Long after the rest of their teammates had gone inside Tuesday, Sean Davis and Terrell Edmunds sat out on the Steelers' practice field at the Rooney Complex talking.
The two starting safeties were back on the field together for the first time since the 2018 season ended as Davis participated in an OTA practice for the first time this year. Davis sat out the first two weeks of OTAs with what he called a minor injury.
That time sitting and watching also allowed for a lot of looking back on his play from last season. And for Davis, the facts were clear. While his first season at free safety saw the Steelers decrease the number of explosive passing plays (30 or more yards) from 14 in 2017 to seven in 2018, he couldn't consider it a full success.
The reason? Too few interceptions. Davis had just one as the Steelers pulled in just eight as a team in 2018.
"It was my first year in the post and I was trying to get the hang of things," Davis told me. "Maybe I was more focused on being the last man back there rather than playing aggressively. Obviously, one interception is not enough for me. How many did we have as a unit? Eight? Eight is not enough for all of us."
Now entering his fourth NFL season and second at free safety after playing strong in his first two years, Davis feels those interceptions will come.
The coaching staff is preaching it, just as it made not allowing the big plays a point of emphasis a year ago. And perhaps just as important, the players are buying into turning the ball over more.
"That has definitely been a point of emphasis," Davis said. "I’m just trying to get better and learn different angles and read the quarterbacks a little better. One interception is not acceptable. We’ve got to get more than that this year."
It's especially important for Davis, now 25. He's heading into the final year of his rookie contract. And while he's been pretty good overall, he's not achieved the success one would expect from a former second-round draft pick.
Part of the reason for that is the Steelers have moved him around so much. He began his rookie season in 2016 playing slot corner. Then, later in the year, he became the starting strong safety, a position he held down all of 2017. Last season, with the addition of Edmunds and the release of Mike Mitchell, he was moved to free safety.
Davis had eight passes defended and three interceptions as a strong safety in 2017, tying for the team lead. Last season, those numbers fell to seven passes defended and just the one interception.
"I’m really excited to hone in my free safety skills because it’s a different skill set," Davis said. "It’s a different set of skills you need. I don’t want to say I was winging it last year, but I was learning from mistakes. Just to have another year under my belt, and to have tape to watch to correct myself. And we added coach (Teryl Austin), who brings a lot of different stuff. I feel like this is the year I finally put it all together."
Not only could it pay dividends to Davis, but the Steelers would be happy for him to have a breakout season, as well.
Although the team and Davis' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, have not yet begun talks on a new contract -- the Steelers currently have less than $1 million in available salary cap space -- a breakout season by their still-young safety would go a long way toward settling things down in a secondary that has undergone a major makeover this offseason.
Steven Nelson was brought in as a free agent to start at corner. The Steelers selected promising corner Justin Layne in the third round. Speedy linebackers Devin Bush and Mark Barron were also added to help on the second level.
"I see a lot of additions. I feel like we’ve upgraded," Davis said. "We’ve gotten better, adding Mark, adding that speed and power to the defense. Steve is out here to help us out at a corner spot. And Terrell is getting better, as well. I feel like we’re all progressing and making those proper steps to be a championship defense."
And players from championship defenses get paid, not that Davis is thinking long and hard about that right now.
He knows if he plays to his full potential and makes the plays available to him, the interceptions -- and perhaps a big, new contract -- will follow.
"I’m not too worried about it yet," Davis said of his contract situation. "I love being here. I’d love to play here. I’m just worried about getting more picks and winning games."
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