Sep 22, 2016 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Troy Polamalu hasn’t been with the Steelers in nearly two years but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still making an impact on the team’s secondary.

Polamalu was the king of pre-snap disguises in the NFL. He’d line up in one spot on the field and would wind up someplace else, completely ruining any pre-snap reads the opposing quarterback might have made.

He was, quite simply, the master of disguise.

Entering their game Sunday game at Philadelphia (2-0), the Steelers want to give rookie quarterback Carson Wentz as much to think about with his pre-snap looks as possible. They’d like to trick Wentz into making a mistake or two.

But with a pair of rookie defensive backs seeing plenty of playing time, you might think the Steelers wouldn’t have the confidence to try to disguise too much against Wentz. The Steelers (2-0), however, have plenty of confidence in cornerback Artie Burns and safety Sean Davis.

“They had the entire offseason, OTAs, mini-camp and training camp to learn the defense,” said cornerback William Gay. “We work on disguising things every day against our offense. If they couldn’t do it, they wouldn’t be out there.”

Defensive backs coach Carnell Lake has shown his players how Polamalu, who retired after the 2014 season, would disguise his intentions. The two young defensive backs marvel at Polamalu’s ability.

“You can start out in the end zone, but you have to get to your spot,” said Burns. “(Polamalu) basically knew how to get to his spot no matter where he was and did his job. That’s why he could disguise it so well.”

Burns, who plays outside cornerback when Pittsburgh goes with six defensive backs, would like to have that same ability. If he can display some of that Sunday, Burns could make things difficult for Wentz, who has yet to commit a turnover in his first two NFL starts.

Pittsburgh’s pass defense has surrendered plenty of yards (347 per game) in two games. But the Steelers have given up just one touchdown pass while intercepting two passes.

That touchdown came Sunday in a 24-16 win over Cincinnati when Bengals running back Giovanni Bernard caught a short pass and beat both Burns and Davis around the corner to get into the end zone in the fourth quarter.

It was another learning moment for the two young defensive backs, who were Pittsburgh’s top two picks in this year’s draft.

“It was just bad angles, a busted play,” said Davis. “We’re both fast guys, so it wasn’t speed. We took bad angles. He had the better angle. We looked at it, fixed it and hopefully it won’t happen again.”

The question is, can Pittsburgh do enough with its pre-snap movements to force Wentz into making a similar rookie mistake?

“That’s the plan,” said Davis, who plays the slot cornerback position in the nickel defense.

“He hasn’t had a turnover yet. He’s playing well. But he hasn’t been behind. Our plan is to put him under stress and see what he’s made of,” Davis said.

To do that, the Steelers will have to come up with some disguises. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler isn’t counting on that alone.

“I’m not going to make any predictions that we’re going to fool him or anything like that,” Butler said. “He’s seen a lot of stuff on film. Their coaches will do a good job of preparing, probably keeping it simple for him, giving him one, two or three reads and let him play.”

Davis, who like Polamalu is a strong safety by trade, marvels at the ability of the former All-Pro to seemingly be in two places at once at the snap of the ball. He’s seen it on tape and talked about it to both players and coaches who were with Polamalu.

“He definitely was one of the best,” said Davis. “It’s awesome playing with guys who played with him, that coached with him and watching that old tape and learning from one of the best. I just want to take some of that stuff and add it to my game.”

Wide receiver Markus Wheaton (shoulder) made it through his second consecutive day as a full practice participant. … Defensive end Cameron Heyward (knee), guard Ramon Foster (coach’s decision) and fullback Roosevelt Nix (back) were limited. … Quarterback Landry Jones (back), cornerback Senquez Golson (foot) and center Cody Wallace (knee) did not practice. … Wide receiver Sammie Coates leads the NFL in average yards per catch at 38.3, 12 yards better than San Diego’s Tyrell Williams.