Pittsburgh back in pads for its afternoon practice following Friday Night Lights. Might sound unusual but Mike Tomlin’s done it before to test the group. Let’s discuss what happened.
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Camp Notes (Day Nine)
– Injury roundup: Not practicing for Pittsburgh today were S Keanu Neal (unknown), RB John Lovett (unknown), WR Ja’Marcus Bradley (unknown), and DL DeMarvin Leal (left ankle). Lovett appears to be a lower-body injury. A trainer watched him jog on the sidelines during the early portion of practice. Leal was jogging and stretching in the stretch line and looks close to a return. Perhaps by tomorrow. I think he’ll be back by Tuesday at the latest.
Safety lines getting healthier. FS Minkah Fitzpatrick returned to practice for the first day since the second practice of camp. He did not work in team but went through individual and 7v7 drills. Big cheer for him down the stairs and he signed some autographs for fans before dapping up DBs Coach Grady Brown and jumping on the JUGS machine before practice began.
S Damontae Kazee also returned and worked in individual and not team. NT Keeanu Benton has a brace on his right wrist/forearm after injuring it yesterday but practiced in full and had a good day.
For the first time, a head coach “injury” report. After missing yesterday’s practice to be with Ronde Barber for the Hall of Fame, Mike Tomlin was back in Latrobe today.
Rookie OLB Nick Herbig has a hip flexor, per Tomlin. He was getting worked on by head trainer Gabe Amponsah midway through practice. He stood on the sidelines the rest of practice unattended but did not finish the day. He also had a compression sleeve on his left leg, but the injury was on his right side today. Tomlin also said OG Nate Herbig suffered a thumb injury.
– Once again, Joey Porter Jr. is the first player down the stairs at 1:24. He got on the JUGS machine and played catch with a coach throughout practice.
– The refs are still here and have been with the team all week.
– First-team OL today in warmups: Dan Moore Jr.-Isaac Seumalo-Mason Cole-James Daniels-Chukwuma Okorafor.
– Second-team OL. Broderick Jones-Kevin Dotson-Kevin Green-Nate Herbig-Le’Raven Clark.
– Third-team OL. Spencer Anderson-Bill Dunkle-Ryan McCollum-No One-Dylan Cook.
With Pittsburgh still having just 14 OL, there isn’t enough for three full lines. So Assistant OL Coach Isaac Williams stood in at right guard in warmups. We’ll talk about who worked there during team period later in this report.
– The return of the punt return challenge. How many footballs can each returner catch without dropping one? The contestants: Gunner Olszewski, Calvin Austin III, and Jordan Byrd. The results?
Olszewski: 4
Austin: 5
Byrd: 4
Austin is your winner. Not a big guy but made it work. He tried a sixth but couldn’t even reach for it, letting it whizz by him.
– RB Coach Eddie Faulkner always doing something new in drills. Today, he threw two small cones in the direction the running back was supposed to cut to as they went over the bags. He’s always inventive with these guys to break up the monotony of practice.
– The Kendrick Green fullback experience isn’t over. He began practice working with the running backs in individual sessions, carrying the football, rolling over the big medicine ball they have, coaches trying to punch it out of his hand. He went through the line two to three times before jogging over to finish individual work with the offensive linemen.
– Mike Tomlin’s presence on the field today: “Don’t warm up to it today,” he called out to his players right before seven shots began.
– During special teams sessions later in the day, Olszewski, Austin, and Byrd got returns while Ja’Marcus Bradley watched while injured.
First Team Session (11 v 11)
1. Seven shots. Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb the inside linebacker pairing. Kenny Robinson and Tre Norwood the safety pairing. Offensive line of Moore-Seumalo-Cole-Herbig-Okorafor. Jaylen Warren in the backfield. Kenny Pickett at quarterback. Pickett’s fade right side for George Pickens is incomplete. Patrick Peterson providing good coverage from his left cornerback spot.
2. Empty initially before Najee Harris motions in. Chandon Sullivan working in the slot. Nice throw in the left front on the goal line from Pickett to Diontae Johnson, who makes the grab despite strong coverage from Roberts. Nice play all-around but the offense finds the end zone.
