The Pittsburgh Steelers held their final 2025 training camp practice Tuesday, a padded session to end the day. One last time this year, let’s talk about it.
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Camp Notes (Day 15)
– Not practicing today were CB Cory Trice Jr. (hamstring), CB Donte Kent (right foot), OT Calvin Anderson (undisclosed), C Ryan McCollum (undisclosed/leg), TE Jonnu Smith (undisclosed/knee), EDGE Alex Highsmith (groin), WR Calvin Austin III (undisclosed), DL Yahya Black (arm/elbow) QB Will Howard (right hand), OG Isaac Seumalo (undisclosed), DL Cam Heyward (hold-in), and OG Aiden Williams (undisclosed). Black initially wore a wrap around his right elbow, though he took it off during practice as he watched in street clothes.
Didn’t spot Seumalo on the field for the second-straight day. One veteran off day is one thing but back-to-back absences suggest an injury. Spencer Anderson continued working as the first-team left guard.
Highsmith did a little bit of jogging though arguably less than yesterday. He took the field at the start, did some work on the side, and walked up the hill to the facility at 2:35 after the 1:55 start time. He returned at 3:18 without his No. 56 jersey to watch the rest of practice.
TE JJ Galbreath dressed but was limited today, jogging and cutting/running routes on the middle field during the individual periods.
The positives: DL Derrick Harmon worked full after being held out following yesterday’s Seven Shots period. CB Darius Slay also practiced in full after turning his ankle yesterday. And CB/S Jalen Ramsey was a full participant after missing the last few days with a minor injury. ILB Devin Harper also returned after missing yesterday, wearing a sleeve on his left leg. I don’t believe he worked in the team periods, but I could be wrong. Just don’t have it noted.
QB Aaron Rodgers was the notable almost-injury today. During the second team period, DL Derrick Harmon collapsed the pocket and stepped on Rodgers’ foot. Rodgers limped a little bit but finished his reps that period. He was briefly evaluated on the side by trainers before taking a knee, TE Pat Freiermuth and others coming up to him. Rodgers was then left unattended for the rest of the period.
As the team period ended and a special teams one began where the quarterbacks move to the middle of the field to throw and go through drills, Rodgers was briefly delayed. He sat down on the sideline while a trainer evaluated his injury, putting a black wrap on his right calf.
Rodgers went over to the quarterbacks and went through the drills, moving in the “pocket” and throwing. For the following team period, he still tried to loosen up his right leg as he jogged over to the near field. He finished practice and didn’t mess a rep, though his accuracy seemed to decrease the rest of the way. If that’s related to the injury or happenstance, I’m not sure.
Still, the overall takeaway from Rodgers is he suffered a minor injury and didn’t miss a single rep of the team period. He’s probably sore now and will be sore in the morning but it’s more “hurt” than “injury.” Mike Tomlin downplayed it in his final camp presser.
– For the final day, Payton Wilson and Mason McCormick were the first players to walk onto the field, spilling out onto the field at 1:20 PM/EST. Creatures of routine, Wilson said a short prayer on the edge of the field before making his way to the where the inside linebackers warm up. ILBs coach Scott McCurley walked over to him at 1:27 PM/EST. A few minutes later, ILB Cole Holcomb, DC Teryl Austin, Wilson, and McCurley worked together as they often do before each day.
McCormick found a shady spot on the bench before working with assistant o-line coach Isaac Williams for a bit pre-practice.
– GM Andy Weidl is a recognizable name but maybe not a recognizable face. He walked through the crowd adjacent to the stairs before later making his way onto the field, sitting down and chatting with OC Arthur Smith early in practice.
– Will Howard continues to miss practice but is getting mental reps. He worked with QBs coach Tom Arth early in practice, mimicking snaps and “checks” like he was at the line of scrimmage. He continued that theme throughout the day. Still wearing a splint/brace on his right hand and he can’t throw yet but he’s doing all he can to stay active. There was also a woman in the stands post-practice who evidently knew Howard. Howard waved as he walked over to her, saying hello with a big smile and taking a photo with OT Gareth Warren.
