Antoine Brooks Jr. says he learned from Mike Hilton, can replace him for Steelers

Antoine Brooks Jr. has the utmost respect for Mike Hilton. So don’t misinterpret what Brooks said about his former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Wednesday.

“Big shoes to fill — clown shoes,” Brooks said, clearly emphasizing the size of the figurative shoes Hilton vacated by signing as a free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals this spring.

“It’s a big opportunity.”

That opportunity is the Steelers starting nickel cornerback, a spot Hilton occupied for the past four seasons. A sixth-round pick last year, Brooks said he spent his rookie season learning from Hilton.

“I look at Mike’s game all the time,” Brooks said. “One of the best blitzers that touched a Steelers uniform. He taught me a lot while he was here, and I appreciate him — I call him my OG. So I appreciate him being a big-brother figure to me when I was here and trying to get the nickel spot or just really trying to learn the defense.

“Especially (the blitzing), that’s my physicality in the game — really like to blitz, cover. Mike did it all.”

There seemed to be no shortage of possible scenarios when it came to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ plans for replacing Mike Hilton. https://t.co/FWNJ244Dma

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Hilton’s best attributes were his physical play and blitzing ability. Brooks has been listed as a safety by the Steelers since they drafted him but said he played nickel corner much more often in college at Maryland.

Though he played sparingly as a rookie — 20 of his 29 defensive snaps were as the nickel — Brooks was inserted as the No. 1 nickel on the first day of training camp last week. Brooks and Arthur Maulet have manned the role since, and Steelers coaches have been fairly straightforward that they want one of them to fill the role when the regular season begins.

What did Hilton teach him about the role? If Brooks’ thorough insights in relaying what Hilton (and coach Mike Tomlin, among others) taught him about timing a blitz are any indication, he’s clearly a good listener.

“Mike was a big film-watcher,” Brooks said. “He actually taught me a little bit more about the play clock, the quarterback, the motions. Telling me what’s up.

“Play clock goes to eight, most quarterbacks (begin the process of snapping the ball). Some quarterbacks do the foot (lift), some people touch their towel before they say ‘hut,’ and most of it is off the motion. If you got a team that motions, they motion off the jet or off the low motion (in timing the snap).”

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