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Devin Bush has been a big disappointment this season. That's not a secret. However, he is coming off an ACL injury, which many have cited being the root of Bush's issues, including his dad Devin Bush Sr. For the first time since October, Bush spoke with the media on Monday, and he touched on his recovery, rehabilitation and mental aspect.
"I think my first year and my second year was definitely two good years," Bush said. "My third year (this season) was a year I've never experienced before, especially coming back from an injury like that. It was my first time going through an injury like that, first time getting surgery, first time doing rehab and first time being away from the game for a full year. So it definitely was a learning experience for me. I had a lot of ups and downs, a lotta good times, a lot of bad times. But I think I'm still the same player, I feel like I'm the same player and I know I'm the same player. The stat sheet may not reflect that but nobody out here on the Steelers football team is playing up to their potential."
Bush mentioned that he started to go through some mental issues in the middle of the season, and that's when his struggles really started to be glaring.
"Early in the season it was definitely a learning process for me just getting my mind back in football mode. Towards the middle of the season I was going through some more mental issues of just being out there and knowing I had to make plays, and winning was my biggest thing. Up until this point I think I'm settling pretty good."
While Bush has been a punching bag for fans and the media, he didn't want to single himself or anyone else out to be liabilities, as overall, the team is just not playing well right now.
"My first day of training camp until now I think I progressed tremendously. Obviously, nobody on the Steelers is playing up to their potential, nobody's playing their best football right now. I'm not gonna sit here and single myself out or anybody else out because at the end of the day we're a team. We just gotta keep building. We got a lot of work to do right now. We have a lot of work to do next year."
Yes, the Steelers are a 6-6-1 team, but I found it interesting that Bush said not everyone on the Steelers is playing up to their potential right now. I think T.J. Watt, Ben Roethlisberger and Cameron Heyward would disagree. They've been giving it their all. Perhaps he misspoke and was just trying to stress the team aspect of the game. But on the surface, it didn't sound good.