– In center-quarterback warmups, Zach Frazier, Max Scharping, Doug Nester, and Mason McCormick snapped. McCormick getting the reps with McCollum still shelved and Williams not practicing. During the individual periods, Frazier, Scharping, and Nester did the snapping while Frazier and Scharping did so throughout the team periods. Don’t have notes of Nester doing it after snapping in team yesterday.
If ever needed in a game, McCormick is probably the emergency center even though he hasn’t taken reps there during the team periods at any portion of camp.
– First-team o-line: B. Jones-S. Anderson-Frazier-McCormick-Fautanu
– Second-team o-line: Cook-Peat-Scharping-Nester-S. Jones
– NFL insider Jay Glazer was again at SVC for today’s practice.
– Funny moment during individual work. Quarterbacks working on-air, not even with receivers yet. QBs coach Tom Arth serving as the “pass rusher” with offensive assistant Matt Baker the “blocker.” Arth dipped him around the edge as Baker fell to the ground. A funny moment that had everyone, including the crowd, laughing.
– Kenneth Gainwell worked with the running backs the entire time during the individual periods after spending a bit of time with the tight ends yesterday (catching passes, not blocking). Probably because the tight end group was a little healthier today, Gainwell’s services weren’t needed to help quarterbacks get their throws in.
First Team Period (11 on 11)
1. One more round of Seven Shots. O-line of B. Jones-S. Anderson-Frazier-McCormick-Fautanu. T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig the EDGE rushers, Derrick Harmon working in the team period. Jalen Ramsey and DeShon Elliott the safety pairing with Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay the outside corners.
Rodgers under center. Jaylen Warren carry up the middle. Big lane and it’s a walk-in score.
2. Ramsey now in the slot with Porter Jr. and Slay on the outside. Scotty Miller in the slot with Roman Wilson and DK Metcalf the outside receivers. Pat Freiermuth also slot left, Gainwell the runner. Rodgers out of shotgun. Back-shoulder throw to Metcalf is behind and incomplete, Metcalf twisting around but unable to get a hand on the ball. JPJ covering.
3. Brandin Echols checks in at corner, Slay the other corner as JPJ subs out. TE Darnell Washington splits wide left. DeShon Elliott bumps out with him. Rodgers throws the fade and Washington makes the play, boxing out Elliott and making the grab for the score. Not much Elliott could do.
4. Mason Rudolph checks in. Rudolph floats a pass right side for WR Max Hurleman in the back right corner. CB Daryl Porter Jr. blankets it underneath and picked the ball off initially. But Hurleman fights with him on the way down. As Porter is laying on his back, Hurleman is ripping and punching the ball out. It pops out of Porter’s hands and Hurleman nabs it, holding the ball up to signal touchdown.
No idea how this was actually scored. Funky play. I’ll give it to the defense because it seemed Porter went to the ground with the ball first and I think it was too long for Hurleman to take it away.
5. O-line of Cook-Peat-Scharping-Nester-S. Jones. Rudolph under center. He rifles a slant right side complete to WR Brandon Johnson, fitting the ball between CB James Pierre and SS Juan Thornhill.
6. D-tackle pairing of Esezi Otomewo and Logan Lee. Skylar Thompson subs in at quarterback. RB Lew Nichols carry up the middle. Gets a good block from Gareth Warren, who clears the way for the touchdown.
7. Jack Sawyer and DeMarvin Leal the EDGE duo. Warren at left tackle, Steven Jones at right tackle. Lance McCutcheon slot left. Thompson finds McCutcheon left side on a speed out, and he is wide open for a pitch-and-catch score.
Offense ends camp on a good Seven Shots note, winning 5-2 (or 6-1 if you give the offense the score in play No. 4).
