Farabaugh: It’s Now or Never for Devin Bush Versus Jaguars

The Steelers are down in Jacksonville on Saturday evening as they face the Jaguars. It is an all-important preseason game with Kenny Pickett and Jaylen Warren stepping up into important preseason roles. However, Saturday is also a hugely important day for Devin Bush. After having an up and down training camp, Bush has to show something in regards to his play on the football field.

Mike Tomlin was not even sure if Bush would end up starting. That matters a lot when Bush is in a deadlocked competition with Robert Spillane. Simply put, it was not made better when Teryl Austin came out earlier this week and asked for more splash plays from Bush overall. When does that splash finally start to come through for Bush?

This is the time for Bush to shine. He did not have a great game against the Seattle Seahawks. That much is certain. However, in his rookie season, those splash plays were there, with two interceptions, four fumble recoveries, and a touchdown to join that. The ACL injury can only be an excuse for so long until Bush has to show something.

Bush is an incredibly tough player to measure on some accounts. For one, he is not outright terrible. There will be people who say that, but it is disingenuous. Bush has been vocal at training camp and wears the green dot. The coaches trust him enough with that. Bush is incredibly gap sound and in the one-on-one coverage drills, has largely been solid. In fact, even though he is in that competition with Spillane, Bush should be the starter across from Myles Jack.

But that splash never came from Devin Bush. The inside linebacker position is one that is naturally adaptive to splash plays. The interceptions and fumble recoveries aside, what about tackles for loss? Where does Bush actively stand there? In his entire career, Bush only has 11 tackles for loss, and 9 of those are accounted for in his rookie season. Simply put, he has not made the splash necessary outside of that first year.

Here are the circumstances for Bush as it stands. His linebackers coach is Brian Flores. Flores is massively overqualified for the job, but regardless, there could not be a better person to try and teach Bush how to get back to that rookie form. Then, there is the fact that the defensive line will be better than it has been since Stephon Tuitt left the team. He should have the ability to play as he wants to, and that should be fast and aggressive.

Then, there is the fact that Bush is now a year and a half removed from his torn ACL. It is usually in that second year back that the players take the leap to get back to their former heights. If this does not happen for Bush now, when will it happen? How can the Steelers ever be sure that player will come back?

The Steelers have not seen the splash from Bush all summer. He has been fine enough, but there does come a time when the splash plays need to accompany that. If it has not happened by now, when will it happen? Saturday marks the point where it just might be now or never with Bush. The Steelers need to see an encouraging sign from their fourth-year linebacker on Saturday.