Omar Khan - Media Availability, steelers Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-08-31 | Full transcript (primary source).
Omar Khan addressed the media during a press conference for the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 31, 2026, following the conclusion of the team's training camp and preseason activities. The session focused on roster updates and preparations as the team transitioned into the regular season.
Transcript
Khan: Hey, before I get started, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone that's been involved in the training camp and preseason process for us, and it's been a real smooth process. It takes a lot of people to make it work, and it's been great, and I just want to say thank you to them. I also want to express my gratitude to Father Paul and St. Vincent College for the way they embraced us, and also the really La Trobe and the great La Trobe community. They were wonderful. They really embraced us as always, and I'm excited that we'll be going back next year, so thanks to them. With respect to the roster, let me just say I'm excited that we're about to start talking about real football. You know, the preseason was great, the offseason was great, but I'm glad we're focused on shifting here in the regular season. With respect to the roster, I had mentioned to you guys earlier on that, you know, keeping four quarterbacks was a possibility, and, you know, that's where we are. We're excited. I like that room. I like the mix. I like the four guys that are in there, and, you know, the two young guys are exciting. You know, there's a lot of – there's a – excited about the future with those guys, so I'm glad we have them. We made a couple of trades this weekend. You know, I just want to say thanks to Broderick and Caleb, you know, those guys. I appreciate their services here, and, you know, I still think they're really good football players, and sometimes a change of scenery is good for everyone, and I think they have a long – a good future in the NFL, and excited to see how they progress. With respect to the rest of the roster, you know, with injuries, you know, Deshaun Elliott and Jack Driscoll went on injured reserve with the designation to return. With Deshaun, you know, just – you know, he had a significant injury last year, and it's been less than a year, so we just said, hey, let's be smart about it. He hasn't – there's been nothing to tell us that things have regressed or there was any type of setback, but, you know, he played in the Jets preseason game, and we were able to see how, you know, how he came out of that, and just felt like the right thing to do is to be smart and have him ready to go. But excited to have him on the roster, and, you know, when he's ready to go, we'll have him back up. And just with some other injuries, just so you guys are aware, just leading up to Atlanta, you know, all these guys are trending positively to be available to us for that game. You know, Will Howard and Ben Skironic, they had concussions, earned a protocol, but I see them clearing in the next couple days here. Raleigh Nowakowski had a – had an ankle, and he is – he's good to go. DK and Pitt, you know, those guys will be smart, easing these guys in the next – this week, but don't foresee any issues there. Things are very positive there. Jaquan Brisker, positive, and Sebastian Joseph Day. They're all positive and expect them to be available to us for Atlanta. With regard to the practice squad, you know, we're in the process of finalizing that right now. These are the guys that I can confirm to you guys have been signed here just a little bit ago. Running back, we had Travis Homer and Lou Nichols. Wide receiver was Max Herlman and Brandon Smith, tight end, Lake McCree. O-line, we had Doug Nester and Steven Jones. D-line, Essezy, Atomewo, and Kyler Baugh. Defensive backs, Danico Slaughter and Sebastian Castro. And then linebackers, we have Jacobi Windman and Julius Welschoff, who's going to have the international designation. We still have four spots. We're working through that right now, and when we have the whole process from the physicals and the signings, I'm sure Burton, his crew, will confirm to you guys and with that, happy to take any questions.
Reporter: Omar, might you bring the landing back, or is that a shift?
Khan: Not closing the door on that by any means. I have a lot of respect for E-Rob. You know, we have some history with him, and he's done a good job and love the player and love the person. Certainly not closing the door.
Reporter: Omar, 35 of the last 38 draft picks made the team. Is that an organizational plan to figure you're drafting them, you like them? Could pass you more than coincidence.
Khan: Yeah, I didn't really know what that number was, but I think Jerry, we had 11 rookies make it this year, and they all earned it. And there's also a lot of credit that goes to those coaches for helping those guys grow and get to the point where we are now. But that's a good number to have, right? The more players, the young guys that you have that are making it, it's good. But to tell you that there's a plan where we're saying, hey, because they're at this level, they have to make it now. These guys all earned it.
Reporter: Omar, is it your anticipation, Joey Porter will practice and be available for Atlanta?
Khan: Not just, in the next couple weeks, not just Joey, but anyone that we feel is healthy and available to us, we expect them to practice.
Reporter: So he does not have an injury, and he's off the top of his head?
Khan: He got taken off, our medical staff felt like he was good to go.