One on Ones (Oklahoma Drill)
– No full tackling here, which was a little disappointing. The Steelers normally do it once per year but have done thud tackles/tags every time in camp. Less to note here but a couple of plays. Jalen Ramsey had a great wrap-up on DK Metcalf. And in one of the final reps, the group having some fun, Metcalf played defense and wrapped up Joey Porter Jr. who was the “runner.”
– RB Trey Sermon had a couple solid reps as the runner in this one, earning praise from Mike Tomlin.
One on Ones (Coverage Drill)
1. Couple notes on the running backs versus linebackers in one-on-ones. Patrick Queen is underneath Jaylen Warren but the pass is floated over him and Warren makes the grab.
2. Nice leaping snag by Trey Sermon over Cole Holcomb.
3. Nice route and rep by Evan Hull to beat Mark Robinson. Started his route outside before breaking back in.
4. They go again and Hull again makes the snag on Robinson.
5. Similar to the first play, Kaleb Johnson makes the snag on an out route thrown over Malik Harrison’s head.
6. Angle route from Lew Nichols, who I think dropped this one with Carson Bruener covering. Maybe Bruener got a hand on it but I don’t think so.
7. Kaleb Johnson drops a pass on an out route working on Devin Harper.
8. Focused on receivers/defensive backs the rest of the way after they finished working on blocking.
First rep has Jalen Ramsey’s toes on the goal line, 10 yards off from DK Metcalf. Ramsey flat-foot read and drives on Metcalf’s slant route, stepping in front and knocking the ball away. Really nice play by Ramsey.
9. Pat Freiermuth has a step on DeShon Elliott, gaining an edge to the outside. Throw a little high. Freiermuth reaches up but the ball hits off his hand.
10. Scotty Miller really nice route to burst away from Beanie Bishop Jr., working inside and then outside.
11. Spinning fade by WR Lance McCutcheon against Daryl Porter Jr., making the catch but the coaches around him ruling he was out of bounds, unable to get both feet down inbounds.
12. Hard jam by D’Shawn Jamison at the line but Roman Wilson doubles back on a pivot route to make the catch inside.
13. Brandon Johnson gets open and sits down but I guess he had to run his route to the outside. From the back of the end zone, he tries to but Brandin Echols has leverage and the throw ends up incomplete. Kind of a funky rep.
14. Nice job by Connor Heyward to cross Quindell Johnson’s face on a slant in the end zone.
15. Back-shoulder touchdown catch by Roc Taylor against Kyler McMichael.
16. Bully ball from Darnell Washington, running through Juan Thornhill and knocking him off-balance. Scores in the back of the end zone.
17. Touchdown by Hurleman against Beanie Bishop Jr.
18. Good jam by Joey Porter Jr. on Robert Woods. Woods still makes an over-the-shoulder grab along the sideline but it’s also ruled out of bounds.
Second Team Period (11 on 11)
1. Ball on the offense’s 10-yard-line. “Stay on your feet,” Mike Tomlin calls out, noting this isn’t a full-tackling session. Offense comes out in 13 personnel. D-line of Harmon-Benton-Loudermilk. Watt and Herbig the EDGE rushers, Porter and Slay the outside cornerbacks, Elliott and Ramsey the safeties, Queen and Wilson the inside linebackers.
Rodgers under center. Warren carry left side, cutting upfield. DeShon Elliott first man there. Call it a gain of 5 as Warren keeps going before being popped pretty good by Ramsey from his FS spot. Ramsey is a presence, no question, and makes it clear whenever he practices.
2. Rodgers under center. Drops back. Not even sure if he got a throw off but this was the play where Rodgers was stepped on, I think from Harmon collapsing the pocket over right guard.
3. Rodgers stays in and works under center. Handoff to Kaleb Johnson for a gain of roughly 3 yards, popped by Payton Wilson on the other side.
4. Notes get scattered here because I was focused on Rodgers being okay and the season not falling apart. Gainwell either on a reception or carry here.
