Patrick Queen found out when he signed this offseason that just because you play the Pittsburgh Steelers twice a year doesn’t mean you truly know them. The former Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowler loves being in Pittsburgh now, though, after others showed him the way. That includes one of his former college teammates, who let him know the scoop about training camp back in March.
“I didn’t [know]”, Queen told Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller on SiriusXM’s Movin’ the Chains, about the Steelers’ physical, full-contact practices. “Breiden [Fehoko] actually texted me when I signed. He was like, ‘Get ready for Latrobe’. I was like, ‘Whatchu mean?’. He was like, ‘It’s just like LSU camp’. So I was like, ‘As far as tackling?’, and he was like, ‘Yup!’. I was like, ‘…okay, cool’. In the NFL, it’s kind of crazy to tackle at practice”.
A 2020 first-round pick, Patrick Queen played three seasons at LSU. His junior year, he recorded 85 tackles, 12 for loss, with three sacks and an interception. Breiden Fehoko shared a locker room with him at LSU during the 2018-2019 seasons, playing on the same defense.
Prior to signing with the Steelers in 2023, Fehoko spent his entire NFL career with the Los Angeles Chargers. As was the case for Queen with the Ravens, he never did anything like the Steelers do in Latrobe.
Very few teams engage in full-contact practices complete with tackling in today’s NFL. That is partly because of the CBA, and partly because they pay players too much to risk injuries. But Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin views tackling now as critical to success in the season. Queen already said that he wants to cut down on his missed tackles, so tackling now doesn’t sound so bad.
After all, you’re not going to tackle in the regular season, and there are only three preseason games now. Increasingly more teams barely play their starters at all, it seems, though the Steelers will. And in Pittsburgh, it’s even more important this season as they get to know new players like Patrick Queen, a prized free agent.
Queen had his best season in the NFL last year for the Ravens, recording 133 tackles with 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception, earning an All-Pro nod. He has 454 tackles in his four-year career with 13.5 sacks, four interceptions, and five forced fumbles. And he is bringing a new level of speed the defense hasn’t had since Ryan Shazier.
While he didn’t realize beforehand that he would be tackling in camp, Patrick Queen has acquitted himself well in Latrobe. He and Elandon Roberts have been enforcers in the middle of the defense, which they need them to be. And we get to see that so clearly right now because the Steelers are tackling when others are not.
