For the first time since 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers held a Friday Night Lights practice. It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID and the team holding camp in Pittsburgh and was rained out in 2022. Always a crowd-pleaser and there was a great crowd on hand. Let’s talk about it.
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Camp Notes (Day Eight)
– With no such practice in years, the fans were out in full force. A true record crowd on hand tonight with an announced 13,957 attending, a Friday Night Lights best.
– Not attending tonight? Mike Tomlin. He’s in Canton, Ohio, to help induct Ronde Barber into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Unclear if he’ll be back tomorrow. It was hard to tell if anyone truly tried to step into his shoes tonight. Danny Smith was pretty active and vocal. Ditto with Strength and Conditioning Coach Marcel Pastoor. But so much of practice is run by positional coaches and pieced together that it’s not like a head coach has a true and key role in practice. And at this point, everyone knows how a Steelers practice is run.
– Injury roundup: Not practicing today for Pittsburgh were FS Minkah Fitzpatrick (personal – was not there), S Damontae Kazee (left ankle), S Keanu Neal (unknown), DL DeMarvin Leal (left ankle), RB John Lovett (unknown). Lovett has oddly missed a couple of practices and needs to get healthy. NT Keeanu Benton seemed to suffer a minor injury to his right wrist and did not finish practice, briefly getting it checked at by trainers.
Leal and Kazee traced the field during the early portions of practice, a sign they’re beginning their work to return from their ankle injuries. Still could be a few days. Leal did go about quarter-speed in an early defensive line/block shed drill.
Returning to practice after getting veteran’s days off Thursday: EDGE T.J. Watt, DL Cameron Heyward, CB Patrick Peterson, OG Isaac Seumalo and WRs Allen Robinson II and Diontae Johnson.
– Bill Hillgrove returned to be tonight’s PA announcer and play-by-play man for practice.
– We’re in Day Four of six straight practices. And my brain is sorta mush. Walked in and saw a fan from the front wearing a No. 14 jersey and my mind initially went to…is that Limas Sweed? It’s George Pickens, Alex. George Pickens.
– Buses rolled into practice at 6:44, players walking out to Renegade in a peak Pittsburgh moment. GM Omar Khan and ST Coordinator Danny Smith were the first two members of the organization off the bus and on the field.
– Though really, new head trainer Gabe Amponsah was on the field before the buses arrived to help set up practice.
– The refs were still on the field for today’s practice. They’ve been here all week.
– Players signing a ton of autographs before practice, including T.J. Watt and Broderick Jones.
– Joey Porter Sr. attending tonight’s practice to watch his son and the Steelers work.
– Watching the tight ends catch passes and run routes on air. Because they’re bigger, Darnell Washington and Rodney Williams have a little hitch in their turn getting upfield after making grabs on out/flat routes. Connor Heyward is very fluid and “quick to the tuck” to get upfield, though he’s obviously much smaller.
– In individual sessions, offensive linemen working on double-teams and combo blocks.
First Team Session (11 v 11)
1. Seven shots under the lights. Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith the outside linebackers. Tre Norwood and Kenny Robinson at safety. Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace the cornerbacks. Kenny Pickett throws to wide open WR Allen Robinson II left side for an easy score.
2. Darnell Washington in at tight end. Pickett boots out to the left. George Pickens makes a great catch in the left corner off a Levi Wallace tipped pass. Hard to say from my view if it was complete or not, but according to Steelers.com, the refs ruled that Pickens initially stepped out before making the catch inbounds. So we’ll put this as incomplete though a great effort.
3. O-line of: Moore-Seumalo-Cole-Daniels-Okorafor. Anthony McFarland Jr. in at running back. Pickett hits an open Diontae Johnson near the front right pylon for the TD.
4. Pickett boots left and looks but nothing is there. He tucks and runs and appears to extend the football inside the front left pylon for the score, though you know my rules. Quarterback runs for scores in seven shots are wins for the defense.
5. Pony set with Anthony McFarland Jr. and Jaylen Warren on the field. Mitch Trubisky hits WR Gunner Olszewski short and over the middle for the score.
6. Kendrick Green in at center. Nice throw on a slant right side caught by Calvin Austin III for a touchdown in a contested/combat situation.
7. Trubisky looks for WR Miles Boykin. Madre Harper gets a hand on it and knocks it away, nearly picked by Duke Dawson on the way down.
Overall, I have the offense winning 4-3 but they looked far better than the last two days and bettered the defense more than their one-rep margin of winning I have them down for here.
