Give it up for Day No. 10. The final of six-straight practices, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have an off day Monday before getting back on the practice field Tuesday in what will be their official start of game week, their preseason opener kicking off Friday. Let’s discuss what happened today.
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Camp Notes (Day 10)
– Light practice today with some light rain to accompany it. Team in shells after being in pads the past few practices.
– Similar layout to last Sunday’s practice. Lots of vets getting the day off. Veterans not practicing today due to rest were CB Patrick Peterson, DL Cam Heyward, OLB T.J. Watt, OG Isaac Seumalo, and WR Allen Robinson II. WR Diontae Johnson went through individual session but not the team period. He’s fine, just getting a half-day. QB Mason Rudolph did not work in team, giving rookie Tanner Morgan some reps.
OG Nate Herbig suffered a thumb injury Saturday but practiced in full today. Did have a glove on his right hand. His left hand just taped, but I don’t know if that’s new or not. FS Minkah Fitzpatrick could be considered a full participant. He just didn’t work in seven shots.
Not practicing due to injury today were S Keanu Neal, RB John Lovett, S Damontae Kazee, WR Ja’Marcus Bradley, CB Joey Porter Jr., and OLB Nick Herbig. Neal looks to have a minor lower-body injury. Kazee was sprinting on the side midway through practice and looks close to a return. Porter tweaked his left ankle yesterday, but it looks minor. He came down in a helmet and caught on the JUGS machine and moved around fine throughout the day. Herbig suffered a hip flexor injury. Tomlin said Bradley has a “minor hamstring” injury, though those can take more time than you think to come back from. He can’t afford to miss time. DL DeMarvin Leal was limited, not going through team but individual and 7v7 sessions. He should be full by Tuesday.
– Kendrick Green came down the stairs with good energy, getting hyped with mascot Steely McBeam. He showed a lot of confidence and a big smile as he high-fived fans. Good to see some swagger out of him. He continued to get fullback work today during individual and team periods while also playing center.
– Mike Tomlin arrived at the practice field in style on a fancy golf cart/off-road vehicle. Over the last couple of practices, his son Mason has been with him at practice and they were in the cart together. Mason is a defensive back at Columbia.
– It’s funny watching Nate Herbig in the stretch line. Most everyone else is on the ground stretching and Herbig largely just sorta walks around. He stretches a little bit but he’s living the island life, born in Hawaii, just chilling out before practice gets going.
– Refs were finally gone. After being here since Tuesday, they did not attend today’s practice.
– Ok, let’s get into seven shots.
First Team Session (11 v 11)
1. Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts the inside linebacker pairing. Offensive line of Dan Moore Jr.-Nate Herbig-Mason Cole-James Daniels-Chukwuma Okorafor. Kenny Pickett in at quarterback. James Pierre at left cornerback, Levi Wallace at right cornerback, and Chandon Sullivan in the slot. Pierre running with the ones with Peterson and Porter not practicing. Cody White and George Pickens the outside receivers with Calvin Austin III in the slot. Pickett hits White right side near the goal line for the touchdown to open things up.
2. Empty set initially with Najee Harris motioning in. Kenny Robinson and Tre Norwood the safety pairing. Pickett looks, rolls left, keeps his eyes downfield, and waits longer than he ever could in a game for something to open up. Nothing does. He carries the ball over the goal line, but I give this as a win to the defense.
3. Elijah Riley comes in for Sullivan in the slot. Pony set with Anthony McFarland Jr. and Jaylen Warren on the field, McFarland slot left. Pickett looks for Pickens under the goalposts, but the throw is just off the mark, Pickens reaching out for it but unable to get a hand on it. Incomplete.
4. Armon Watts and Keeanu Benton the defensive tackle pairing. Toby Nduwke and Quincy Roche at outside linebacker with the cornerback unit consisting of Luq Barcoo, Madre Harper, and Riley in the nickel. Offensively, Cody White and Gunner Olszewski are the outside receivers with Calvin Austin III in the slot. Pickett looks for Austin but the throw is high and incomplete.
5. Mitch Trubisky comes in at quarterback, Darius Hagans checking in at running back. Stick route touchdown from Trubisky to TE Darnell Washington for the score against LB Chapelle Russell.
6. Offensive line of Broderick Jones-Ryan McCollum-Nate Herbig-Kevin Dotson-Le’Raven Clark. RB Greg Bell motioned out wide before he’s motioned in. Trubisky has WR Miles Boykin open in the right flat but he’s unable to secure it going to the ground and the pass is incomplete.
