Steelers’ Sean Davis moving forward from controversial late-game penalty
PITTSBURGH 鈥� With minutes of the Steelers鈥� heartbreaking 35-30 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday, Sean Davis arrived at his locker to a scrum of cameras and media members anxiously waiting for him to speak. He isn鈥檛 typically one to attract a lot of attention after games, but Sunday night was a different story.
It was Davis鈥� controversial facemask penalty on tight end Jason Witten that moved the Cowboys into field goal range with 15 seconds left, and ultimately led to Ezekiel Elliott鈥檚 game-winning touchdown on the very next play.
Davis knew of his mistake when it happened, and was well aware he鈥檇 be asked about it once he got to his locker. The rookie slowly put on his jacket, took a deep breath and answered every question that came his way.
Davis was asked Sunday night how hard it was to be in that situation.
鈥淚 feel like I weigh my mistakes very heavily,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really know how to answer that. I just want to come back tomorrow, look at the tape and get better.鈥�
Davis was back at the UPMC Rooney 缅北禁地 Complex Monday, almost 24 hours removed from the most adverse situation of his young career, in better spirits.
鈥淵eah, it ate me up a little bit last night,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 over. I can鈥檛 do anything about it now. I鈥檓 going to learn from it.鈥�
The play happened fast. Ross Cockrell had Witten wrapped up for the tackle, and the Cowboys tight end was driving his feet for a few extra yards. A group of Steelers defenders quickly aided Cockrell鈥檚 side, but it was Davis鈥� right hand that swung in and latched on to Witten鈥檚 facemask. Davis鈥� fingers were off Witten before he hit the ground, but by that point the flag had already been thrown.
鈥淭he speed of the game is crazy,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚 was coming in flying, trying to grab his shoulder pads but he was moving. Once I felt my fingers hit his facemask, I let go. I was moving so fast, and that鈥檚 why it looked so bad.鈥�
To that point, Davis played relatively well. He received 39 percent of the defensive snaps, checking in at corner when the Steelers were in dime packages and replacing Robert Golden at times at safety in nickel packages. On a third-and-1 play with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter, Davis made a critical tackle on running back Ezekiel Elliott that forced the Cowboys to punt and led to a Steelers鈥� scoring drive. But after the penalty, all of that was wiped away.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just that one play,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚 feel like it erases all the good stuff that you did, so that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 really hard on me right now from my performance last night.鈥�
Davis has received support from his veteran teammates.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a personal foul,鈥� Arthur Moats said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like he intentionally did it. It wasn鈥檛 pre-snap, either. It happens. 鈥� We鈥檝e all grabbed the facemask at some point, whether it was inadvertently or not. It鈥檚 part of the game. We鈥檙e telling him not to lose any sleep over it.鈥�
Because the Steelers have two rookies in large roles in the secondary, there are going to be errors made. For Davis, all he can do now is move forward and make sure the same mistake doesn鈥檛 happen twice.
鈥淵ou shouldn鈥檛 see anymore facemask penalties from me for a long time,鈥� he said.