5. Kaleb Johnson hard-nosed run left side. Charges over James Pierre for a good finish and gain of 5 or 6 yards.
6. Looks like a false start here. Gainwell run up the gut. Daniel Ekuale and DeMarvin Leal meet him after a short gain.
7. Rudolph looks over the middle but is picked by ILB Cole Holcomb, who made a great play. Makes the snag in coverage and returns it the other way for a pick-six, pumped and excited to make the play.
8. Run up the middle goes nowhere. Good play by the d-line.
9. Skylar Thompson under center. Toss right to RB Lew Nichols. Good backside cutoff by the o-line here. Unsure of the yardage though.
10. Thompson still under center. Play-action. Thompson rolls route and hits Washington in the right flat for a 5-yard gain, Mark Robinson applying the tag.
Third Team Period (11 on 11)
1. Ball back on the offense’s 10-yard line. D-line of Harmon-Benton-Loudermilk. Porter and Slay the cornerbacks, Ramsey and Elliott the safeties.
Rodgers in shotgun. Throws wide of the sideline for his intended target. Not sure who it was, maybe Connor Heyward, but the pass was out in front and incomplete.
2. Rodgers using a hard count. Gainwell orbit motion in the backfield. Throw to Metcalf is behind. Metcalf spins back and can’t make the play, incomplete.
3. Watt at LDE with his hand in the ground. Elliott down in the box. Rodgers throws downfield left sideline for WR Brandon Johnson, who has a step on James Pierre. But the pass is a little out in front and incomplete.
4. Rodgers in shotgun. T.J. Watt dips under and cleanly beats RT Troy Fautanu for a would-be sack. Play continues and Rodgers fires over the middle. But James Pierre undercuts the route and picks it off.
5. Mason Rudolph subs in, Pat Freiermuth slot right. Throw to Freiermuth is over his head, incomplete.
6. Esezi Otomewo and Logan Lee the d-tackles. Jack Sawyer and DeMarvin Leal the EDGE rushers. Miles Killebrew and Chuck Clark the safety duo, Cole Holcomb and Malik Harrison at inside linebacker. They mug up into the A-gaps and threaten blitz.
Rudolph complete over the middle to Robert Woods for a gain of about 20 yards, Clark letting him fly by in this non-tackling session.
7. Connor Heyward makes a great tipped catch, one-handed, over the middle on a pass from Rudolph. Really nice snag for about a 25-yard gain.
8. Rudolph pressured and his throw is incomplete.
9. Thompson comes in at quarterback. Offense forced to re-huddle after some issue. Lew Nichols carry left side. Hard to say where he’d be “down” but he runs downfield as S Quindell Johnson chases him all the way, No. 35 on defense running after No. 35 on offense.
Steven Jones and Andrus Peat were on the ground and landed a little awkwardly but both got up okay.
10. Go-ball from Thompson to WR Roc Taylor is incomplete down the right sideline.
Fourth Team Period (11 on 11)
1. Ball on the offense’s 15-yard line. Benton and Harmon the d-tackles, Watt and Herbig the EDGE rushers. Thornhill and Elliott the safeties, Porter and Slay the outside corners with Ramsey in the slot.
Rodgers under center. Feeling some heat, Rodgers throws off his back foot after play-action and finds Jaylen Warren for about 10 yards (ish).
2. Harmon-Benton-Loudermilk the d-line trio. Wilson and Queen the inside linebackers. Rodgers working out of the pistol for the first time. Don’t know if that was planned or because he got his foot stepped on. Counter run right side, Warren gaining about 5 yards before Joey Porter Jr. comes down and tags him.
3. Gainwell makes a nifty one-handed catch left side from Rodgers, about 5 yards. Patrick Queen bumps him hard and the two go the ground.
4. Offense goes tempo. Wilson walks out and covers Freiermuth, aligned widest but his split relatively reduced. Rodgers drops the football as he’s dropping back. Picks it up, looks left side for Kaleb Johnson. Throw is in front and incomplete. Rodgers was visibly pissed, pointing and gesturing to Johnson after the play. I don’t think Johnson realized Rodgers was mad for a moment, walking back to the huddle before turning his head and looking at Rodgers.