3. Darnell Washington comes in motion. Cole Holcomb with pressure as Pickett boots to his left. Pickett throws off his backfoot and doesn’t get everything on it. WR Allen Robinson II open in the left flat, but Pickett’s pass falls short and in front of Robinson. Ref threw a flag for something I’m not sure of. May be holding but nothing that impacted the play.
4. Miles Killebrew and Trenton Thompson the safety pairing. Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre the outside cornerbacks. Markus Golden and Nick Herbig the outside linebackers. Anthony McFarland Jr. the running back. WR George Pickens in the slot. McFarland motioned out to make this an empty set.
Pickett fires for TE Pat Freiermuth running towards the back left corner of the end zone. Throw is slightly off the mark and hits off Freiermuth’s outstretched right hand and bounces away. Incomplete.
5. Offensive line of Jones-Dotson-Green-Herbig-Clark. Mitch Trubisky in at quarterback. RB Darius Hagans motions from being split out into the backfield sidecar next to Trubisky. Calvin Austin III in the slot with Gunner Olszewski and Cody White on the outside. Austin gets open on the right side about 2 yards deep into the end zone and makes the catch as the defensive back closes on top of him. Touchdown.
6. Duke Dawson in the slot with Madre Harper the left cornerback. McFarland the running back. Mitch Trubisky under center. Austin goes in jet motion right to left to draw the eyes of the defense. Trubisky boots right and has McFarland open in the right flat. He makes the catch while LB Nick Kwiatkoski can only trail.
7. Tied at 3-3 heading into the final rep. Trubisky looks for WR Miles Boykin left side but the pass is incomplete. Safety Trenton Thompson diving and breaking up the ball on a solid play. That puts the defense on top 4-3. And they know it, too. Heading into this play, someone on the defensive side yelled out “3-3” to emphasize the importance of the moment.
– Backs on ‘backers returned alongside Mike Tomlin. I missed the first rep but here are the rest.
Backs on ‘Backers
1. Alex Highsmith with a good club to knock Pat Freiermuth back. He stayed on his feet but a good rush from Highsmith.
2. T.J. Watt successfully spins inside and beats Darnell Washington on this rep.
3. Powerful bull rush by LB Elandon Roberts to jolt Jaylen Warren backwards and he stumbles.
4. They go again. Warren is sitting on power but Roberts throws the changeup, going finesse and swiping past him to win.
5. Nice job by TE Zach Gentry to seal Nick Herbig upfield.
6. Herbig tries the cross chop but Gentry defends it well, though Herbig slipped by late in the rush. Still giving the win to Gentry.
7. Nice rep by TE Rodney Williams to mirror and take away OLB Toby Nduwke’s inside spin move.
8. After two false starts and interruptions, they go again. Williams wins again against Nduwke.
9. Anthony McFarland Jr. with a strong rep against LB Mark Robinson.
10. TE Connor Heyward seals OLB Quincy Roche up the arc.
11. Nice inside/outside head fake by Watt to get Washington to bite. Watt is able to secure the edge and rip through. Much better here than he was on Tuesday against Washington.
12. Kwon Alexander blasts and runs through Najee Harris. Violent rep and win for Alexander.
13. They go again. Harris drops his head and though Alexander doesn’t win as convincingly here, he’s able to gain the edge inside and wins here.
14. They go one more time. Alexander swims Harris over Harris’ right shoulder and wins again, taking all three reps.
15. Highsmith is able to dip through Freiermuth around the edge.
16. Nick Kwiatkoski swims over Darius Hagans.
17. Hagans is able to save face, anchoring on Kwiatkoski’s bull rush and though the linebacker sheds him late, I’m giving the win to Hagans.