– No backs on ‘backers today. Maybe because they just did it Tuesday. Maybe because they wanted Mike Tomlin to be there for it. Instead, I watched WRs vs DBs in 1v1 drills.
WRs vs DBs
1. George Pickens crosses Patrick Peterson’s face on a slant.
2. Elijah Riley grabs at Calvin Austin III’s left shoulder and is flagged for defensive holding, Kenny Pickett never throwing the ball. But a clear penalty on Riley.
3. Joey Porter Jr. called for defensive pass interference, bumping into Cody White down the right sideline as he ran a go-route.
4. Gunner Olszewski with an uncontested catch on a slant/in-route against Tre Norwood.
5. Good read and drive by Kenny Robinson on this sideline throw for WR Ja’Marcus Bradley but Bradley hangs on to make the catch.
6. Dez Fitzpatrick runs a nine-route right sideline and has a step on CB Isaiah Dunn. But the ball is a touch out in front and off Fitzpatrick’s fingertips as he extends forward.
7. Jordan Byrd tries to reach slightly back for the ball but can’t adjust to it, flailing a bit and the pass falls incomplete.
8. Good change of direction by WR Hakeem Butler on this slant route to beat CB Chris Wilcox.
9. Deep route by Diontae Johnson, who adjusts and does a half-turn back for the ball to pluck it basically off CB Chandon Sullivan’s back for the grab. Nice catch.
10. Unsure of the receiver but CB Luq Barcoo with a nice breakup.
11. Patrick Peterson called for defensive pass interference on Allen Robinson II, who had a nice release off the line.
12. Nice job by George Pickens to break down at the top of his route and create space against Joey Porter Jr., making the catch on a curl route.
13. Cody White leaps for the ball in the end zone working on Miles Killebrew left side but can’t finish it on the way down and the pass is incomplete.
14. Tough grab by Calvin Austin III with CB Madre Harper on him. Nice job by Austin.
15. Easy catch for UDFA Jordan Byrd on a dig-route, S Kenny Robinson slipping a bit as he tried to break and drive.
16. Throw intended for Diontae Johnson is off the mark and incomplete. James Pierre covering.
17. Outside shake creates space inside for Miles Boykin to win on a slant against Wilcox.
18. Duke Dawson clamps Calvin Austin III at the line but there’s too much contact. Refs throw a flag on him for never letting go.
19. George Pickens reaches up and makes a great grab with his back parallel to the ground on Levi Wallace. Hard to say for sure but I’ll call this a catch, another acrobatic grab by Pickens.
20. Bradley catches a fade left corner working on Riley.
21. Joey Porter Jr. with a breakup on a fade for Hakeem Butler.
22. Quick win by Byrd on an in-route against Robinson.
23. Cody White slips along the left sideline and this throw is incomplete. Patrick Peterson covering.
24. Ball thrown a bit early as Austin breaks to the back left pylon on a 7-route and it’s incomplete. Chandon Sullivan covering.
25. Great release by WR Allen Robinson II, who shook Isaiah Dunn for a touchdown. After the drill, Robinson briefly went over his release with CB Duke Dawson, sharing some of his veteran advice to a younger corner like Dawson.
26. Diontae Johnson runs a slant and beats Tre Norwood.
Second Team Session
1. Mark Robinson and Cole Holcomb the inside linebacker pairing. Kenny Pickett under center. Allen Robinson II goes in motion. Play-action, Pickett drilling Diontae Johnson over the middle for 19 yards.
2. Najee Harris slips and stumbles forward on this carry left side. Gain of 1.
3. Cole Holcomb comes out and Elandon Roberts come on next to Robinson at inside linebacker. Peterson and Wallace the corners, Montravius Adams in at nose tackle. Harris up the middle but not much doing. Call it a gain of 2. Larry Ogunjobi around the ball here.
4. Ogunjobi and Adams the defensive tackles, Nick Herbig and Markus Golden the EDGE rushers. Tre Norwood and Kenny Robinson the safeties. Just a gain of 1 for Jaylen Warren, who cut back on this play to his left.
5. Miles Killebrew and Trenton Thompson the safety pairing. Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre the corner duo with a defensive line trio of Armon Watts-Keeanu Benton-Isaiahh Loudermilk. Mitch Trubisky in at quarterback. Trubisky has Gunner Olszewski over the middle, he’s open, but jumps as he catches the ball and drops it. Incomplete. Would’ve been a 15-plus-yard gain.