7. Trubisky again looks for Boykin but it’s an even clearer drop. Rarely mentioned CB Isaiah Dunn on coverage but didn’t impact the throw. He’s getting extra reps with the missing players at corner.
Defense wins seven shots 5-2.
– Have just a couple notes from the RB/LB coverage drill.
RB vs LB Coverage Drill
1. Anthony McFarland Jr. crosses Kwon Alexander’s face but drops the pass, a rare moment for him.
2. Connor Heyward double-move, a stop ‘n go on S Kenny Robinson. Heyward gets a step on Robinson vertically, but Robinson doesn’t give up, knocking the ball away at the catch point and swatting it again on the way down so Heyward can’t try to make a play off the bounce. Minkah Fitzpatrick, watching the rep from his deep post area, was hyped for Robinson.
3. Greg Bell stumbles on his speed out but makes the catch away from his frame against a linebacker I don’t have noted here. Bell has decent hands.
4. Levi Wallace blankets George Pickens as he breaks down on his curl route. Good deal of contact but the refs are gone so I’ll give this an incompletion.
5. Calvin Austin III gains a step on Elijah Riley. The ball is slightly underthrown, not sure who the quarterback was. Riley never gets his head around but gets back to disrupt the catch and cause the incompletion.
6. Excellent rep from Elandon Roberts, dropping his hips and mirroring Jaylen Warren as he zig-zags over the field. Angle route to the inside and then pivots out but Roberts is on top of him. Warren has no shot at making the catch.
7. Kwon Alexander with a lot of contact on TE Darnell Washington, looked like definite hands to the face, but he’s able to break this pass up as Washington runs his dig. Roberts and Alexander drawing big kudos from their defensive teammates.
Second Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 35. Pickett under center. Najee Harris a gain of 3, Larry Ogunjobi in and around for the stop. Markus Golden and Alex Highsmith the first-team outside linebackers with Roberts and Holcomb off-ball. Pierre and Wallace the outside corners with Sullivan inside. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Tre Norwood the safety pairing.
2. Harris carry up the middle, stumbling but keeping his feet as Nate Herbig tumbles in front of him. Gain of about 5 but no full tackling here makes it more difficult to gauge.
3. Pickett re-huddles things after the offense gets to the line. Now Kenny Robinson cycles in with the starting safeties, opposite Fitzpatrick. Defensive line of Ogunjobi-Adams-Loudermilk. Broderick Jones in at left tackle, Nate Herbig at center, Dan Moore Jr. to right tackle, with Chukwuma Okorafor getting a three-fourths day, taking a few reps off. Bill Dunkle at right guard on this snap. Harris carry left side for 4, Alex Highsmith and Elandon Roberts around the ball.
4. Le’Raven Clark at right tackle. Pickett under center. Play fake with Pickett hitting George Pickens along the right sideline for 14. Really good job by Pickens to come back to the football, preventing CB James Pierre from driving on it and making the play. Pierre was charging hard. Excellent attention to detail by Pickens and a sign of his route tree developing.
5. Toby Nduwke and David Perales the outside linebacker pairing. Armon Watts and Keeanu Benton the defensive tackle duo with Kwon Alexander and Mark Robinson the second-team inside linebackers. Elijah Riley and Madre Harper outside corners with Elijah Riley in the slot. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Miles Killebrew the deep defenders. Jaylen Warren up the middle for 4 yards, Robinson first man to tag him as Warren runs through the hole.
6. Base defensive line trio of Jonathan Marshall-Breiden Fehoko-Manny Jones. Kendrick Green in at fullback. Fehoko wins at the point of attack, pushing back OL Ryan McCollum and helping to stuff RB Anthony McFarland Jr.. Don’t know who the defender was but Green whiffed on his block.
7. Nduwke and Perales the EDGEs. Alexander and Russell the inside linebackers. Minkah Fitzpatrick in at safety but drops down to float over No. 2 in the slot. Mitch Trubisky hits WR Dez Fitzpatrick right side off play-action for a gain of 19, working on CB Luq Barcoo. Nice route here by Fitzpatrick to create space at the breakpoint and make an uncontested grab.
8. Long days of camp creating some confusion. DC Teryl Austin talking to rookie OLB Toby Nduwke and Nduwke begins to walk back to the defensive huddle. “Toby, you’re out!” Austin calls a couple times before Nduwke gets the message and walks back to the far sideline with the rest of the defensive players not in the rep.
But he’s not the only one unsure. Nickel CB Duke Dawson is out there as the offense is at the line on their snap count/cadence. Austin realizes it and starts calling out: “Duke! Duke! You’re out. Get out of the play.” Dawson hurries off basically on the snap of the ball.
