PITTSBURGH — Keith Butler has gotten himself in trouble from time to time by divulging too much information, whether it was something as simple as confirming that T.J. Watt wasn’t practicing before he received a new contract in September to something a little bit more complex in terms of a game plan.
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The Steelers’ defensive coordinator has joked about his penchant for letting things slip from time to time and being told about it, likely by coach Mike Tomlin.
But when asked Thursday about how the Steelers plan to make up for the absence of All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday and will miss the game against the Chargers on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium, Butler kept quiet.
“What we are going to do, I am not going to say,” he said. “They are going to have to figure that out themselves.”
And he never did say.
With cornerback Joe Haden also likely out because of a foot injury, the Steelers’ secondary will be stressed against Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, with Butler’s options to replace Fitzpatrick limited.
Tomlin already suggested it will be a mix-and-match proposition, but the smart choice would be rookie seventh-rounder Tre Norwood, who played just one game at safety at Oklahoma. The Steelers drafted him for his versatility and moved him to safety before a need at nickel opened just before the season started.
Fitzpatrick has played every snap in 36 of his 40 games with the Steelers and at least 92 percent in each of the other four. Even though Norwood’s experience isn’t there, the Steelers have confidence that Norwood can be successful because of what they have seen from him since April.
“He’s a smart football player,” Butler said. “He knows pretty much where everybody is supposed to be and he knows where he is supposed to be. He is sharp in terms of what we want to do. The best thing about him is his versatility in terms of knowing different positions, not just safety. The nickel and all that stuff. He knows what he is doing and that always helps a player when they know what everybody else is doing.”
That’s especially important at free safety. The opposition must not be able to hit big plays over the top of the defense, and with free safety usually the last line of defense, the onus is on him. It’s also significant for a free safety to tackle, and despite being diminutive in size, Norwood has shown an ability to support the run defense when he’s been on the field through the first nine games, mostly as the slot cornerback.
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Norwood has 19 tackles, 18 of them solo.
“When he was drafted, Coach Tomlin called him the Swiss Army knife and he has been that for us,” defensive captain Cam Heyward said. “Every time I see him, I am like, ‘Tighten up, Tre.’ I feel like every time we are out there, he is tightened up. He knows where he needs to be. He is a young kid who is on the move and always on the rise. He does so much for this team, so much under the radar, that I think he’s going to be a valuable piece down the road.”
Fort Smith ➡️ Norman ➡️ Pittsburgh.
Congrats to @trenorwood_3 on being selected in the 7th round of the 2021 #NFLDraft.
"The Pittsburgh Steelers select Tre Norwood. Swiss Army Knife Utility Back Safety. Oklahoma." — Mike Tomlin#OUDNA x #SteelersDraft pic.twitter.com/Lxma9ohhkq
— Sooner Gridiron (@soonergridiron) May 1, 2021
It is quite unusual for a defender who has changed positions since college — he played cornerback in 39 games at Oklahoma, where he had six interceptions and 21 passes defended — to be so advanced mentally so early in his career. That’s the main reason why so few rookie defenders have started for the Steelers over the years.
Norwood already joined Ryan Shazier, Devin Bush, Kendrell Bell and Jack Lambert as Steelers players who started the season opener as a rookie. He played 80 percent of the snaps in the Steelers’ Week 1 win over the Bills, suggesting that he was already mentally capable of performing in the NFL.
“It’s just study habits,” Norwood said last month. “That’s something I’ve always prided myself on, especially starting back in college. Just making sure that whenever I’m learning something new that I pick it up in the quickest way possible, apply it to myself. (That’s) the best way that I can learn. I feel like that’s what helps me out a lot: Taking what the coaching point is, or whatever needs to be learned, and breaking it down into terms that fit best with me.”
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Cam Sutton has also been described similarly to Norwood. The fourth-year cornerback, a third-round pick in 2017, has played cornerback, safety, slot, dime and on special teams in his short time with the team. He has played 49 of his 224 defensive snaps at free safety, but 37 of those occurred during the first two weeks of the season when Fitzpatrick roamed around the secondary.
“I am not going to take away who (Norwood) is as a person, so I will say some of that is natural, too,” Sutton said. “I will say that his study habits are above average. It’s the preparation of not only what he puts in during the week but leading up to the moments. He’s on the details, the small details, that normally would get passed over.
“He’s mentally tough and physically tough and is a guy who has been put in multiple situations to be very productive for us. He has a lot of awareness of the field and plays with a lot of physicality.”
The Steelers have options. Karl Joseph, a first-round pick of the Raiders in 2016 who has started 49 games, will likely help replace Fitzpatrick. There’s always the chance that, if all goes wrong, Sutton could be moved there.
“We have a plan in terms of how we want to play them,” Butler said. “Hopefully, we have a plan for them to do what they do best.”
For Norwood, this isn’t an overwhelming situation.
When the Steelers drafted Norwood in April, Tomlin is the one who announced the pick. He did it in typical Tomlin fashion. He didn’t announce him by position, but as “Swiss Army Knife/utility back/safety.”
“He’s become a good player and a good fit for us because of how smart he is,” secondary coach Teryl Austin said recently. “And because of what he does, he’s got good underneath coverage skills, he’s got good route recognition awareness and he’s a tough kid.”
And he’s smart.
(Photo of Tre Norwood: Keith Srakocic / Associated Press)
