Despite change in role, Gay yet to miss a game
STEELERS, FROM C-1 guys out. He likes to get guys where they’re supposed to be. He likes to discuss it on the sidelines. He’s probably going to be a real good coach when he finishes playing. He’s doing a good job with that now, trying to help the guys around him.”
Some veterans might have bristled at a new role in the latter stages of a career, but Gay has embraced it.
“As a teammate you want to win ballgames and try to win a championship,” he said. “I don’t give a dang if I’m out there or not. I’m going to be out there mentally or physically. Of course, you want to be out there physically so you can put your hand in the pile. But either way I plan on being out there.”
That doesn’t sound like something James Harrison would say. His messy divorce from the Steelers two weeks ago proved that. Harrison was in a similar situation this season after being bypassed on the depth chart by rookie T.J. Watt.
Gay insists there wasn’t much of a transition period for him to his new role. Even when he was younger, players came to him for advice. It seemed natural for him when Butler told him Hilton had beaten him out.
“It wasn’t difficult because that’s the responsibility of being the veteran in the group,” Gay said. “That just didn’t start this year. That dates back to 2010, 2011. I was younger, but the guys would come to me and say, ‘Will, what are the tendencies?’ It got to the point where Troy [Polamalu] even trusted me. To get Troy to trust you at a young age, it speaks volumes. He’d come to me on the sidelines: ‘Hey, Gay, what did you see?’
“I’ve been doing the coaching part. Now it’s just a different role, but I give the same energy each and every week.”
This could be Gay’s final season with the Steelers. He turned 33 on New Year’s Day. He has one year remaining on the three-year contract he signed before the 2016 season, but the Steelers have talented players waiting in the wings to take his place.
Rookie cornerback Cameron Sutton is one of them. The Steelers drafted him in the third round last spring, and he’s been impressive since coming off injured reserve late in the regular season.
A hamstring injury hobbled Sutton for most of training camp, and he missed the first 11 games of the regular season. But since being added to the 53-man roster, he has played in all five games and started one when Joe Haden was injured.
Haden returned to the lineup on Christmas Day against Houston and Sutton’s role has been reduced. He did not play against the Texans, but Butler devised a personnel package with seven defensive backs for the Browns game that got Sutton on the field for three snaps.
“We drafted him in the third round for a reason,” Butler said. “We like him. We want to get him some time. When he came off [injured reserve] we wanted to see what kind of guy we had. We felt like when we worked him and evaluated him that he could be a good player for us in terms of what we try to do, the versatility that we try to create on defense, and he was able to handle that.”
What this means in the playoffs is anyone’s guess, and Butler isn’t tipping his hand.
One of the lasting images from the AFC championship last year was Gay struggling to cover the Patriots slot receivers. Whenever Tom Brady had an opportunity to isolate Gay and get him in man coverage, he took advantage.
Man coverage is not Gay’s strong suit. He was beaten for a touchdown in the regular-season finale against the Browns when Rashard Higgins beat him across the field on a crossing route.
The Steelers pass defense has struggled in the second half of the season. Kizer, of the 0-16 Browns, threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns.
All told over the final eight games of the season, they allowed an average of 248 yards passing per game. In the first eight games of the season the Steelers allowed 180 yards passing per game.
Gay certainly isn’t the only Steelers defensive back that has struggled in coverage in the second half, but given his age and diminishing skill set, he’s likely be targeted in the postseason if he is on the field.
That brings up the question of whether the Steelers will look to change their personnel packages. If Sutton is going to replace Gay as the dime defensive back next season, could Butler make that move this postseason in an effort to get a better cover corner in the game?
After all, the Steelers trusted Sutton to play 57 of a possible 59 snaps against the Patriots in Week 15. That was Sutton’s only start of the season, and he helped the Steelers hold Patriots receivers to eight catches for 94 yards. Tight end Rob Gronkowski did most of the damage.
Of course, that would mean Butler moving out a respected veteran and his “coach on the field” as the Steelers strive to win a seventh Super Bowl. For now, it appears the Steelers will continue to experiment with ways of trying to get Sutton in the game, but not necessarily at Gay’s expense.
“It gives us a chance to know we have a little depth in case we want to do that,” said Butler, when asked if Sutton would have a role in the postseason. “Obviously, you don’t want to have seven defensive backs on the field all the time because they’ll try to run the ball on you if you do. He fits a need for us, no doubt.”