James Harrison nearly played more in his first game with the Patriots than he had the entire season for the Steelers.
And as he prepares for the playoffs, he said he’s getting more and more comfortable with what the Patriots expect him to do, but isn’t where he wants to be.
Via Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, Harrison admitted he had more work to do.
“It’s a little bit better, but it’s nowhere near where it needs to be,” Harrison said. “A little more comfortable, each day gets a little better. Each week is a little better.”
Having the bye week to process the Patriots playbook helps, as he was able to go through the basics of the defense rather than being game plan-specific. But he did pretty well when being thrown in cold.
In the regular season finale against the Jets, he played 27 snaps, and had two sacks and a forced fumble. He had only played 40 snaps for the Steelers all season, prior to his sudden release. He’s rotating among their edge rushers, but showed he’s still capable of making an impact, even if the Steelers didn’t think so.