The start of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp brings many things. The fresh start of a season. Intense competition periods. A throng of fans making the trip daily. And special teams coordinator Danny Smith\u2019s booming voice. Rookie linebacker Jack Sawyer has already heard it.<\/p>\n
Joining Cam Heyward\u2019s Not Just Football podcast<\/a> that aired Tuesday, Sawyer shared one humorous interaction with Smith from the spring.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first day me and Carson Bruener were sitting next to each other,\u201d Sawyer told the show. \u201cAnd Danny Smith\u2019s a little colorful the way he talks. We\u2019re sitting there and he\u2019s going down the line of all of us. He\u2019s like, \u2018Carson Bruener, you\u2019ve got good technique, you\u2019re a good player. You gotta get lower.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Jack, you\u2019ve never played special teams, have you?\u2019 I said, \u2018No sir.\u2019 He was like, \u2018You run around like a wild man. Ain\u2019t no one\u2019s got their hands on the fucking steering wheel. You gotta learn what you doing.’\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, those comments were said in the loving way that Smith brings. His job will be to show Sawyer, a star linebacker for Ohio State\u2019s defense, the ropes of football\u2019s third phase. Though Pittsburgh had enough interest in Sawyer to nearly trade up for him,<\/a> he enters the NFL as the Steelers\u2019 fourth-string outside linebacker. That means more snaps on special teams than on defense.<\/p>\n Per Pro Football Focus, Sawyer logged just 119 career college special teams snaps. Many of them came on the field goal-rush team with virtually zero covering kicks or punts, something he\u2019ll be doing routinely this summer and fall. Typically, the Steelers\u2019 No. 4 outside linebacker is a \u201ccore\u201d special teamer playing on at least four units: kick coverage and return along with punt coverage and return.<\/p>\n They can play upwards of 300 total special teams snaps alone and can\u2019t be taken for granted. One big play created, or allowed, can turn a game on its head.<\/p>\n Sawyer is excited for the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d he said. \u201cI like Danny Smith. Like the energy he brings. And excited to play those units and earn a role hopefully on as many as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n Several of Jack Sawyer\u2019s new teammates enter camp with the same mission. That includes fellow draft pick ILB Carson Bruener. As Smith alluded to in his quote, Bruener played extensively on special teams throughout his Washington Huskies career. Even as a 100-tackle starting linebacker last season, Bruener logged 82 special teams snaps, nearly matching Sawyer\u2019s career mark. Others like veteran Mark Robinson and a slew of players at the end of the roster will also be in the mix.<\/p>\n As a fourth-round pick, Saywer\u2019s odds of making the roster are high.<\/a> But to earn the coaching staff\u2019s trust and a role, he\u2019ll need to impress Danny Smith and work his way up the ladder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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