Isaiahh Loudermilk, like yesterday, working as a true standup right outside linebacker. Nick Kwiatkoski and Tanner Muse the inside linebacker pairing. Toss left to Darius Hagans, who gets about 5.
9. Reserve corners Isaiah Dunn and Chris Wilcox out there. Kenny Robinson and Trenton Thompson the safety pairing. Fehoko at nose tackle, rookie James Nyamwaya at right defensive end. Perales/Loudermilk at outside linebacker. Tanner Morgan’s first team rep of the day and he promptly fires the ball over the middle to WR Hakeem Butler for 15 yards on a dig route.
10. Pistol formation with Bell behind Morgan. Fake jet run to rookie Jordan Byrd left to right. Five-yard gain, DL Manny Jones on the tag.
11. NT Breiden Fehoko immediately shuts this one down. Swims the center and knifes into backfield to stuff RB Greg Bell and tag him for a 3-yard loss.
– Quick special teams notes. Finally did some punting today and I charted the open-field punts, not the coffin/corner ones, though Harvin’s one punt there was downed at the 7 while Mann’s hit around the 1- or 2- yard line and rolled into the end zone for a would-be touchback.
Pressley Harvin III: 4.67 seconds (67 yards), 4.65 seconds (55 yards), 4.80 seconds (I had 4.72 on my watch but I know I was too early so this is slightly off, 49 yards), 3.59 seconds (43 yards), 3.85 seconds (41 yards), 4.96 (60 yards).
Braden Mann: 4.41 seconds (63 yards), 4.91 seconds (47 yards), 4.28 seconds (39 yards), 4.91 seconds (54 yards), 4.79 (41 yards).
Harvin was up and down, the book on him since his Georgia Tech days, and his two sub-4 second punts were low line drives. Mann didn’t show quite the leg but was more consistent with his hangtime.
– Later in the day, Anthony McFarland Jr., Gunner Olszewski, Calvin Austin III, and Jordan Byrd went through kick return work.
– Miles Killebrew with his booming voice continues to work as the starting upback. Elijah Riley and Tre Norwood as the wings. Elijah Riley working as the backup with RBs Darius Hagans and Jaylen Warren the wings.
Third Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 29. Kenny Robinson and Miles Killebrew the safety duo. James Pierre and Levi Wallace the outside corners with Chandon Sullivan in the slot. Kenny Pickett in at quarterback, Najee Harris in at running back. Markus Golden beats RT Chukwuma Okorafor to pressure Pickett and he fires down the right sideline deep for WR Calvin Austin III. Little underthrown but Austin has a step and makes the grab for a 30-yard gain. Another big play from him.
2. Pickett loves his back-shoulder throws and he’s good at them, complete to WR Cody White on such a route for a pickup of 26 yards working on James Pierre.
3. Offensive line of Jones-Dotson-Herbig-Dunkle-Moore. Pickett doesn’t see anything initially and climbs up into the pocket though Montravius Adams is right there to bump him. Pickett never throws the ball. Dead play.
4. Pierre and Wallace on the outside with Riley in the slot. Dime defense with Sullivan also out there along with the safeties Thompson and Robinson. Pickett checks down into the right flat to Najee Harris for just 3. Kwon Alexander, the lone inside linebacker out there, makes the tag.
5. Defensive line of Armon Watts-Keeanu Benton-Isaiahh Loudermilk. Toby Nduwke and Quincy Roche the outside linebackers. Luq Barcoo and Madre Harper the corners, Mark Robinson and Chapelle Russell at inside linebacker. Mitch Trubisky comes in and finds TE Pat Freiermuth on a quick out for 6 yards. DB Chris Wilcox unable to impact the catch but finishes the rep by trying to punch the ball out though Freiermuth holds on. Coaches just like seeing guys finish the drill. Get upfield, run it out, ball search, etc.
6. Minkah Fitzpatrick watching from 25 yards downfield standing next to Ike Taylor. Nice stunt pickup by LT Broderick Jones and LG Ryan McCollum. Don’t know the cause but C Kendrick Green hit the deck and fell. Trubisky complete to Gunner Olszewski for 7.
7. Dime defense again. Luq Barcoo and Madre Harper the outside corners with Duke Dawson, Trenton Thompson, Elijah Riley, and Chirs Wilcox also out there. Trubisky complete to WR Miles Boykin left side downfield, a 31-yard pickup against Harper.