18. Some wrestling here between Zach Gentry and Nick Herbig, who both go to the ground.
19. Herbig uses an inside spin move to get past Gentry.
20. Tanner Muse with a nice swim move over Greg Bell.
21. Dominant rep here from Darnell Washington against David Perales. Clear win here for Washington.
22. His size allows him to be patience and Washington takes away the inside before sealing Perales upfield.
23. Jaylen Warren gets to face Elandon Roberts again. Warren’s anchor is much stronger and he handles Roberts’ bull rush.
24. They go again. Warren wins again as Roberts goes to the ground in behind the quarterback in the drill. Warren is pumped for getting his revenge and takes a step to Roberts and flexes on him with both arms.
25. Connor Heyward locks out Toby Nduwke.
26. Rodney Williams initially mirrors Quincy Roche’s spin but he slips shortly after doing so.
27. Roche goes power and gets under Williams’ pads, forklifting him backwards.
28. Another spin from Roche and again, Williams slips and falls. Gotta keep your feet.
29. Connor Heyward with a good rep against LB Chapelle Russell.
30. Miles Killebrew jumps into the drill and swims over Darius Hagans.
31. They go again. Hagans fails to stay square and Killebrew beats him inside.
32. Nice seal by Washington on Herbig, who tries the cross chop. He loves the cross chop. I do not. Hate moves that ask guys to leave their feet.
33. Herbig appears to use a push/pull to bring Washington forward and get past him. Good rep from Herbig.
34. Tiebreaker. Washington seals Herbig upfield to take two of three and win the series.
Second Team Session
1. Ball at the offense’s 36. Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace the cornerbacks. Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts the inside linebackers. Defensive line of Larry Ogunjobi-Montravius Adams-Cam Heyward. Najee Harris carry left side, following behind a pulling Chukwuma Okorafor. Again, Pittsburgh pulling its tackles on Dart runs this summer. Creates a good lane and I’ll give Harris a healthy run of 10, one of his longest of camp.
2. Pickett under center. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith the EDGE rushers. Twelve personnel with Diontae Johnson and Gunner Olszewski the wide receivers. Toss right to Harris but Cole Holcomb knifes in and blows it up. Still no tackling of Harris but I’ll put it down for a loss of 1.
3. Pickett again under center. Kendrick Green in at fullback. Harris run right side for about 2. Green pulled across but missed his block on Alex Highsmith, who wrong-armed him inside and got past.
4. Offensive line of Jones-McCollum-Herbig-Dotson-Clark. Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre the outside corners with Chandon Sullivan in the slot. Trubisky play-action. George Pickens gets open on a crosser working right to left and Trubisky puts it on him for a gain of 15.yards before Pierre grabs him down, Pickens extending out as far as he can as he’s going to the ground.
5. Anthony McFarland Jr. run up the middle…I think. NT Keeanu Benton blows the play up and pops McFarland big-time, engulfing him as they go to the ground. I’ll give it a loss of 3.
6. Green back in the backfield and he pulls left to right. Throws a strong lead block, similar to the one he had on Toby Nduwke last night. It and other blocks create a lane for Darius Hagans. Give him a solid gain of 6 before Trenton Thompson supports the run well to cut Hagans down. But Hagans got 1v1 on the safety. It was a well-blocked play.
7. Slow run here by Hagans, who doesn’t have much doing. Giving him a gain of 1 as Ndukwe and a host of his defensive teammates converge on the stop.
8. Madre Harper and Chris Wilcox the outside corners with Elijah Riley in the slot. Tre Norwood and Trenton Thompson the safeties. Isaiahh Loudermilk and Jonathan Marshall the defensive tackles. Mason Rudolph in the gun. Jet run left side to — I believe — Olszewski, working off memory and not my notes here, for a gain of 6. WR Miles Boykin throws a solid downfield block on CB Chris Wilcox to help spring things. Safety Tre Norwood has to go in and clean it up along the left sideline.
9. Defensive line of Manny Jones-Jonathan Marshall-James Nyamwaya. Marshall late to get on the field and the d-linemen aren’t even set with their hands down once the ball is snapped. Toss left. Greg Bell on the carry with Marshall and Nyamwaya helping on the stop. Gain of about 2. Good stop despite the pre- and post-snap chaos.
