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Jeff Okudah was on the wrong end of a highlight-reel big play in Saturday night’s preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Okudah got caught out of phase in outside technique against speedy Steelers wideout Diontae Johnson, and Johnson made him pay.
Ben Roethlisberger’s deep pass hung up in the air a long time, but Okudah couldn’t recover fast enough to make a play. The long completion on the post route set up Pittsburgh’s first touchdown of the night.
It was a prominent bad moment for the second-year cornerback, an ugly rep in an otherwise impressive summer for Okudah. His defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, made sure that the media and fans don’t lose perspective of how well Okudah has progressed in his second offseason.
“This is the NFL,” Glenn admonished. “He’s going to give up a play.”
Glenn continued in a tone that suggests he was almost taking offense to the notion that Okudah’s skills are being called into doubt.
“He’s a good player. He’s been practicing hard. (On the play) his eyes were bad and he gave up a play. There’s been a lot of plays he has made. At some point we have to talk about those plays he has made instead of the one he didn’t make.”
To watch for yourself and catch Glenn’s tone, his press conference begins at the 5:59 mark on the team’s YouTube video channel of the postgame pressers here:
That is a coach standing up for a player who has had a very impressive offseason. That is a coach who played the position for a long time in the NFL and understands that perfection is impossible, no matter how badly certain fans might be deluded into demanding it. That is a coach focusing on the positives but not ignoring the negatives either.
Instead of slamming a promising young player that the team desperately needs to achieve his full potential, Glenn saw a teaching moment from a bad play. He’s not going to bury Okudah for getting beaten on a play — oh by the way a play that Will Harris as his safety help also botched badly.
Glenn understands that Okudah is a player who struggled with confidence in his rookie season. The Okudah we’ve seen all summer in Allen Park is one brimming with newfound confidence, now that he’s healthy and more experienced. Glenn refuses to let one bad play overshadow all the progress and shatter Okudah’s confidence. That’s good coaching; it won’t work for every player, but Glenn knows that’s how he needs to handle the talented young Okudah.