6. Deep heave down the left sideline for WR Calvin Austin III. He finds the ball, a little short on a downfield-max distance type of throw from Trubisky and fights past Trenton Thompson to make the catch. I have this down as a 45-yard catch. Great play by Austin.
7. Nick Herbig knifes in from his left outside linebacker spot and takes down Anthony McFarland Jr. for a loss of 2. Nice play as the rookie continues to stack good practices, adding run defense to his resume. Encouraging.
8. More running room here for McFarland. Call it a 5-yard gain. Joey Porter Jr. came from left cornerback to help fill and bring him down. Nice cut by McFarland to get vertical.
9. Mason Rudolph in at quarterback. Offensive line of Spencer Anderson-Kevin Dotson-Ryan McCollum-Bill Dunkle-Dylan Cook. Guys moving around and the tackles flipping, Anderson getting his first camp reps at left tackle. Nice hole here for Darius Hagans, who gets 7. Kendrick Green lined up initially as a true fullback – I was very confused to who this was at first – before motioning left to a Y-off slot.
10. Now the Steelers are just playing with house money. Green again Y-off to the left and pulls across. Mason Rudolph boots and hits Green wide open in the right flat, the defense totally fooled. Green catches it cleanly and turns upfield, trucking LB Toby Nduwke and falling forward before Nick Kwiatkoski helps bring him down for a gain of 10. Everyone’s losing their minds. Players and fans.
11. Green’s good times keep rolling. He pulls left to right and just crushes Nduwke again trying to seal the edge. He’s just destroyed. They’re picking his jersey out of the grass. I don’t even know what happened on the play. It was a run off Green’s inside hip for what seemed to be a good gain, but all I could focus on was Green. Maybe some chippiness at the end with Nate Herbig rolling on the ground downfield with a defender.
Third Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 23. Kenny Pickett in at quarterback. Allen Robinson II goes in motion. Hard to read my notes here but I have Pickett complete to Robinson for 10.
2. McFarland buzzes to the right flat and Pickett hits him in stride. McFarland makes another nice cut. I’ll give him 11.
3. Screen left side from Pickett to TE Pat Freiermuth. Well-executed and LG Isaac Seumalo has a great block on DL Cameron Heyward, pushing him downfield the whole way, as Heyward chases hard but can’t get off the block. Excellent gain of 22 yards.
4. Flag here. Unsure if it’s offsides or a false start. They reset. Pocket collapses and Pickett drifts and rolls right, keeping his eyes downfield, before taking off with nothing opening up.
5. O-line of Jones-McCollum-Herbig-Dotson-Clark. Mitch Trubisky in at quarterback. High snap from Herbig but Trubisky grabs it over his head without having to disrupt the play. Throw over the middle complete to Olszewski for 9, Miles Killebrew closing and tagging him first.
6. Nick Herbig and David Perales the EDGE rushers. Armon Watts-Keeanu Benton-Isaiahh Loudermilk the defensive line trio in Pittsburgh’s 3-4. Porter and Pierre the cornerbacks. McFarland in at running back. Trubisky puts the ball right on Cody White on a slant working left to right for 10 yards. James Pierre covering and tags him before S Trenton Thompson flies in and, with some friendly fire, takes out Pierre at his legs as White keeps running past. Both were okay.
7. Kevin Dotson pulls on play-action. Flag thrown mid-play as Trubisky moves left. Hits Calvin Austin III along the left sideline at midfield for a 27-yard pickup before Killebrew grabs him and pulls Austin around. Probably negated by a hold but I’ll keep the play here in Austin’s favor.
8. Porter and Pierre the corners with Elijah Riley in the slot. Nice closing speed and break up, Porter using his long arms to bat this shallow crosser away from Miles Boykin. Incomplete.
9. Mason Rudolph comes in at quarterback. Looks for McFarland short right side and has him but a rare, believe the first, drop as McFarland can’t hold onto the ball the whole way through. Borderline fumble but refs ruled it incomplete.
10. High snap from Ryan McCollum. Rudolph throw for Ja’Marcus Bradley is incomplete, a little high, though Kenny Robinson got tangled up with him and is flagged for it.
11. Trenton Thompson and Elijah Riley the safety pairing. TE Rodney Williams standing up slot left. Screen right side to RB Greg Bell, who shows good burst and speed. I’ll give him 10 here, though this is a non-tackling period. Holding and flag on the play here, too.
