Mike McCarthy Reveals Why Patrick Graham Was Moved to Sideline

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham moved from the box to the sideline for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Graham has called the first four games as Steelers defensive coordinator from the box, something that he said before the season that he prefers.

After T.J. Watt's viral outburst against the Cleveland Browns, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy decided to move Graham to the sideline for better communication.

"Back in training camp, when you get to the point where you're getting ready to play preseason games, I had really two rosters, as far as who's up and who's down," McCarthy said after Sunday's win. "After the Green Bay game, this was frankly my preference, to have Patrick and Joe [Whitt] on the field. We gave it a shot the other way.

"We'll evaluate this. I just felt it needed to be different. I think communication on game day is such a critical part [of] your process … We can't have things that we miss that we're talking about after the fact. There's nothing better than face-to-face communication. I think when your coordinators and your play-callers are on the field, it's definitely the best case … The communication component is the priority."

The Steelers' other play-caller, head coach Mike McCarthy, is obviously on the sideline. The Steelers have had assistant head coach Joe Whitt Jr. running the defense on the sideline. It's unclear who will replace Graham in the booth.

The team's Week 4 loss to the Browns included heated communication between players and both players, with Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy getting into it and Watt yelling through a headset at Graham.

McCarthy confirmed that the players didn't have an input on the decision.

"Didn't ask [the players]. We've been talking about it since the preseason," he said.

Linebacker Payton Wilson and safety Jaquan Brisker noticed a big difference with Graham on the sideline.

"He just brought a sense of poise and comfort," Wilson said. "When giving up an explosive here or there, he was there to show what went on, show us how we are going to fix it, show us how he is going to help us. It was really cool having him down here. Coach Joe Whitt, just the experience and poise they bring."

"[Graham] on the sideline, (there was) more communicating," Brisker said. "Giving us a lot of dialogue. Telling us what he wants. What he's going to call. It was great. The dialogue was great. The communication between all the coaches and things like that. It was amazing."

Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from Pittsburgh.