Mike Tomlin on Devin Bush: ‘His game was spot on at the moment’

Although it’s now been a full year out of the tattered ACL he suffered in Week 6 of the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers inside defender Devin Bush haven’t played well in the first 10 games of the 2021 season. In fact, Bush’s performance in the team’s Sunday night loss to the Los Angeles Chargers was rated by Pro Football Focus as the worst of the young NFL quarterback’s career. With Bush seemingly struggling from week to week this season, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked to describe Bush’s play so far this season.

“His play is striking at times,” Tomlin said of Bush on Tuesday. “It was not at the level of consistency that we wanted or he wanted. But he has had some challenges from a health point of view and is getting back to work after his injuries and stuff that he’s had. He is the winner of the Ed Block Courage Award for his ability to come back. You look at some of the injuries, the same injuries that are happening across the league, people in a similar situation, they’re much less involved. Unfortunately, I’ve seen Bud Dupree, for example, put in IR last week and Saquon Barkley and others. Zach Banner, on our team, is still making a comeback. So we want more from him. He wants more from himself. But we appreciate that he has put himself in a ready position and is playing as much as he can and is having the same level of availability and steady production as he is. ”

Bush has strayed in several areas this season with his running defense looking really bad. He doesn’t play downhill very aggressively and seems to have a harder time getting off blocks than ever. His Sunday night play was broken up by our own Jonathan Heitritter on Tuesday morning and you can decide for yourself what you think of the young defender’s performance in that competition.

Cinema Room: Devin Bush’s Struggle Continues Sunday Night

Tomlin saying that Bush’s play so far this season has been “excellent” which sometimes seems like an understatement on his part. Spotty and all, however, the Steelers haven’t shown any signs of potentially playing less Bush for the remainder of the regular season.

On Sunday, the Steelers will play the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals’ offense looks to be going well for now, and that includes their running game, which was led by a rerun of Joe Mixon. You can bet the Bengals’ offensive game plan Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati will include some run in Bush’s direction and so the former Michigan first-round drafter better be prepared for that. there.

As we sit here in Week 12, it’s hard to imagine that Bush will have his fifth year pick picked by the Steelers during the season. However, there are still seven games left to play to give Bush time to prove he is more deserving to pick his fifth year pick. However, if his stellar play continues into the next two games, both against AFC North teams, Tomlin may need to really consider placing defenders in until the team thinks he made a full recovery from the knee injury he suffered in 2020.