8. Trubisky connects with Boykin over the middle for 20 yards, making the catch on a knee as LB Chapelle Russell, who had a ton of depth, came up and bumped him.
9. Tanner Morgan enters. Hakeem Butler on the outside with WR Dan Chisena in the left slot. Empty set initially as Greg Bell motions in. OT Dylan Cook pulls around and blocks Manny Jones with Bell following behind for 6. Muse got off Dunkle’s block. Bell cuts right side and keeps running with S Trenton Thompson having the angle but kind of slowing up. “Punch it out!” a coach yells, a reminder to Thompson to ball search and finish on his end.
10. Marshall-Fehoko-Nyamwaya the base defensive line three. Pony set with McFarland slot left. Nothing there for Morgan, who tucks and runs up the middle.
11. Kwiatkoski and Muse the inside linebackers. Dunn and Wilcox the cornerbacks. Killebrew and Thompson the safeties. Hakeem Butler runs a corner route left side and he reaches back for the ball, jumping and making the grab off Wilcox for a gain of 24 yards. Nice play by Butler to play big.
12. Empty set with DL James Nyamwaya standing up at right outside linebacker. Morgan complete short right side to TE Rodney Williams for 8 yards, LB Tanner Muse covering.
Fourth Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 29. Pickett looks for George Pickens but it’s incomplete, slightly off the mark with some potential miscommunication.
2. Dan Moore Jr. in at right tackle. Markus Golden and Alex Highsmith the outside linebackers. Pickett under center. This time, Pickett finds Pickens complete for 18 yards. Montravius Adams had pressure up the middle here.
3. Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts the inside linebackers. Pickett in the gun. Jaylen Warren the running back. Zach Gentry in at tight end. Handoff to Calvin Austin III on a jet run. Nice job by Ndukwe to shed the block and Holcomb runs hard to finish the play, punching the ball out of Austin’s hands for the forced fumble. Believe the offense recovered but a good rep from Holcomb.
4. Jet run the other way to the left. Olszewski has a step on the defense and gains 16 yards with Kwon Alexander and other defenders in tow.
5. Mark Robinson and Alexander the inside linebacker pairing. Trubisky boots and looks for Dez Fitzpatrick on the run right side but the pass is incomplete. Mark Robinson had good underneath/ROBOT coverage to help squeeze the throw and make it tough on Trubisky.
6. Benton and Watts the defensive tackle pairing. Ndukwe and Roche the EDGE duo. Darnell Washington the Y tight end. RG Spencer Anderson with the frontside pull. Not sure who had the carry but it didn’t go far, Watts coming off his block and stuffing the run at the line.
7. Offensive line of Jones-Dunkle-McCollum-Anderson-Clark. Watts and Jones the defensive linemen. Screen left from Trubisky caught by Fitzpatrick but Elijah Riley gets past his block. He immediately pops Fitzpatrick, wrapping him up for a loss of 3.
8. Tanner Morgan complete to an open Dan Chisena over the middle of the field, beating zone for a gain of 17. Chris Wilcox tags him.
9. Marshall-Fehoko-Nyamwaya the defensive line trio. Darius Hagans carry right side. Gain of 5.
10. Morgan airs it out downfield. But there’s two receivers and a lot of traffic. Kenny Robinson steps up and finds the ball, picking off Morgan deep downfield.
11. Morgan now under center. Connor Heyward goes in motion. Greg Bell left side for 2 yards.
– Quick 7 on 7 notes.
– Two nice catches from Darnell Washington sitting down over the middle against zone and making the receptions.
– On the final rep of 7v7, Dan Chisena with a big catch downfield, reaching out to snag the ball with arms almost fully extended. Nice play for a guy we don’t hear much about, and he got plenty of congratulations from his offensive teammates, including helmet slaps from Mason Rudolph and Tanner Morgan (Morgan threw the ball).
Fifth Team Session (2-Minute Drill)
1. Two-minute drill with the starting offense against the starting defense. Ball at the offense’s 35, one timeout to play with. Kenny Pickett starts off hitting TE Pat Freiermuth for 7 yards over the middle.
2. They get back to the line. Pickett looks for Austin on a shallow cross but it’s a bit behind and Austin loses his footing with some rain coming in earlier. The pass incomplete. More blame on Pickett than Austin here.
3. Third down, ball on the 42. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kenny Robinson the safety pairing. Pickett extends the play and runs left, finding Cody White wide open down the left side and he makes the catch. Officially call it a 46-yard pickup. A would-be touchdown but Mike Tomlin wants them to play on (Pierre did tag White short of the end zone) and so they play on.
