Nick Herbig does 'job,' leaves others impressed in wake of his preseason debut for Steelers

Getting one sack and half of another while playing just 13 snaps in his NFL preseason debut wasn’t enough sizzle to get Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Nick Herbig’s blood pressure elevated Friday night at Tampa Bay.

The same couldn’t be said for his older brother.

While the young outside linebacker took a matter-of-fact approach about his performance in his first taste of NFL game action, veteran Nate Herbig couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I had to calm myself down,” Nate Herbig said Tuesday before practice at Saint Vincent College. “I wanted to run on the field and do my sack dance.”

While all the Steelers’ draft picks who played contributed to varying degrees in the Steelers’ 27-17 victory, Nick Herbig made perhaps the most jarring impact. In a span of nine defensive plays in the third quarter, he combined with DeMarvin Leal on one sack and then needed no help in bringing down quarterback Kyle Trask on another.

“I was trying to do my job,” Herbig said. “Like coach says, the standard is the standard. So that, during the season or whenever I get my number called, I have to go in and keep the same standard of play that Alex (Highsmith) and T.J. (Watt have).”

The Steelers drafted Herbig in the fourth round so he could provide depth behind starters Watt and Highsmith. The team also brought in Markus Golden to serve as a veteran backup, a move designed to give Herbig time to learn the defense and gradually work his way into the outside linebacker rotation.

Based on early returns, Herbig is ahead of the curve.

“He’s a hard worker,” Highsmith said. “He does pick our brains — T.J. and Markus as well. He is always picking our brains and is like a sponge, trying to soak up as much as information as he can. He’s been (pass-rushing) well at camp, so just to see him come out and do what he did, we knew that was going to happen. And so it was cool to see him out there making plays.”

For a while, however, it looked like it might not happen for Herbig against Tampa Bay. Although Watt didn’t play and Highsmith was limited to three snaps, coach Mike Tomlin took an extended look at David Perales, Quincy Roche and even Toby Ndukwe against the Buccaneers.

Herbig didn’t leave the bench until after the second half began. Bothered by a hip flexor he had suffered in practice earlier in the week, Herbig wasn’t sure he would get a chance to play.

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“But they told me to be ready if my number was called,” he said, “so I had to be ready.”

He did enough in two series that Herbig headed back to the bench for the final four that the defense occupied the grass at Raymond James Stadium.

“It was super cool,” Nate Herbig said. “I’m just happy for all his work. It’s a preseason game, but I know he’s not satisfied at all. If anything, he’s just going to keep working harder, head down and keep trying to produce whenever he gets the opportunity.”

One of Nick Herbig’s roommates at Saint Vincent College is first-round pick Broderick Jones. It’s a pairing that has carried over to the practice field, with Herbig lined up on the right side of the defensive formation trying to get around Jones at left tackle.

“He’s really elusive,” Jones said. “I’m happy for him. Just seeing him out there, he had a couple of nicks and dings he had to work through. But two sacks in 13 snaps, you tell me what that looks like.”

Judging by the way Herbig played against Tampa Bay, he could be in line for increased snaps Saturday night when the Steelers play the Buffalo Bills in their only home game of the preseason. And perhaps he will get into the game before the opposing team’s starters have departed.

“You want to see them against better competition,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said, referring to Herbig and other young defensive players on the Steelers. “You want them playing down after down and a number of snaps in a row. So far, so good.”