5. Hole closes pretty quickly on this Johnson carry for a short gain.
6. Rudolph under center. Play-action. Pressure by Jack Sawyer. Rudolph sorta forces a throw left side for Darnell Washington, who is blanketed by Cole Holcomb. Washington, though, reminds of his size and hands, making a great one-handed catch. Only about a 5-yard gain but an impressive play.
7. Gainwell carry left side goes nowhere. Several offensive linemen on the ground. Jack Sawyer received props from the coaching staff as he walked to the sidelines.
8. O-line of Cook-Nester-Scharping-S. Jones-Warren. Rudolph in shotgun. Nice throw that is complete to Hurleman for about 15 yards. Nice job by Hurleman settling down in zone coverage.
9. D-line of Fehoko-Davis-Baugh. Welschof and Leota the EDGE rushers, Mark Robinson and Carson Bruener the inside linebackers. Quindell Johnson down in the box.
Evan Hull run left side. Eku Leota sheds Connor Heyward’s block and makes the tag near the line of scrimmage.
10. O-line of Cook-Peat-Scharping-Nester-Warren. Thompson under center. And…I have no notes of the play here. At least you have the offensive line.
One on Ones (O-line vs D-line)
Missed a couple of the initial reps but here are the ones I have.
1. Broderick Jones seals Nick Herbig.
2. Herbig gets revenge, dipping and beating Jones around the edge. The two dap each other up after the rep. Good battles.
3. Nice bull by Eku Leota on Steven Jones.
4. Steven Jones seals Leota wide in the rematch.
5. Nester stays square against Fehoko.
6. Fehoko rips through Nester and sheds him late in the rep.
7. Max Scharping staying square as Logan Lee tries to swipe past him. Scharping wins the rep.
8. Here, Lee definitely wins it. He swims past Scharping.
9. Derrick Harmon beats Peat (aligned as a guard) around the edge.
10. Dylan Cook seals Julius Welschof up the arc.
11. Cook a good rep to stay square and defend Welschof’s inside spin move.
12. Leota bends the edge past Gareth Warren.
13. Warren stays in front of Leota but is pretty grabby while controlling the rep.
14. Nice dip/rip through by NT Domenique Davis past Doug Nester.
15. Nester mirrors as Davis rushes wide.
16. Nice burst and jolt off the line by Kyler Baugh to knock Scharping back, though Scharping holds on.
17. Scharping seals Baugh here.
18. Esezi Otomewo swims over Steven Jones.
Fifth Team Period (11 on 11)
1. Ball on the defense’s 20-yard-line. Harmon-Benton-Loudermilk the d-line. Watt and Herbig the EDGE rushers, Queen and Wilson the inside linebackers, Ramsey and Elliott the safety duo.
A three-tight end set with Darnell Washington, Pat Freiermuth, and Connor Heyward. Empty set with Kenneth Gainwell wide right. Rodgers runs right. Fires to Gainwell right side. Gainwell late to turn around but sees it in time. Play gets crazy from here. The pass goes in and out of Gainwell’s hands, off Joey Porter Jr.’s hands, and is picked by Jalen Ramsey.
Porter lays on the ground sprawled out after the missed chance. But a pick for the defense in a weird set of circumstances.
2. Harmon/Loudermilk the d-tackles. Scotty Miller slot right. Roman Wilson the X receiver. Jaylen Warren carry up the middle for 10 yards, though the play continues through the goal line.
3. Pony formation (can’t go a training camp without mentioning it, right?) with Gainwell and Johnson split on each side of Rodgers after the offense breaks the huddle. Gainwell left, Johnson right. Johnson then splits out wide right, Payton Wilson following.
Rodgers complete to Gainwell on an angle route for 5 yards.
4. Rodgers shotgun. Back-shoulder throw to Roman Wilson. Incomplete, behind and out of bounds, Daryl Porter Jr. covering.