10. Green aligns Y-off. He pulls across and like last night, Rudolph boots and has him open in the right flat. Green catches the ball cleanly, lowers his right shoulder into LB Tanner Muse, running him over, spinning off, and staying on his feet, and getting roughly 12 yards, we’ll call it, before finally going down. What a wild play. Teammates and fans hyped for Green.
Third Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 19. Watt and Highsmith the outside linebackers. Holcomb and Robinson the inside linebackers. Peterson and Wallace on the outside at cornerback with Sullivan in the slot. Robinson and Norwood the safety pairing. Pickett throws left side for George Pickens but it’s incomplete, Wallace providing tight coverage.
2. Pickett hits Harris left side for about 5 yards.
3. Pickett hits Johnson left side for a gain of 11. Sullivan providing coverage but unable to make the play. Watt beat Chukwuma Okorafor inside here as Okorafor tried to hang on and not allow him past.
4. Nduwke and Golden the outside linebackers, Nduwke seeing elevated reps with Herbig’s day done at this point. Armon Watts and Breiden Fehoko the defensive tackles. Dime defense with Holcomb the lone inside linebacker. I don’t exactly have who all was aligning where but Pittsburgh in its dime defense. The six defensive backs on the field: Peterson, Robinson, Wallace, Sullivan, Porter, and Riley.
Porter is at left cornerback here and Pickett puts this ball on the money right side. Robinson adjusting back for the ball working over Porter, who can’t do anything about it, and it’s a 23-yard pickup.
5. Defensive line trio of Loudermilk-Benton-Watts. Kwon Alexander and Chapelle Russell the inside linebackers. Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. Jaylen Warren totes the rock up the middle for only 2. Benton had penetration while Alexander met Warren in the hole with a loud pop.
6. Trubisky fires over the middle and hits Austin for 16 yards working on Porter, who might not have been 100 percent with a minor ankle injury he played through. Couldn’t tell which right outside linebacker it was, either Markus Golden or Quincy Roche. Whoever it was beat Broderick Jones inside to apply pressure.
7. Madre Harper in at left cornerback. Trubisky heaves deep down the left sideline and WR Cody White makes a great leaping grab over James Pierre for a 29-yard catch. Nice play by White whose steady and strong camp continues.
8. Killebrew comes on a blitz up the B-gap. Warren picks it up but Killebrew gets loose a little bit on a swim move. Overall though, Warren did his job. Trubisky looks for Connor Heyward over the middle about 5 yards downfield. Tre Norwood closes well and breaks it up, incomplete.
9. Defensive line of: Manny Jones-Breiden Fehoko-James Nyamwaya. Nick Kwiatkoski and Tanner Muse the inside linebackers. Luq Barcoo and Chris Wilcox the cornerbacks. Kenny Robinson and Trenton Thompson the safety pairing. Isaiahh Loudermilk a true standup left outside linebacker here. Rudolph complete to Miles Boykin on a crosser with good YAC. A gain of 20. Watching the line, Manny Jones clubbed past Bill Dunkle.
10. Rudolph under pressure as Duke Dawson blitzes from his left cornerback spot. Rudolph looks to throw it away and chucks it at RB Darius Hagans’ feet at the line of scrimmage, the pass incomplete.
11. Jones and Nyamwaya the defensive tackles. Loudermilk and Perales the EDGE rushers. Alexander and Russsell the inside linebackers. Kendrick Green at center. Rudolph throws to WR Hakeem Butler, who is covered well. CB Luq Barcoo breaks it up.
12. Loudermilk again at left outside linebacker. Rookie WR Jordan Byrd goes in motion. Rudolph again looks for a pretty-covered Butler and again Barcoo causes the incompletion. Maybe Rudolph is letting a big guy like Butler make a play but back-to-back incompletions and Rudolph looked a little frustrated here.
Fourth Team Session
1. Ball at the offense’s 28. Holcomb and Roberts the inside linebackers. Peterson and Wallace the cornerbacks on the outside with Sullivan in the slot. Pistol formation with Harris behind Pickett. Harris stuffed up the middle by a combination of Cam Heyward and Montravius Adams. Only a gain of 1.
