The Pittsburgh Steelers made an absolute splash of a free agent signing this off-season when they signed veteran inside linebacker, Myles Jack. The Steelers needed someone to come in and command the middle of the defense and Jack has shown he can in his six years prior to joining the team. Jack has been excited to join this franchise since the moment it happened. He just can't wait to play behind the dominant front of the black and gold.
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“It was definitely a surreal moment to put on that Steelers black and gold for a second, but I’m getting comfortable in it. I love it man, it’s a great look,” Jack said via NFL Network. “It was a no-brainer for me [signing with the Steelers]. The d-line that they have, I get to play behind those guys. And then just the history behind a great football organization.”
Jack was just a stat sheet stuffer when he was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He went over 100 combined tackles in three of those six seasons, amassing a total of 513 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 17 quarterback hits, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 15 passes defended, 3 interceptions, and 2 defensive touchdowns over the course of his career.
So, how's the Steelers free agent acquisition been performing in camp thus far?
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In a recent article published by The Athletic, writer Mark Kaboly gives a short summary of his thoughts on every player's performance during training camp in Latrobe. Here's what he had to say about Jack.
"Jack is the real deal … at least so far," Kaboly stated. "He’s at least a significant upgrade from last year. What was worrisome was whether his knee would allow him to be that sideline-to-sideline guy. I am here to tell you that he can, and he isn’t afraid to stick his helmet in any downhill situation. Will attrition eventually set in? Potentially, but there is no sense of that so far."
The biggest concern for Jack coming to the defense was his knee. Jack suffered an ACL sprain during Week 12 of the 2019 season and missed the remainder of that year. However, there were big concerns for Jack's knee as he was coming out in the 2016 NFL Draft. Based on Kaboly's synopsis, neither knee issue has slowed Jack down during training camp. Jack is now ready to take the preseason by storm when the Steelers take on the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
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"I am definitely looking forward to that," said Jack via Steelers.com. "We've been getting after it for a couple of weeks now. I am definitely ready to hit somebody in a different jersey.""It's going to be cool running out in that black and yellow, hearing the crowd as you get a feel for everything," said Jack. "I am very excited."
We know, it's "black and gold" not "black and yellow." Jack will learn that, I'm sure of it; he's just too blinded by the honor of playing for an organization like the Pittsburgh Steelers to get those types of semantics correct right now. I think as fans, we're all looking forward to seeing Jack go sideline-to-sideline in his first Steelers preseason action this Saturday as well.
What are yinz thoughts on Jack being the "real deal" in training camp so far? Sound off in the comment section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
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