Reporter: Regarding his contract in European aid, why is it doing not brought us down with him?
Khan: No, like any other player, we won't talk publicly about the negotiations per se. But Joey knows how we feel about him, and I still hope Joey finishes his career here.
Reporter: Has he told you that he anticipates on Brexit?
Khan: I'll keep those conversations between us.
Reporter: Do you anticipate a deal potentially getting done by the start of the season, knowing the policy you have?
Khan: Yeah, our policy is gonna remain in place. But I'm not gonna talk about negotiation.
Reporter: Omar, barring any injury, do you plan on keeping four quarterbacks the entire season?
Khan: I mean, those guys earned it. I mean, I can't tell you how the season goes, but there's no reason for me to believe that those four guys won't be here all year.
Reporter: Mr. Shawn, on the injured reserve list, how do you see safety shaking out? Is that an area you might still try to find some debt?
Khan: We'll probably add a vet, maybe on the practice squad, someone with some experience. But I'll tell you a thing that's been exciting there is the growth of Robert Spears Jennings. I mean, he's really come along. I don't say it was necessarily a pleasant surprise cuz we really liked him coming out. But he's done a really good job, and I expect him to contribute this year.
Reporter: Relatedly, with offensive line, how do you feel about the debt there, specifically a tackle after trading way broader?
Khan: Yeah, good question, Brooke. We feel good about the room. We wouldn't have traded them if we didn't feel good about the rest of the room, and you guys have heard me use this several times. But position, flexibility, and versatility, and we feel we have guys there that can do that. Like Spencer Anderson, for example, we have him listed a guard, but he could obviously help us a tackle if need be at some point. But we feel good about it.
Reporter: Omar, what did it come down to with Broderick? Was it the struggles kind of going left to right, what was?
Khan: There's several things, but I'll just say, I still think Broderick has a lot of football left, and sometimes a change of scenery is good for everyone.
Reporter: Is Cook the starter right tackle?
Khan: I'll let Coach talk to you guys about all that as the week goes on.
Reporter: And when you said the door isn't closed with Alandon Roberts, but kind of what were some of the factors in letting him go after adding him in camp?
Khan: Yeah, maybe unfair to him, but he came in a couple weeks ago, and he did a good job for us, just to the numbers game. It says a lot about the growth of a guy like Carson Brooner, for example. And just, we kept four inside linebackers, and that's how it shook out.
Reporter: I'm a nursing death history zip receiver last year. How do you feel about that room, and then Jeremy came in during training camp? And how do you feel about that room?
Khan: Yeah, I feel good about that room. What I really like is the fact that I've watched these guys from the spring to where they are now, and how they've grown. And that's a credit to our coach, you said, but how they've grown, and gotten better, and the young guys acclimating to the older guys. I just, it's been, it's been cool to watch.
Reporter: And what local camp you and I had already made the team, what did you see out of him that allowed him to earn a spot on this team here?
Khan: He earned it, and we saw some things in the games that you guys all watched. But for those of you who were in La Trobe, you guys see it on the practice field. There's some versatility there, and some playmaking ability there. And he earned it, I'm glad he's a part of this team.
Reporter: He's listed as a right back squash writer, what do you see as Brody in?
Khan: Both, so he's talented and has the ability to do several things, so.
Reporter: Well, when you have two guys that were high graphics like Broderick and Caleb Johnson that don't pan out here, what lessons can you learn from that? Or what can you take to ensure something like that doesn't happen going forward?
Khan: Yeah, I'll just say those guys, I think both those guys still have a lot of good football, good football in them, and I think they're only gonna get better. And in those situations, every one of these situations is a little different. But a change of scenery just could be good for everyone.
Reporter: When you keep so many correct choices like you have, and then you have to move on from number one picks or number three picks. How do you balance that, just in your own feelings when you're invited?
Khan: Yeah, Jerry, the way I always look at it is, it's important when you draft a player to get them to that next contract. And obviously, when they don't make it to that second contract or third contract, that's disappointing. And in this situation, with Broderick and Caleb, we didn't get there. And that's on me. But like I said, I still think those guys have good football.
Reporter: Well, I think Broderick, red trip sophomore had 17 games starting experience in college, since then Troy had a ton of experience there as well. And I think Max had a decent amount too. Did you change your philosophy at all with going after older players, maybe having more experience after the prior?
Khan: No, I wouldn't say we changed the philosophy. But I think when you go through the process and experience helps in different situations, require you to maybe look at guys who've played more than others and you weigh every situation differently.