12. Defensive line of James Nyamwaya-Breiden Fehoko-Manny Jones. Darnell Washington the tight end. Rudolph complete to right side for a 7-yard gain, Tre Norwood in the area.
– Quick special teams note. Kick returners during that period included Anthony McFarland Jr., Ja’Marcus Bradley, Gunner Olszewski, and Calvin Austin III. Maybe someone else in there I missed but definitely those four.
Fourth Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 42. Cole Holcomb and Mark Robinson the inside linebacker pairing. Diontae Johnson and George Pickens the outside receivers with Allen Robinson II in the slot. Jaylen Warren motions out and is split right. Designed quad screen from Pickett to Warren right side but Holcomb is all over it, driving downhill and tagging him for a loss of 4.
2. Pickett complete to Johnson for 13 yards, reaching back a bit to make the grab while working on Levi Wallace.
3. Dan Moore Jr. flagged for holding on Alex Highsmith, taking him down to the ground. Pickett complete to Robinson for 8 yards to midfield.
4. Patrick Peterson rotating to safety and Chandon Sullivan bailing to the deep middle on the snap of the ball. Great touch here from Pickett to Johnson along the right sideline for a gain of 15 yards.
5. Empty set, Jaylen Warren motions into the backfield. Trubisky complete to Warren, who runs left side for 15 yards, LB Chapelle Russell making the tag. No tackling here either.
6. Russell and Kwon Alexander the inside linebacker pairing. Trubisky finds Gunner Olszewski on a slant for 10 yards, Elijah Riley grabbing him first.
7. Le’Raven Clark in at right tackle. Porter and Pierre the outside corners with Duke Dawson in the slot. Connor Heyward motioned. Believe this is a completion right side from Trubisky to Austin right side, Wilcox covering. Don’t have yardage though.
8. TE Rodney Williams motions across right to left. Tre Norwood and Trenton Thompson the safety pairing. Another slant from Trubisky to Olszewski for 14 yards. Nice pass rush and pressure here from Isaiahh Loudermilk.
9. Short completion from Mason Rudolph to Miles Boykin for 3 yards. Thompson on the stop.
10. Nick Herbig in at center. Hakeem Butler the X receiver. Rudolph heaves a deep shot right side but incomplete to Ja’Marcus Bradley with Chandon Sullivan covering.
11. Rudolph looks for Bradley right side but Madre Harper – after making a couple of plays Thursday – rips the ball out to force the incompletion here. Nicely done.
12. Good throw to end the period, Trubisky hitting Rodney Williams on a deep crosser for 20 yards.
– OL/DL charting
1. Inside spin from Nick Herbig on Le’Raven Clark. Move worked though the “quarterback’ moved away and Clark sealed it. Hard to score that one.
2. Clark anchors on Herbig.
3. Breiden Fehoko bulls Nate Herbig but Herbig holds his ground.
4. Fehoko hand-fighting here but Herbig stays square.
5. Nice job by Kendrick Green to stay square to Jonathan Marshall.
6. Marshall saves face, swiping past Green, who still struggles with speed and finesse when he has to slide laterally.
7. Armon Watts push/pull through Kevin Dotson.
8. Watts spin move is too slow and Dotson stays in front of it, winning the rep.
9. Broderick Jones seals David Perales up the arc here.
10. Perales does well here to gain the edge on Jones.
11. They go again. Perales is able to get under Jones’ pads and moves him back a bit, but Jones is bigger and stronger and able to anchor.
12. Dylan Cook holds his own on this rep against Toby Nduwke.
13. Nduwke stumbles off the snap and they reset. Here, Cook rides Nduwke up the arc.
14. Ryan McCollum with a nice job mirroring in front of Manny Jones, who was active and working hard but couldn’t get past.
15. Jones jumps early. They reset. McCollum takes Jones to the ground on this rep.
16. Good “first significant contact” from Nate Herbig taking a center rep. He wins early and easily against Breiden Fehoko.
17. Bill Dunkle seals James Nyamwaya up the arc.
18. Nyamwaya uses a bull rush here and Dunkle ends up slipping on this rep.
19. Dunkle able to anchor against Nyamwaya’s bull here.
20. Quick win for Quincy Roche in beating Spencer Anderson, who barely gets a hand on him.
21. Anderson handles Roche’s power rush here.
22. Really nice rep from Anderson. Seals Roche up the edge and then mirrors as Roche spins back inside.
Fifth Team Session
1. Red zone work. Ball on the defense’s 17. Kenny Pickett complete over the middle to TE Pat Freiermuth for 10.
2. Diontae Johnson goes in motion. Najee Harris carries right side. Mark Robinson chases hard from behind, Harris turning the corner and throws a shoulder into Kenny Robinson. I’m going to call this a gain of 2.