5. Rudolph subs in. Hurleman slot right. Johnson carry left side for about 10 yards. Leota chasing.
6. O-line of Cook-Peat-Scharping-Nester-S. Jones. Rodgers under center. D-line jumps, creating a free play. Jump ball from Rudolph to Miller right sideline, but Daryl Porter Jr. breaks it up.
7. Pony again with Gainwell split out and Sermon in the backfield. Rudolph shotgun. Slant to Gainwell for a 15-yard touchdown against off-coverage.
8. Screen left to Kaleb Johnson. Nice downfield latch and block by Andrus Peat, giving Johnson downfield runway. Johnson ran it into the end zone but Miles Killebrew tagged him around the 5 so I’ll mark him “down” there.
9. D-line of Fehoko-Davis-Baugh. Trips right. Skylar Thompson under center. Boots right. Fehoko free off the edge and pressures as Thompson escapes wide right. Thompson looks downfield but decides to duck out of bounds.
10. Roc Taylor the X receiver. Evan Hull carry up the middle. Sebastian Castro tags him after a 5-yard gain. And that’s the final play of 2025 camp.
Camp Recap (TL;DR)
– QB Aaron Rodgers looks okay but for what it’s worth, his performance was pretty rough after getting his foot stepped on. No alarm bells long-term but I wish we had one more camp practice to see his status tomorrow.
– RB Kaleb Johnson definitely needs to round out the edges in his game in pass pro and as a route runner/receiver to maximize his reps in this offense.
– TE Connor Heyward gets a lot of heat from Steelers fans lately but he’s put in solid practices. Made impressive catches the last several practices, including a great snag today. He also worked in full every single today. He and Darnell Washington were the only two to make it the whole way through.
– Speaking of which, Washington an excellent camp. Certainly one of the team’s stars.
– OT Broderick Jones ended his camp far better than how he started it.
– Unrelated to camp and his snaps in Latrobe seemed fine, but I counted six high snaps by C/G Max Scharping in the preseason opener.
– A strong camp overall from ILB Payton Wilson while ILB Cole Holcomb looks healthy. I’ll have full write-ups on every player on the roster throughout camp in the coming days.
– CB James Pierre’s game has run hot and cold the last two days. Which is symbolic of his entire career, really. Some big plays created and big ones allowed.
– Strong day for CB Jalen Ramsey. Happy to see him healthy and put a stamp on training camp. Missed a few days with injury but he was excellent when on the field. You can just feel the difference in his play compared to the other corners.
Saint Vincent Snapshot
Rookie OT Gareth Warren making his way over to the stands after training camp’s final horn. He then called Will Howard over to take a picture with a fan who evidently knew both of them.
15 Longest Steelers Touchdowns
Clips of the longest scores in Steelers’ history.
102 yards – Travis Davis (1999)
Not James Harrison. Not Mike Wallace. Not any of the notable names in Pittsburgh Steelers history. It’s safety Travis Davis with the longest touchdown in team history. In 1999, Davis recovered this goal-line fumble forced by LB Levon Kirkland two yards deep in his own end zone, the ball popping straight up and into his hands.
Picking up downfield blocks from Jason Gildon, Lee Flowers, and Carlos Emmons, Davis tore down the left sideline and into the end zone for the score. The play flipped the game on its head, preventing a 7-3 Panthers lead and putting Pittsburgh up 10-0 instead. The Steelers went on to win, 30-20.
It was Davis’ lone year in Pittsburgh and final year of his NFL career. The ball always seemed to find Davis, who recorded eight fumbles in 73 career games, once every 9.1 contests.
His play is tied for the third-longest fumble return touchdown in NFL history, trailing only Jack Tatum’s 104-yard score in 1972 and Aeneas Williams’ 103-yard runback in 2000. The Seattle Seahawks’ Rayshawn Jenkins matched Davis’ mark last season.
Jim Gaffigan’s Quote Of The Day
“I love sleep. I need sleep. We all do, of course. There are those people that don’t need sleep. I think they’re called ‘successful.’”