2. Watt and Highsmith the EDGE rushers. Pickett throws back shoulder to Diontae Johnson right sideline. He hits the E-brake and leaves Peterson running upfield to make the grab and then cutting upfield…almost thinking about running backwards before planting and cutting. Gain of 21.
3. Pickett under center. Pickett with a weird lofter short right side at the line of scrimmage that DE Armon Watts tips twice and nearly picks off. It hits the ground.
4. Watts and Adams the defensive tackle pairing. Ndukwe and Golden the outside linebackers. Roberts and Holcomb the inside linebackers. Cody White and Dez Fitzpatrick the wide receivers. Harris carry up the middle. Head down, he muscles ahead in this non-tackling period. Watts held the point of attack, but I’ll give Harris a gain of 4 here as he fought through some wrap-up tacklers.
5. Mike Tomlin yells out “Let’s go 2-6” as Anthony McFarland Jr. steps into the huddle. Play-action here by Trubisky but he doesn’t see anything open and never fires the ball. Just kinda stands in the pocket until everyone stops.
6. Offense moves to the right hash to get set for the play. Porter and Pierre on the outside with Riley in the slot. Trubisky under center. Jaylen Warren has a crease right side and bolts downhill through the hole. Mark Robinson tags him from behind but it’s a gain of 6.
7. Offensive line of Jones-Dunkle-Green-Dotson-Clark. Awkward-looking screen (at least, I think it was a screen, Pittsburgh’s version of them always looks like abstract art; you gotta squint at) and McFarland gains roughly 4 with Le’Raven Clark trying to throw a block out in the right flat.
8. Kwon Alexander and Mark Robinson the inside linebackers. Miles Boykin and Dez Fitzpatrick the wide receivers with Calvin Austin III in the slot. Empty set for Trubisky. Trubisky floats one down the right seam for Connor Heyward with Mark Robinson running step-for-step with him. Heyward seems to initially have it, but the two players wrestle for the ball on the way down. The side judge runs over and points in the defense’s direction, giving Robinson the pick. He fires the ball into the air to celebrate.
9. Good-timing throw from Rudolph to hit Fitzpatrick on a corner route left side even before Fitzpatrick came out of his break. Gain of 17 along the sideline. Wilcox covering.
10. Spencer Anderson in at left tackle, Ryan McCollum at center. Hagans bowls forward with Green pulling in front from his fullback spot, giving a good shot into Quincy Roche. Gain of 4.
11. Madre Harper and Luq Barcoo the cornerbacks. Mason Rudolph in the gun. Short throw from him to Rodney Williams is complete for a gain of 4. Russell covering.
12. Hakeem Butler the Z receiver. Cody White in the slot. Connor Heyward in the backfield and gets the carry left side for a gain of 7. Harper comes across from his left cornerback spot to knock Heyward down but a nice lane and good gain.
OL/DL results.
O-Line/D-Line
1. Broderick Jones seals Toby Nduwke.
2. Good punch from Jones early. That’s what OL Coach Pat Meyer wants, and he wins again on Nduwke.
3. Jones graduates to face a veteran in Markus Golden, who beats Jones and rips past and through him.
4. OG Bill Dunkle steers UDFA James Nyamwaya upfield.
5. Dunkle is able to anchor Nyamwaya’s bull rush.
6. Kendrick Green still struggling with finesse moves. Breiden Fehoko the shaded NT and he rips through him immediately as he comes off the football.
7. Bull rush from Fehoko, who knocks Green back and he has to use two hop steps to stall it out. Good technique from Green, at least.