3. Alex Highsmith pressure off the right side. Pickett looks and scrambles, but nothing is there. He gets every yard he can before stumbling out of bounds. Montravius Adams chases him hard across the field.
4. Mitch Trubisky in at quarterback. Broderick Jones in at left tackle. Trubisky for Freiermuth incomplete. Fair amount of pressure on the quarterback here.
5. Gunner Olszewski and Cody White the outside wide receivers with Calvin Austin III in the slot. Zach Gentry goes in motion. Austin jets across and Trubisky half-rolls to the right, hitting Cody White on a curl along the right sideline. He quickly turns upfield and I’ll give him 11.
6. Trubisky to McFarland right side for 5.
7. Rookie Darius Hagans in at running back. Trubisky fires over the middle for TE Darnell Washington, who gets his hands on it but there’s lots of contact. Ball is nearly picked as the defense swarms but the ball rolls on the ground, ultimately incomplete.
8. Offense has to rehuddle. Offensive line of Anderson-Dunkle-Green-McCollum-Cook. Rudolph complete to Boykin left side for 5, working against Riley.
9. Hakeem Butler the Z receiver. Nice pull from RT Dylan Cook, tackles pulling several times this camp, and he seals his man inside. Nice block. RB Greg Bell runs past and gets a good gainer. I’ll give him 10.
10. Touchdown from Rudolph to Butler. Roughly 12 yards out. Flag on the play here but think it was on the defense. Another good rep here by the RT Cook for securing the edge.
11. Anthony McFarland Jr. split out wide initially before being motioned sidecar into the backfield. Rudolph throws high underneath the left upright only where tall TE Zach Gentry can make the play. He grabs it while getting both feet inbounds for a 5-yard touchdown over Tre Norwood, the final play of this year’s Friday Night Lights.
Camp Summary
– Really good practice for Kenny Pickett and the offense. Far better than the past two days. Pickett was accurate, showed touch, and was productive. I’d call it his best practice of camp, one day after struggling. Nice bounce back.
– Ditto Calvin Austin III. He’s flashed but been hot and cold throughout camp. He had his best practice today. Consistently good plays and won downfield. His 45-yard grab was a big one. Not just him burning a guy, though he had a step downfield. He made tough, contested grabs, which had been an issue for him.
– We’re through the looking glass. Fans loving Kendrick Green today. Biggest cheers he’s had since being drafted and he was a ton of fun to watch at fullback. At the least, we’ll always have Friday Night.
– Impressed by the reps I saw from OT Dylan Cook today. First time I’ve had positive notes on him. Good reps in run and pass game.
– Mark Robinson got first-team reps over Elandon Roberts today. He had been rotating in behind him with the ones the past couple days but he was the true starter today. Going to watch that for tomorrow.
– Rookie Toby Nduwke has been beat up this camp. Pancaked by TE Rodney Williams earlier in the week, run over by Green on a reception and run block. He’s taken a beating.
– Good day for WR Diontae Johnson, who has been more involved in the offense the past two to three days.
– CB Madre Harper stacking some good days and making plays on the football. Using his size and length. Feels like CB Luq Barcoo has lost some team reps.
– Quick turnaround for the team tomorrow with a 1:55 practice. Logically, you’d think they’d be in shells, but Tomlin has had them in pads post-FNL before. We’ll see what he decides, assuming he’s even there. If they’re in pads, several players could get a day with the bumps and bruises of the night.
Saint Vincent Photo Of The Day
Fireworks going off as I was walking back to my car.
Better Know A Steeler
A daily blurb offering a brief bio of an interesting former Steeler.
Gary Glick remains the only defensive back to ever be drafted first overall, the top pick of the 1956 NFL Draft. Selected primarily off the recommendation of his college coach with zero tape on him before drafting him, Pittsburgh instantly regretted the pick. However, Glick played four years with the Steelers and seven total years in the NFL.
Bill Burr’s Quote Of The Day
“If I can sell out clubs and theaters and play dirtbags in movies and get blown up in a car or get the crap beat out of me in a movie, that’s good for me; I’m good.”
