T.J. Watt grew up a Milwaukee Brewers fan, and on Friday he was asked about the team that had just won its first World Series. “It’s awesome. I mean, it sucks the game started so late, so I couldn’t stay up for all of them,” the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker said. “Derek, my brother, was at a bunch of the games this whole playoffs. So I know how much it means to the city. Very excited for everybody back home. I think the parade is today, so I’m sure the city’s going crazy.”
Watt, from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, said he has only been to a handful of games since he reached the NFL, but “growing up, we used to sit in the bleachers.” The Brewers held their championship parade in Milwaukee on Friday. Watt’s own focus is Sunday, when the 5-2 Steelers host the 5-2 Cleveland Browns, the only team in the AFC North to beat them this season.
“Anytime you’re able to stop them 17 rushes for 18 yards”
Pittsburgh has won three in a row since losing 27-24 at Cleveland on a Thursday night in Week 4. Last Sunday the Steelers held the Saints to 18 rushing yards on 17 carries in a 16-10 win in Paris. “I think we have a lot of talent, and we have a good mix of young and old,” Watt said. “I think we’re continuing to get better. And as you see, we’re able to get to the quarterback more, stop the run. Anytime you’re able to stop them 17 rushes for 18 yards, it allows you to get more aggressive in the pass game.”
He said the veterans in their first or second year in Pittsburgh are “starting to mesh with what we do,” and the defense now trusts its coaches. “Anytime you have a lot of new faces, especially in the coaching room, it takes a little bit to build that trust on both ways,” he said, “and I think we’re finally getting to a good spot.” For the rematch, he named the big plays as the thing to fix: “Explosives. I mean, I think obviously you think about the deep pass.”
Asked if Myles Garrett no longer being with Cleveland changes his motivation, Watt said: “You’d have to ask the offensive guys. Honestly, we’re trying to win, man. It’s all that matters.” Asked about trash talk before the game, he said: “Well, I don’t hear any of that stuff.” On defensive line coach Domata Peko, the former Bengals nose tackle, he said: “Good vibes, man. Really good vibes,” adding that Peko “commands a lot of respect for how long he played and how high of a level he played.”
Jack Sawyer: “I’ll make sure I double up on that”
Second-year linebacker Jack Sawyer, who grew up in Ohio and played at Ohio State, said he expects Sunday to “feel like a playoff game.” He was asked about the first meeting, when he tipped a fourth-quarter pass that Robert Spears-Jennings intercepted. The play was first wiped out by a pass interference penalty, and replay later ruled the ball was tipped, so the interception stood. Sawyer was asked whether he told coach Mike McCarthy. “Well, in my head, I thought that I did communicate it, maybe not to him,” he said. “I thought every turnover is supposed to be reviewed, especially on a Thursday night game. I thought I didn’t have to say anything.” Next time? “I’ll make sure I double up on that.”
He said stopping the run is who the Steelers are. “You’re going to have to throw the football to make explosive plays and move the ball on us,” he said. “Last year, we kind of let a little bit slip. So we knew coming into this year, we’re going to have to really shore that up.”
Sawyer said he has plenty of friends who root for the Browns and Bengals, and he has heard about the first game. “Especially since they beat us for the first time too, which I’m looking forward to being able to talk some trash back to them,” he said. “But it’s all in good fun.” On trash talk in general: “All that matters is between the white lines, between the whistles. So the trash talk’s fun. It’s just what competitors do.”
He also praised Peko, whom he watched growing up in Ohio. “He’s one of the best human beings I’ve ever met in my life,” Sawyer said. “Growing up, everyone loved you. I loved you. I wasn’t even really a Bengals fan.”
The Steelers host the Browns on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. ET, which is 8:00 p.m. in Cairo.
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