Healthy Larry Ogunjobi helps Steelers defensive line get off to strong start to season

It wasn’t Mike Tomlin’s intention to jinx Larry Ogunjobi by talking about the 30-year-old defensive lineman’s health.

At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Tomlin lauded Ogunjobi’s ability to play pain-free in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season opener, and how his efforts applying pressure contributed to an 18-10 victory against the Atlanta Falcons.

A day later at practice, Ogunjobi was a limited participant because of a knee injury.

Ogunjobi returned to practice fully the final two days of the week, and he carries no injury designation heading into the Steelers’ game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Stadium.

Much to Tomlin’s relief, no doubt.

“This has been an awesome offseason for him,” Tomlin said earlier in the week. “He was healthy all offseason. He went into training camp and team development healthy, and it allowed him to participate in the process.

“Really, that’s the first time he’s been able to do that since he’s been here. It’s reasonable to expect the play to reflect that.”

In the opener, Ogunjobi looked like the disruptive force the Steelers anticipated when they signed him to an $8 million contract in 2022, then extended for three more years and $28.75 million in March 2023. Ogunjobi had two of the seven hits the Steelers applied to Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, and he was credited with a hurry. Ogunjobi was bearing down on Cousins when the veteran passer threw interceptions to safety DeShon Elliott and cornerback Donte Jackson.

Defensive captain Cameron Heyward called Ogunjobi an “unsung hero” for a unit that allowed 50 yards, three first downs and zero points after halftime.

“Larry had a lot of great pressures that were critical to turnovers,” Heyward said. “Having that balance up front and on the back end, we can create some splash plays.”

Thanks to the contributions of Ogunjobi, Heyward, nose tackle Montravius Adams and other members of the defensive line rotation, the Steelers had three takeaways against the Falcons. They averaged 1.58 takeaways last season when they tied for eighth in the NFL with 27 overall.

“They took over,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “I had four tackle attempts, and it was boring. When you’ve got a D-line like that, it’s hard to make plays. But as long as they’re making plays, we’re all happy.”

The pressure created by the defensive line — plus outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith — enabled the Steelers to blitz on just 10.7% of the snaps against the Falcons, tying for the third-lowest blitz percentage in Week 1. That was a sharp departure from last season when the Steelers blitzed 34.1% of the time, the sixth-highest percentage in the league.

The Steelers sacked Cousins twice, with Watt getting one and penalties wiping out two others. Adams got the other sack, with Heyward in the vicinity when Cousins was dropped. With Heyward (35) and Ogunjobi (34) getting the most snaps, the Steelers used six defensive linemen in the rotation.

Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin thought Ogunjobi’s availability benefited the way the linemen rotated.

“I think when you look at it and you look at the play snaps, because guys are playing well, and some of the young guys have come along … we can possibly keep those guys, instead of playing 70 snaps a game, we can keep them down in an area when they are out there, they are really going fast,” Austin said. “It helped us in that regard.”

When Ogunjobi signed with the Steelers in June 2022, he was coming off foot surgery, an injury that scuttled his plans of signing a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears three months earlier. Although Ogunjobi missed just one game that season, his appearance on the practice field was infrequent. He often rested one or more days during the practice week so he could be available on Sundays.

Last year, another foot injury suffered in training camp set him back. Ogunjobi didn’t appear in any preseason games and was questionable for the season opener. He didn’t miss game, but he again wasn’t playing pain-free. A shoulder injury also nagged him throughout the season.

This summer was different. Ogunjobi occasionally rested but was not limited in training camp, and he played in all three preseason games.

“The one thing with him being healthy is he obviously gets a lot more practice time,” Austin said. “He’s going to be a lot sharper in terms of technique and things like that. I thought that at the ‘bigs’ last week, he played really well inside.”

As evidenced by Ogunjobi’s play in the opener, the Steelers got a glimpse of the player who had seven sacks in 2021, his lone season with the Cincinnati Bengals. And a player who emerged as a force in the AFC North in four seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

“Beyond just good health and (providing) good depth, Larry can be a really good contributor to this team,” Heyward said. “Turnovers were caused by his pressure. He’s an underrated guy who doesn’t always get the love he should. The more healthy he is, the more he can be on the field, and he’s going to be a better player because of it.”

Which, of course, would suit Tomlin just fine.

“I don’t think any of us are surprised that he’s a positive asset to us,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I can’t wait to watch it continue because he’s teed up for it.”