8. Fehoko and Green lock up and Fehoko can’t shed.
9. Good rip move from Keeanu Benton to get under and past Ryan McCollum.
10. Benton goes bull to rip here but McCollum does better to hang on.
11. They go again. Benton’s hands are active, and he uses a club/swim to get past McCollum.
12. Spencer Anderson mirrors Quincy Roche’s and wins the rep.
13. Here, Anderson wins by sealing Roche upfield.
14. Now Jones gets to face Cam Heyward. Heyward goes with his patented power move. Jones hangs in there initially but Heyward transitions to his long-arm that’s able to get under Jones and upright him. Jones loses his balance and trips into the “quarterback” (who looks like a kid or young adult) and Jones falls down. Heyward then stumbles overtop of Jones. Welcome to big-league power, Broderick Jones. That’s what it looks like.
15. They go again. Jones wants to sit on power but Heyward uses finesse and beats him to the inside.
16. Dunkle seals Manny Jones.
17. Jones rips Dunkle and Dunkle is grabbing a lot of jersey here.
18. Armon Watts swipes past Ryan McCollum.
19. McCollum stays with Watts but there’s a lot of forward body lean here.
20. Good bull by Watts on McCollum.
21. Marshall tries to swipe Anderson early, but he catches air, losing his balance as he goes over his toes and to the ground.
22. Keeanu Benton rips through James Daniels. Nice rep.
Unfortunately, I was not able to chart the rest of OL/DL or the final team session. Apologies for that. Friend of the site Tom Rossi provided some notes for the final session. I’ll pass them along verbatim here.
Fifth Team Session
1. Kenny incomplete pass to Najee in flat. Highsmith pressure.
2. Kenny to George Pickens back of end zone. Leaping 15-yard TD! Levi Wallace good coverage.
3. Toss left to Najee for no gain.
4. Trubisky pump and go TD 25 yards to Cody White.
5. Trubisky incomplete down the right sideline.
6. Trubisky inside handoff from shotgun to Warren. Gain of 5+.
7. Trubisky play-action from 10-yard line, incomplete pass looking for Hagans in flat.
8. Rudolph screen pass to Dez Fitzpatrick.
9. Marshall offsides.
10. Mason Rudolph intercepted by Barcoo.
11. Rudolph toss to Greg Bell. Short gain. Bad snap by Kendrick Green.
12. False start by Spencer Anderson to end practice.
Camp Summary
– Overall, Kenny Pickett had another solid day. Probably not quite as good as yesterday but the back-shoulder throws were on the money.
– Gotta talk about Kendrick Green. He’s looking good and having fun at fullback. I don’t know how far he can take it, but it’s worked great the past two days. So they gotta keep doing it; it’d be silly not to. As an offensive lineman, he struggles with mirroring and sliding finesse/quick moves and has played center only this camp.
– I will say it’s been a pretty quiet camp by RB Najee Harris. And he struggled in backs on ‘backers today. Surprised by that though credit to Kwon Alexander.
– Nice to see CB Luq Barcoo make some plays today. He had lost a lot of reps the past few days but got some more today. Younger guys getting more time to be evaluated in the latter half of today’s session.
– Theme of camp is versatility. Anthony McFarland Jr., the whole secondary, Isaiahh Loudermilk playing legitimate left outside linebacker, Kendrick Green at fullback/tight end. Guys maximizing their versatility as the Steelers toy around with stuff this summer.
– WR Cody White with an impressive camp. He’s been consistently solid.
– Saw some pass rush juice from DL Manny Jones today. He’s a good athlete trying to capture a practice squad spot.
– Overall, a strong camp for LB Cole Holcomb. Run and pass game. Elandon Roberts is a fierce bull rusher. Vince Williams-like.
Saint Vincent Photo Of The Day
Calvin Austin III with his hands full of footballs in the punt return challenge.
Better Know A Steeler
A daily blurb offering a brief bio of an interesting former Steeler.
Defensive lineman Scott Paxson spent parts of five seasons on the Steelers’ roster from 2006 to 2010. But he only appeared in one career game, a 2008 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Three years later, he suited up in 16 games for the Cleveland Browns and injured Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger on his lone career sack.
Bill Burr’s Quote Of The Day
“You know what a cubicle basically says? It basically says, like, ‘You know what? We don’t think you’re smart enough for an office, but we don’t want you to look at anybody.’”
