Teryl Austin encouraged by Patrick Queen being building block in middle of Steelers defense

As much as he enjoyed having three veteran starting options at inside linebacker to open last season, Teryl Austin isn’t planning on the rotation system returning in 2024.

Not after the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Patrick Queen to a three-year, $41 million contract in free agency.

Queen played 97% of the defensive snaps in his fourth and final season with the Baltimore Ravens, and Austin envisions the 24-year-old inside linebacker carrying the same workload in his first year with the Steelers.

“We think he’s a three-down linebacker for us,” Austin said Wednesday on the second day of mandatory minicamp.

Austin, who is entering his third season as defensive coordinator and sixth with the organization, confirmed that Queen will wear the green dot in his helmet, which signifies the player that calls the defensive signal that is relayed from the coordinator.

It’s a designation that carries responsibility. To Austin, Queen is the logical choice because of the skill set he brings to the Steelers defense.

“He’ll be the guy who will be out there on every snap,” Austin said. “He does unique things because he can cover, he can blitz, he can do a lot of things, and he’s a really sharp football player. I’m really happy we have him, and it gives us a chance to build around him.”

In his first three seasons with the Ravens, Queen said safety Chuck Clark wore the green dot. Last season, Roquan Smith had the honors. Queen said he has worn the dot in practices and occasionally in games.

“It’s not really a big deal,” he said. “Coach gives me the play call, I give out the play call and we all play ball. We all communicate, everyone communicates on every play. The green dot is (viewed as) this big, old ‘He’s the ruler of the defense.’ It’s not that way. … I’m thankful for the green dot, but it’s blown out of proportion (how important) it is.”

Joining Queen at outside linebacker will be Elandon Roberts, a ninth-year veteran who is entering his second year with the Steelers. Roberts started 15 games last season and missed only one with injury. The Steelers used a third-round draft pick on N.C. State’s Payton Wilson. He is pegged to be the top backup at least until Cole Holcomb can return from the gruesome leg injury he sustained in the middle of the 2023 season.

Holcomb, Roberts and Kwon Alexander entered last year in a rotation of sorts, and they combined to man the two linebacker spots through eight weeks. A week after Holcomb was lost to his season-ending injury, Alexander tore his Achilles and missed the remainder of the year.

The Steelers are counting on Queen to be a steadying presence in the middle of the defense, a player they have lacked since Ryan Shazier’s career-ending spinal cord injury in 2017. Queen has never missed game, starting each of the 67 regular-season games the Ravens played since they used a first-round pick to select him in the 2020 draft.

“When you have a guy in there basically quarterbacking up front, it helps everybody,” Austin said. “It brings a calmness to everybody. When that guy is the green dot, and he’s there every time, I think that settles things down. Sometimes it can be a little erratic.

“’Who’s calling it? Who’s got it?’ There are times we’ve had to send it in from the sidelines, there’s been times we had different guys doing it. When you have that one steady person, that is really calming for a defense.”

Queen had a career-high 133 tackles, including 84 solo stops, last season for the Ravens. He had nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, six pass breakups and a forced fumble. Critics point to Queen benefiting from the presence of Smith in the Ravens defense as the reason for Queen’s production.

Austin doesn’t agree with that sentiment.

“It’s always great to play next to a great player, but he was trending into that on his own,” he said. “He’s a guy who was going into his third, fourth year, and each year he got better. I think that is more to his own growth and development than anyone else’s, and we expect that’s how it will continue to go.”

Linebackers coach Aaron Curry has seen Queen make a smooth transition across the AFC North during the three weeks of organized team activities and two days of mandatory minicamp the Steelers have conducted.

“He fits in perfectly,” Curry said. “He’s a natural. He’s built for this environment, and this environment is built for him.”