Reporter: Marley, does Sean report anything to you guys after that game against the Jets that raised any concern?
Khan: No, I mean, we saw how maybe his knee or his body responded to it. And not necessarily a setback, but it was good for us to go through. And it's a long season. And we just felt like the right thing to do is, he had a significant injury, right? So let's just be smart about it. Let's not rush anything and make sure we're all comfortable with everything. So let's just, and you guys know him, he's a warrior. I mean, if he walked in here and I said, hey, give me 1,000 pushups. He's gonna give us 2,000 right there. So it was the right thing to do.
Reporter: You cut a couple of veteran D linemen, you got Jabbity, what did he show you?
Khan: He earned it, man, I had to give him credit. The more he was around, the more disruptive he got on the football field. And that's a credit to him, again, the coaches, really proud of these coaches. And to have 11 rookies make it, we have a lot of older players on the team. And when you have those older players there, you need a good group of young guys. And the best thing about that is when you have older leaders on the team, they're so good for those young guys. And I really like the mix of guys that we have.
Reporter: Where do you see Mike's focus when constructing this 53? What do you mean? I don't like having an offense defense, those primary areas, what?
Khan: I mean, he's an offensive, he'd probably kill me for saying this, but I'm sure he'd want 53 offensive guys if he could, but that's not how it works. No, I'm just kidding. He, it was great, it was a good process. And I wouldn't say it was anything more focused than differently. At the end of the day, we both agreed, we wanted to keep the best 53 guys. And at the same time, having a good group of young guys that we can grow and develop. And we have a lot of confidence in this coaching staff that that's what they're gonna do.
Reporter: Was there anything about the way he does things that surprised you or particularly got your attention?
Khan: That's a good question. You're talking about in which, with respect to.
Reporter: So Mike McCarthy runs building a football team. I don't know how much you got into that when you guys were in the hiring process.
Khan: Yeah, I mean, the only thing is I've known Mike a long time. The one thing that hasn't changed from when I first met him 25 years ago is his attention to detail. He is a very detailed person. He used to always talk about taking pride in everything you do in life, no matter how big or how small the task might be. Always take pride in everything you do.
Reporter: Omar, it's not every year you keep every rookie you draft, especially when you get to the 11th. What does it say about the rookie class and that you guys felt like you keep this man?
Khan: The thing about these guys is they all earned it. And that's great. We take pride in drafting good football players and love our staff. I think they do a great job. But credit goes to those players and really the coaches for what they did. If you had told me back in April after the draft that all these guys were gonna make it, I would have said, I hope so, but I wasn't sure. And just watching these guys grow and get better, it's just exciting. And it really is, and that's a credit to them.
Reporter: How much do you weigh the guys that are really good in special teams, and maybe don't have as much of a role in offensive defense or have a role in offensive defense, but maybe they're not good in special teams? And did that change or did the coaching staff change in terms of what you might grow or did?
Khan: No, it's always a factor. We tell every one of these guys, the more you can do, the better your chances. So, special teams obviously an important part of it.
Reporter: Omar, as you were considering four quarterbacks, how much of that decision was Mason maybe solidifying himself for what he did in camp to earn that opportunity?
Khan: Yeah, I think all those guys earned it. I mean, Mason's done a good job. We've known him for, what, seven, eight years already. And, which is what was exciting with Mason, just watching him get acclimated to his new staff. And obviously, he was a part of Coach Tomlin's staff, the group in the past. And then watching him gel with Mike McCarthy and his group was cool to watch. And I'm excited to have him.
Reporter: Broder guys, two more. Broder made it clear last week that the switching of sides made it tough for him at times. We've talked to other guys in the past, Kevin Dodson's been here, struggled with that, has the past struggles with guys flip-flopping around. Maybe informed you guys how you want to recruit or plan to grab offensive linemen and how you want to deploy them?
Khan: No, I wouldn't say specific that everyone knows this differently. But like I've said, especially at the offensive line group, when you have versatility and flexibility, that's really important to me. I just think it's, when you go through a 17 game season in the playoffs, having that flexibility is important.
Reporter: Robert Tunion got here kind of through an unusual avenue at the vet minicamp. And then Raishan Jenkins came in progress in camp. When did you guys realize that those two still had some gas left in the tank?
Khan: Yeah, with Robert, towards the end of that minicamp, we just saw it. He had his legs, legs were still there. And with Raishan, he worked, got better every day, got acclimated to the defense. Again, credit goes to the coaches. They really did a good job in getting those guys ready to play.