4. First down at the 4. Pickett’s throw for White is incomplete, hitting off his hands along the right side short of the goal line. Quincy Roche got pressure here from the backside.
5. Pickett looks for Pickens but the throw is over his head and out of the back of the end zone, Pickens leaping but has no shot on it with Pierre covering. One of those intentional “his ball or no one’s ball” kind of things.
6. Mike Tomlin calling out to his defense to protect the flat, something they didn’t do in seven shots and bailed out by some Boykin drops. Pickett has nothing there and scrambles ahead. Tomlin calls him down at the 1.
7. Fourth and goal. CB Chandon Sullivan comes in on a blitz and bats Pickett’s pass down on the way there, Sullivan continuing to run to the sideline to celebrate with the defense for the stop and win.
– Second-team offense/defense in. Mitch Trubisky at quarterback.
1. Same scenario. Ball at the offense’s 35, one timeout. Trubisky starts off hitting Dez Fitzpatrick right side for 9 yards. Barcoo with the in-bounds tag.
2. They line up but Tomlin blows the whistle, looking for clarification if Fitzpatrick got out of bounds or not. Or maybe he was “modifying” the outcome, I’m not sure. Trubisky checks down to midfield and hits Anthony McFarland Jr. Chapelle Russell on the stop.
3. Trubisky takes a shot and connects with Miles Boykin for a 22-yard gain working on Harper. Had a step on him.
4. I thought it was incomplete, but Connor Heyward evidently made an incredible, diving one-handed grab for an 8-yard gain left side. If it truly was a catch, it was a remarkable play. Tomlin called catch so…it’s a catch.
5. Trubisky throws right side but CB Luq Barcoo jumps it and nearly picks it off. He settles for the breakup instead.
6. Trubisky wants Olszewski on a slant but Elijah Riley jumps it and appears to pick it off. After some discussion, they rule it incomplete.
7. Third down. Trubisky looks for Boykin but it’s Barcoo on another breakup.
8. Fourth down. Boykin and Fitzpatrick on the outside with Olszewski in the slot. Appears TE Darnell Washington will break open, but he slips coming out of his break and Trubisky’s pass is incomplete. Couple bounces its way, but the defense wins both two-minute drills.
Camp Summary
– Kenny Pickett very good on back-shoulder throws. He’s money on those and they’re borderline impossible for defenses to stop.
– It happens but Pickett to Pickens felt a little off today. Not as crisp and in-sync as usual. Just slightly off.
– Rookie QB Tanner Morgan is fearless but probably too fearless. He likes to chuck and pray. Results haven’t been there.
– RB John Lovett has missed more time than he’s practiced. He’s been unable to add much depth here.
– WR Calvin Austin III settling in and really becoming a downfield threat. Now happening almost every day.
– Safety Kenny Robinson is a ball hawk. He’s aggressive. He attacks the ball. He wants the ball. A splash play dude.
– Cornerback Luq Barcoo having two solid days making plays in the red zone/end zone.
– If ILB Cole Holcomb can play the way he’s playing this summer in the fall, Pittsburgh will be very happy with its signing. It’s just camp but the inside linebacker room looks stronger. High-energy group, too.
– DB Elijah Riley still feels like the current favorite for run-down slot corner work.
– Pittsburgh may have some tough decisions along the defensive line. Eight guys worth keeping and seven will be their max. Breiden Fehoko has been very strong this camp. Literally and figuratively. And there’s some quickness to his game to shoot the A gap I didn’t expect to see.
Saint Vincent Photo Of The Day
Offensive tackles Broderick Jones and Spencer Anderson forced to perform their rookie civic duties of carrying pads over for a drill. Beats paying for a position-group dinner.
Better Know A Steeler
A daily blurb offering a brief bio of an interesting former Steeler.
Linebacker Mike Merriweather is one of the forgotten and underrated Steelers in history. Stuck on some mediocre 1980s teams, he made three Pro Bowls from 1984-86 and picked off 11 passes in six years with Pittsburgh. His time with the Steelers ended in a bitter contract dispute with Merriweather reportedly comparing Dan Rooney to Joseph Stalin. After sitting out the 1988 season, he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings.
Bill Burr’s Quote Of The Day
“You’re a kid, your whole life is awesome. It’s awesome, right? You had no money, no ID, no cell phone, no nothing, no keys to the house. You just ran outside into the woods. You weren’t scared of nothing. I challenge you to do that as an adult. All your IDs, all your credit cards — just run out of the house with no phone, turn the corner where you can’t see your house, and not have a full on panic attack.”
