PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerback William Gay feels winning will cure the woes of a secondary that gave up plenty of big plays last season.
Gay is now the longest-tenured cornerback on the team following Ike Taylor’s offseason retirement and he doesn’t want to see last season’s issues continue to plague a defense that carries aspirations of finishing at the top.
“I think that’s pretty much the bottom line, is winning more,” Gay said. “Winning more equals good praises. If you lose, people can find stuff to talk about.”
Gay didn’t give anybody much to criticize last season. He enjoyed a career year and served as a steady presence in the secondary when injury and inefficiency struck.
Gay began the season as a nickelback but shifted to starter when Taylor went down with a broken forearm in Week 3 and became the team’s top cornerback after Cortez Allen struggled and was eventually benched. Gay returned three interceptions for touchdowns, one of the few highlights for a unit that finished 25th in the league in picks. Gay would certainly like to see that ranking improve, but he realizes there’s no magic formula to getting his hands on the football.
“The football gods have a mysterious way of how the ball bounces and how the games are played,” Gay said. “All we can do is control what we can control and just play football.”
The same can be said for welcoming three new rookies to the fold, including cornerbacks Senquez Golson, a second-round pick, fourth-rounder Doran Grant and seventh-round safety Gerod Holliman.
Gay understands there’s a learning curve and mistakes will be made even though the three will be counted on to heavily revamp a secondary that is without the retired Taylor and safety Troy Polamalu, in addition to cornerback Brice McCain, who left via free agency.
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