Steelers' T.J. Watt adjusts to playing left outside linebacker

When he practiced rushing the quarterback during individual workouts this offseason, T.J. Watt did so from both sides of the defensive formation.

It was before Watt, who primarily lined up at the right outside linebacker spot in his rookie season with the Steelers, knew he would be getting snaps on the left side.

“Whenever I work, I always work on both sides because you never bank on playing just one side,” Watt said Wednesday. “I practiced left and right so if the time came, I would be ready.”

The time came during the first week of voluntary workouts. In the first two workouts, Watt said he took snaps on the left side, with Bud Dupree rushing from the right. It was the reverse of how they were deployed in 2017.

Watt downplayed the switch as an experiment that could change before the season starts in September.

“It's just a comfortability thing just to see if we can play both sides,” Watt said. “We did it a few times last year. To go up against the same guy throughout a game, if you're not getting in a groove, why not flip us on the other side and get a little different feel for it?”

Watt's seven sacks were second-most by a Steelers rookie in franchise history and led all outside linebackers on the team last season. Dupree had six.

Watt, though, had an eight-game stretch from Oct. 29 until Dec. 25 where he registered just two sacks. He aims for more consistency this season.

“An outside linebacker in a 3-4 system, you're meant to be a splash player,” he said. “I want to make more splash plays.”

Perhaps that will come against right tackles this season. Watt, though, doesn't see much difference between a left tackle tasked with protecting the quarterback's blind side and a right tackle.

“Every single tackle starting in the NFL is a damn good player,” he said. “I don't think you can look past who is better — left tackle or right tackle. … At this level, the right tackle is damn good, too.”

Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.