New CB takes it and dishes it out

Former Chief tries to keep an even keel

As he was getting up to speed in his new football home, Steven Nelson spent a moment or two this offseason digesting, responding to, and, eventually, moving on from some unprompted pot shots hurled at him by an All-Pro wide receiver.

Yeah, he’ll fit right in with the Steelers.

At 5-foot-11, 194 pounds, Nelson isn’t the biggest cornerback, and he talks softly in interviews. Overall, he comes off as a reserved fifthyear NFL veteran, and there’s a reason for that.

“I’m like this because I always remind myself to stay even-keeled,” Nelson, 26, said Tuesday after his second practice. “Not get too high, not get too low, just stay evenkeeled.”

And yet, Nelson couldn’t sit idly by last month when he saw that Steve Smith, the Carolina Panthers starturned-TV analyst, criticized his play last season for the Kansas City Chiefs. In an NFL Network segment about the Chiefs defense, Smith referred to Nelson as a cornerback who “really didn’t cover very many people.” Nelson fired back on Twitter a few days later.

He smiled about the exchange Tuesday. “That was funny, man. It’s fun to me. I like things like that. But obviously, he’s retired, and it’s easy to talk trash when you’re retired. It’s all good.”

Nelson will have an opportunity this season to prove that the Chiefs will miss him and the Steelers were right to sign him for $25 million over three years. He mentioned his work with the first-team defense so far this spring as being “very contagious” thanks to returning veterans and new additions, which include free-agent linebacker Mark Barron, first-round draft pick Devin Bush and himself.

After a season in which he posted four interceptions in Kansas City, Nelson noted that he hasn’t had one yet on the South Side, but said he “finally” managed to make some plays Tuesday.

“In Kansas City, we predominantly played a lot of man-to-man,” Nelson said. “Over here, you get a couple different looks and variations, so you get to showcase your talent.”

It was actually a couple of ex-Steelers who helped Nelson decide on the Steelers. Robert Golden, who spent 2012-17 with the Steelers, played safety in Kansas City last year, and former Steelers wide receiver Markus Wheaton, who played with Nelson at Oregon State, apparently spoke highly of an organization and a city “deep-rooted” in football.

“The whole town is big on football,” Nelson said, “and I think when you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s a big tradition.”

In other words, he knows what he’s getting into. He knows a secondary that contributed just six of a teamwide eight interceptions needs an influx of playmaking ability. He knows he’ll need to have a “short-term memory” to continue playing at the level he ascended to a year ago, when he was targeted more than any other player but allowed the 18thlowest passer rating in the league, per Pro Football Focus.