Dwayne Haskins took some interesting advice from Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan prior to Thursday night's 24-16 preseason win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Sullivan told Haskins to "be like the jazz players" on his progressions when he was in the game.
Haskins looked the role of a musician once he entered the game for Pittsburgh, relaying what Sullivan instructed him to do.
"Just pretty much be smooth," Haskins said after the win. "That's kind of what I was trying to do (Thursday), was just be smooth and a lot of plays will come to me. Trust in what I saw, letting my eyes tell me and my feet tell me where to go with the ball."
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Haskins finished 16 of 22 for 161 yards and a touchdown, entering the competition with Mason Rudolph for the Steelers' No. 2 quarterback job. He had an impressive touchdown throw to Anthony Johnson, recognizing the pocket collapsing and stepping up to his right. While running, Haskins threw a pass across the middle and found Johnson for the score -- one of many impressive throws of the night.
"It wasn't necessarily what coach wanted," Haskins said. "Like a lot of Cover-2, they weren't really spying me as far as defensive coverages. When the read wasn't there, I just bought a couple of extra ticks and I told the guys to work the second part of the route and get open if I don't hit you right after I drop back. They did a great job staying alive for me."
Haskins got off to a slow start, but was crisp on his intermediate throws in the second half. The Steelers finished 11 of 17 on third down, the majority of which were when Haskins was in the game. All Haskins wanted was another opportunity, and the Steelers have given him one.
"I really thought he was in command tonight," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. "He did a great job of communicating with people and going through progressions. He had a third-and-8 or something and I saw him go through three or four reads, throw the ball over the middle of the field and convert for us. That was just a snapshot of the type of night he had.
"I thought he was very much in command of his play."
