DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Justin Gilbert update

Cornerback Justin Gilbert made his 2016 defensive debut Sunday night for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their big win over the Kansas City Chiefs and while the former first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns only played 8 total snaps in that game, head coach Mike Tomlin indicated Tuesday during his weekly press conference that he thought he played well.

“Justin Gilbert is just getting acclimated to us in the minute details of what we’re asking him to do to give him an increased chance of being successful,” said Tomlin. “He played a little package football for us, played 8 to 10 snaps, or so, on defense and if the circumstances allot, maybe he’ll get an opportunity to do that again.”

Tomlin was later asked if Gilbert’s role moving forward as a defensive contributor will only come as a matchup player or sub package cornerback.

“I think he’s still writing the script for that,” said Tomlin. “As he continues to learn the nuances of what we’re doing and display detail in his play, he’ll be provided an opportunity to grow and right now, the things that we’re asking him to do, some core special teams contributions and some package defensive work, he’s been above the line and that needs to continue.”

When Gilbert did play Sunday night against the Chiefs, there were a few times that he was matched up against Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, who is essentially used in their offense as another wide receiver. Tomlin was asked Tuesday if he liked the way Gilbert was able to deny Kelce a free release when asked to do so Sunday night when lined up against him.

“I did,” said Tomlin.

In light of Tomlin saying that, Kelce probably should have scored Sunday night on a short pass to him in the end zone with Gilbert in coverage late in the third quarter of the game as the pass that was thrown to him on one particular play was essentially dropped by the Chiefs tight end.

Being as the Steelers are likely to get rookie safety Sean Davis back this coming Sunday for the team’s home game against the New York Jets, Gilbert might not get much, if any, playing time in that contest barring in-game injuries taking place outside of him seeing the field on special teams. That is, of course, if starting safety Robert Golden is also healthy enough to play against the Jets as he missed the game against the Chiefs with a hamstring injury. Davis, who was nursing an injured back Sunday night, figures to return to his role as a slot defender against the Jets if he’s not asked to start at safety should Golden ultimately not be healthy enough to play.

Regardless of whether or not Gilbert plays Sunday against the Jets on the defensive side of the football, at least he’s making strides in his development, according to Tomlin, and that’s all you can really ask for at this point being as he was acquired via trade with the Browns right before the start of the regular season.

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best of luck to him

So he's covering a TE, this former top 10 overall pick, and got in eight whole snaps.
So glad Farmer is gone.

he certainly wasn't worth a first round pick, but maybe he will turn out to be worth a 2018 6th round one

That's the hope. haha

I saw him on the field on Monday night for several snaps. I thought it was around 5, but I could have missed some.

Regardless, I have NO PROBLEM w/the FO making that trade. ZERO!

I think the trade made a lot of sense for both sides

Sometimes a guy just needs to be cut, or traded for nothing, to realize that his dream could be thrown away in a heartbeat if he doesn't work as hard as he can.

how true - YTownBrownsFan

Then there are guys like Johnny and meathead who just flat out don't give a rats ass....

I don't think that Gordon doesn't care ..... I just think that he has some serious mental issues, and especially, addiction problems.

I pray that he gets his life straightened out, so he is able to work, and care for his child.

I am still OK with this one being gone. He may shine there at some distant point, but he was unreliable here IMO. Weeding the garden here is a solid move. Some of the darlings we kept and carried needed to go. I put him in that boat.

Anybody here think Hue would be keeping him and locking him in long term? I don't see it.

If anyone didn't care in recent memory, it was Gilber. The guy who would rather sleep than study.

I truly feel Justin is just a lost cause, and nothing is going to change that.

i do like to root for ex browns to do well. like hoyer and sheard and fozzy. its kinda cool to follow some ex players. gilbert goin to steelers, i dont think i can click on their website without hating the colors..

Sure looks like the Browns felt that way. But hey, for the Steelers, it might end up being a steal.... Love them or hate them, they have a solid organization. They are stable for sure. Maybe that's what Gilbert needs. we'll see.

