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Juan Thornhill takes shot at former Steelers coach with savage comment
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- Juan Thornhill takes shot at former Steelers coach with savage comment
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Teryl Austin served as the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2022 through 2025 before taking his current position as a senior defensive assistant with the Arizona Cardinals .
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However, a notable former member of the Steelers defense is speaking out against Austin. Safety Juan Thornhill, who won the starting free safety position over Miles Killebrew but later underperformed during his brief stint with the club, said he didn't enjoy playing under Austin.
"I didn't enjoy playing for that DC," Thornhill said via Steelers Depot when talking about Austin.
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During his time with the Steelers, Thornhill amassed just 38 tackles (23 solo, 15 assisted) and was released by the club after a particularly poor performance against the Minnesota Vikings in which he had just a single tackle.
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After he was released, the Steelers claimed rookie Sebastian Castro on waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , and now-former head coach Mike Tomlin stated flat-out that Thornhill's play wasn't good enough to justify keeping him and taking up a roster spot.
"The play (by Thornhill) wasn't up to snuff," Tomlin said. "And Castro was available to us, and we went through the team development process with Castro. We thought he had a good camp, good preseason, and he played his tail off in that practice against the Bucs. That's why they stole him from us and we had an opportunity to reacquire him. It was an opportunity to get him back."
Not long after being released by the Steelers, Thornhill signed with the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars . During his NFL career, he's also seen time with the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns .
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