Steelers' Calvin Austin III Gave Detailed Account Of The Team's 'Players Only' Meeting

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a very frustrating loss at the hands of the Houston Texans in Week 4 of the 2023 NFL season. The Steelers were favorites in the game, and wound up losing by 24 points. The offense was only able to produce six points and never found the end zone. The whole game was embarrassing, and the Steelers didn't look good in any particular aspect. After the game, third-year running back, Najee Harris was supposedly telling his teammates about a players only type of meeting during the upcoming week.  

Harris has certainly grown into one of the main offensive leaders in Pittsburgh, which explains why he was trying to rally his teammates following the loss to Houston. Harris personally had his best game of the 2023 season so far, averaging over five yards per carry with 71 yards and one reception for 32 yards. 

He also looked generally more explosive, and it seemed like he was seeing the field better than he has all year long. In fact, one of the main criticisms from the game is that Harris didn't get the ball on the critical fourth-and-one that the Steelers failed to convert. 

Steelers Hold "Players Only" Meeting

Calvin Austin III was asked during his locker room media scrum about the rumored meeting that the players had following the loss to the Texans. He made sure to let everyone know that this players only meeting was not one with everyone pointing fingers and getting into arguments, and it was actually a lot about players seeing where they can individually improve. 

"Yeah, it just went right back to when we looked at film, each person looking at themselves. We're not pointing fingers at different positions. It was just each person looking at it l would have strained more for this block, we could've had a big play that would have changed the dynamic of the game. Forget all the talking about this and that, let's just focus on ourselves."

Austin III's last comment, about the players just focusing on themselves and ignoring the outside noise, seems like it might stem from all the talk coming from outside the organization about how there needs to be coaching changes. Specifically, Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada getting fired or demoted. This is something Harris spoke about earlier in the week, when he called out everyone asking for Canada to lose his job. 

When asked specifically about the players only meeting, Austin III described that players were given the opportunity to speak about how they have been feeling. In addition to players looking at what they can do better on the field as individuals, Austin III spoke about the team trying to gain a better connection and improve their team chemistry. 

"I wouldn't say players only, but there were definitely some players that voiced how they have been feeling. I think we've been on the same page, but we just got even more on the same page and in-tune with each other."

If a players only meeting sounds familiar, that's because it is. The Steelers also had one while they were struggling during the 2022 NFL season. They started the season 2-6, and desperately needed to turn their season around. They had the players only meeting during their bye week, and then looked like an entirely new football team in the second half of the year. They went 7-2 in the back half of the year and finished with a 9-8 record. After being 2-6, they had a chance to make the playoffs going into Week 18 of the season, however they came up just short.

The fact that a meeting of this kind happened this early in the season is slightly concerning. However, it did work in 2022. Hopefully it has a similar result in 2023 and the Steelers can stack together a few wins along with some nice offensive performances.