BALTIMORE — Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith had the game-sealing sack on Lamar Jackson in Sunday's critical AFC North win over the Baltimore Ravens .
It was a banner day for Highsmith in Baltimore. In addition to the game-sealing sack, the veteran OLB recorded seven tackles (all solos), three tackles for loss and two QB hits.
Head coach Mike Tomlin gave Highsmith a shout out during his postgame press conference. Tomlin thought Highsmith was at his best in high-pressured moments.
"I thought as the game got thick, you just really felt his presence," Tomlin said. "We were actually coming out of that very last timeout, and he turned around and was walking back to the bench with me. I was like, 'Alex, what are you doing? Get back in there.' I'm thankful that I did because obviously he made the play of the day."
Linebacker Patrick Queen was not surprised that Highsmith came threw with sacking Jackson to ice the game.
"Yeah, you got a guy like that, for us, when we recovering, it's just all about getting those guys time to go and make a play. Just knowing him as a person and how strong his faith is, every single day he comes into work super early," Queen said. "He's always got a smile on his face; he's never down. If he is, it might be like a two-second down period, and then he's back to smiling and stuff. Dude is an absolute dog. He comes in every single day, like I said, with a smile on his face, ready to work, there early, and that's something we can all feed off of."
Jackson had nowhere to throw on the game-sealing sack. He tried to buy time, but Highsmith had other ideas.
"I just saw chaos," Jackson said. "I tried to move as much as I could, (and I was) just trying to give my guys a shot to the end zone, but guys were in the end zone. I just didn't want to throw it to a bunch of Steelers players in the end zone. That's pointless."
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from Baltimore.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith Has Banner Day in Baltimore: 'You Just Really Felt His Presence'
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