Chuks Okorafor’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers ended with controversy, as he was benched by head coach Mike Tomlin for an on-field incident in the Steelers’ Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and that was it. First-round pick Broderick Jones was inserted at right tackle and the rest was history. Okorafor never started again.
“It was just something I said,” Okorafor said. “You know, just with the way the game was going last week, I said something I shouldn’t have said. Just being in year six (year), I can’t act out the way I was acting out. It was mostly that and nothing else. I don’t know what’s going to happen next week. I hope I’m going to be out there with the guys, but I don’t know, it’s not my call.”
Okorafor landed with the New England Patriots in free agency, and he’s ecstatic about the fresh start. It was interesting, however, that he seemingly took a shot at past Steelers offensive line coaches while praising Patriots offensive line coach Scott Peters.
“He’s solid. He’s big about technique. I’ve had some coaches in the past whether it’s college or NFL, it’s just run and hit kind of deal. But he’s technique, hands, feet, everything. So far, it’s been good,” Okorafor said of Peters, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald.
Okorafor, who was drafted in the third-round out of Western Michigan by the Steelers in the 2018 NFL Draft, had four offensive line coaches during his time in Mike Munchak (2018), Shaun Sarrett (2019-2020), Adrian Klemm (2021) and Pat Meyer (2022-2023).
Munchak is one of the best offensive line coaches ever, so I’m sure Okorafor wasn’t referring to him. It could have been a combination of Sarrett, Klemm and Meyer. It’s unclear, but it’s evident that Okorafor thought the coaching wasn’t up to par in Pittsburgh.
The Patriots are playing Okorafor at left tackle, which is something that he rarely did with the Steelers.
“I played right my whole time in Pitt. It’s obviously new. I’m trying to learn left as of now. I’m just trying to learn a whole new playbook. I’m trying to learn a whole new city, a whole new town. So, everything is kind of new to me now, but I’m blessed,” Okorafor said.