Barry McBride Retweeted
Bill Phillips ‏ @ WPXI_BPhillips 30m 30 minutes ago Pittsburgh, PA

CB Gilbert # Steelers carted off field with an apparent knee injury-Safety Golden says if Gilbert can't go next man up must be ready @ WPXI

doesnt look good

Wow.

I know I don't speak positively about him, but ouch. Needed carted off? Hope he is alright.

wow - that's awful! I hate to hear about any player getting hurt

I don't like the dude, but that stinks.

Report: Justin Gilbert Injury Not Expected To Be Serious

For the first time in awhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers may have caught a break on the injury front. Despite being carted off from today’s practice, Justin Gilbert’s knee injury is not considered serious. NFL.com reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala reported the news.

A player being carted off is never a good sign so this is some surprising, and much-needed, good news. Gilbert played eight snaps against Kansas City, part of a grouping that included four cornerbacks and one safety. He was almost exclusively matched up in press coverage against Travis Kelce with the Steelers running Cover 1.

Gilbert has continued to see a bump in special teams work on the coverage units and seeing action as a kick returner.

He also serves important depth while Robert Golden and Sean Davis work their way back though Davis appears to be a full-go this week.

Tomorrow’s injury report should provide additional clarity to his status. The only cornerback on the Steelers’ practice squad is Al-Hajj Shabazz, a second year player who has never appeared in an NFL game.

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good for him

He probably just fell asleep while running and someone thought he tore his acl... He stayed down, of course, because he wanted to sleep another 5 minutes.

I don't like the guy as he was a complete waste of a 1st round pick, and I cannot root for him to do well, though I do not want to see him injured.

But I found this comment somewhat funny, as Gilbert played 8 snaps. I think the "next man up" to Gilbert is on the practice squad.

Or if they don't have a DB on the PS, next man up is bagging groceries

Yeah, I hate that he drafted himself in the first round. Aren't you blaming the player for the mistake of a former FO decision?

No. He hates the fact that we were willing to use a first round pick on him and he thumbed his lazy ass nose in our face and wouldn't put in the work.

Maybe had they looked a little harder they would have seen that coming. I mean, they didn't even interview him before the draft did they? I guess that's Gilbert's fault too.

I'm not a Gilbert fan, but at the same time I expect those who were in charge to do their homework.

Yeah I still, and likely NEVER will, get over the fact that no one interviewed Justin prior to drafting him. I'd love to hear Farmer/etc as to why they deemed that unnecessary.

Farmer's drafting hurt us really, really bad.

IIRC he had a first round grade, so it's not like we picked him 5 rounds too early. And the complete waste of his career to date is on him. He's the one who missed meetings, overslept, did not put in the effort and pissed away at least one clean slate. So yeah, I do hold him somewhat responsible.

The FO screwed the pooch on this one, there's no argument there. But from everything we know, there was a definite lack of effort and productivity. Gilbert's not faultless in this, he took the job, signed the contract and didn't perform.

I forgot to add that part of it is on the FO as well. It was a bad pick and they should have done some due diligence.

With few exceptions, most all the drafting done prior to this year (and later, who knows, we may count this year too) has hurt us bad.

I don't disagree with you at all. I just keep seeing a lot of posters who put all of the fault on Gilbert but never seem to admit that there's some shared responsibility there.

It's just shocking to me, and using ONE example, they'd bother to interview a third rounder like Cooper prior to the draft, but not someone like Gilbert where they obviously were prepared in taking high in the first round.

Where's the logic in that? There's no logic, just outright stupidity.

Yeah, but......all we heard was:

"it really feels different this time..."

"we finally have a guy who knows how to build a team"

"this guy is doing it right"

LOL.........sounds familiar, eh?

It always sounds that way during the Honeymoon Phase.

But when the honeymoon is over, MAN is it over! lol