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Pittsburgh Steelers' defenders are already stressing the need to clean up the area that cost them the most last season

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Rob Gregson | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 8:03 PM ET

It's hard to play high-level defense in the NFL.

It's impossible to play high-level defense in the NFL if you can't, don't, or won't communicate, but especially in the secondary.

And for Minkah Fitzpatrick and Joey Porter Jr., they know they have to clean that up...

Steelers defenders stress need to communicate

"There should be no gray," Fitzpatrick told local media after Tuesday's OTA session via SD. "It should just be 'This is how we're doing it, this is how we're going to communicate. If i give you a thumbs up, give me a thumbs up back. So when guys aren't doing it, it's establishing, this is what we're doing, if you don't want to do it you ain't gonna be here. Or you're not gonna be on the field."

If you recall last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a tough time getting everything aligned on the backend. It was of particular issue when the team played split safety coverages, as they just looked totally out of sync.

The #Steelers are having real problems this year in split safety coverages.

Lack of communication, totally blown assignments, bad eyes, you name it, they’ve done it
— Rob Gregson (@NFL_Rob) October 7, 2024

"It's really just communication and everybody understanding everybody's job on the defense," Porter Jr. added at OTAs. "Once you understand that as a whole, then everybody can fly around and move at their own pace. It's really just understanding the defense as a whole, like I said, and really just be connected and communication."

It seems simple enough, but communication on the field is far from easy. You have to remember, these guys are reacting to what the offense shows, with tons of motion and presnap shifts and personnel groupings, before countering based on what the offense does according to their own alignment.

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A game of cat and mouse, football takes all 11 people, on whichever side of the ball, being on the same page to achieve success. And if one person misses a call, the side that executes will be the side that wins.

So more details, better execution, and above all else, better communication should pay off for the Steelers.