to create explosive plays when the ball is initially supposed to go to someone else.
"Obviously, out of necessity he's played a lot of snaps for us and he's done a really good job and I think it speaks to his toughness, his competitiveness," offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio assessed today. "Certainly, we're gonna lean on him.
"But the 80-yarder, we were trying to get an 'opp' to (wide receiver) DK (Metcalf) and they blitzed and (quarterback) Aaron (Rodgers) threw it to the flat, nice read, and Jaylen just made it happen, went 80."
In addition to his 80-yard, catch-and-run touchdown reception in the first quarter, Warren had a 50-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter of Sunday's 34-22 victory over the Colts.
He finished with 101 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and 87 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches.
Such play-making from Warren hasn't surprised Angelichio, who is in his first season on the Steelers' coaching staff, but he also doesn't take it for granted.
"You knew from OTAs and training camp with the abilities that he has, just the consistency that he plays with, it's really impressive," Angelichio continued. "What he does now, it doesn't surprise me. He's just as steady as it gets.
"Each week I'm impressed with him. I just love his approach, how he practices, how hard he practices, the effort he gives. He makes plays without the ball in his hands. He's running to cover and finish a play downfield if a receiver catches a pass.
"It was just awesome to see him have success Sunday and certainly we needed that."
WORKING FOR HAPPIER RETURNS: The Colts returned the kickoff following Warren's 80-yard touchdown 54 yards to the Steelers' 43-yard line and wound up kicking a field goal that cut the Steelers' lead to 7-6.
Cleaning up such field-flipping returns is on special team's coordinator Danny Crossman's to-do list this week.
"Any bad play, I always start with me," Crossman said. "It was a call that was not a great call based on the return they happened to run. I was thinking something else and good for them, they made a good play. There's things that we need to do better with some avoidance and some leverage and some presses. And then when we have opportunities to make tackles we gotta do that. We missed a couple other tackles in other spots in the game.
"You don't ever want to start the game like that, after a big play, to give up field position like that and put the defense in a bind. Obviously, they did a good job to get the stop but that's gotta get eliminated."
The Steelers are also continuing to focus on trying to get more from their kickoff returns in advance of Sunday's visit to Tampa Bay.
"There's a lot of elements involved in it," Crossman said. "We're making progress in some areas. We just gotta get it all tied together on each individual play. You have one little breakdown, it can be a disaster play where, if that doesn't happen, you think you have an opportunity for a good play. Until we get those plays, the getting better, it's gotta show on Sunday.
"We just gotta keep working on those fundamentals and techniques and, hopefully, keep grinding and get a result, because that's what it's all about."
SO FAR, SO GOOD: Rookie third-round cornerback Daylen Everette made his first NFL start in the Indianapolis game and made an impression on defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
"The thing that stands out to me, the physicality, whether it's in the coverage, whether it's in the tackling, that's what I'm pleased to see from a young corner," Graham explained. "The run game in this league, at some point they're trying to get the ball out to the corners.
"My favorite play, I know he had pass break-ups and all the pretty stuff that might be on highlights, but my favorite play was a 2-yard gain where it got a little spacey over there to the defensive right and there was a crack-replace situation and (Everette) came in there, stuck his shoulder in there, helped create the wall.
"I loved that play. I loved that play. It was a good play by a young player, setting the edge into the boundary where most of this run game is going in this league right now."
Rookie seventh-round safety Robert Spears-Jennings continued to play in five-defensive backs packages when Jalen Ramsey moved up to slot cornerback against Indianapolis, as Spears-Jennings had begun to do late in the second quarter of the Steelers' 27-24 loss on Oct. 1 at Cleveland.
Spears-Jennings also got Graham's attention.
"The first thing is how he learns from mistakes," Graham said. "He doesn't make a lot of repeat errors, that's not what he does.
"I've always talked to, whether I was a position coach, even as a coordinator, explained to the rookies, 'Hey, you're trying to earn the respect of your teammates, show that they can rely on you when you're out there on the field.' He does that by his play, by correcting himself after having a mistake.
"And he's very detailed."
