July 29, 2022 • 47 mins
Day 3 of the Training Camp Report with Tom Opferman and Bob Labriola kicks of with Labs recapping the return of Seven Shots! They discuss how the QBs performed during 7 shots, and 11 on 11 drills, we hear what Coach Tomlin had to say following day two's practice, some rotations on the first team offensive line and inside backer unit, and much much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Man, we're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get started, and so now we take off. She's the
Training Camper Report with Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola on
Steelers Nation Radio. Well, the weather tried its hardest to
put a damper on Day two of Steelers practice yesterday
up at Latroux, but Mike Tomlin wasn't having any of it. Labs.
(00:28):
It was a torrential downpour at the started practice at
one five and it kept going for a decent bit
there until about two nineteen pm when the worst of
it finally subsided. But he said so much in his
post practice press conference, and you could just tell by
the look on his face. Tomlin likes that kind of stuff.
He likes seeing some of that adversity really early. Yeah,
(00:50):
And um, you know, as as we've talked before previously
a little bit, he's completely different than Bill Kauer in
that respect. Um. You know, Bill Kawur was always someone
who did not, um like to deal with inclement weather
at training camp. Um, you know, coward would move things
(01:11):
into the gym fairly regularly. I won't say, you know,
every time it rained, but certainly on a day like yesterday, Um,
they would have been in the gym. But you know,
if there's no lightning, Mike Tomlin will remain outside. And
the only other thing that would kind of um push
(01:34):
him off the field is if the grasses is in
danger of being ruined. You know, because the rosters are ninety.
If the fields are like a little soggy or moist
from days of rain, you get ninety guys on it.
I mean, it can ruin it pretty quick. And UM,
you know there's not a lot you can do if
(01:55):
you ruin a field at this stage of the process,
because you know you needed every day. So you know,
those are the two considerations that he will keep in
mind if um, a decision has to be made with
regards to do we stay um I'll tell here, or
do we go into the gym? Now? The other recent
(02:15):
development is, let's say see because I've always got to
remember about the pandemic, and we haven't been here for
three years, so I'd say about maybe five years ago. Um,
there wasn't the way the fields are set up for
those who haven't been here. There's three grass fields, full
fields right next to each other, and then um kind
(02:38):
of adjacent to those Caddy corner maybe is one artificial
turf field and that's the college uses that for things
like soccer, lacrosse and that kind of stuff. Okay, so
that artificial turf field was not in very good shape
until it was redone. Um, I'm sure this ulers have
(03:01):
a little bit of a saying that or responsibility to
making sure that the bills got paid. So anyway, um,
that now is as a newer turf surface. So because
that was that was a situation where before they redid it,
um the players after a day or two on that
(03:23):
if it was necessary. You saw a lot of guys
even getting a maintenance day or you know whatever, moving
slowly because that that was just tough on the joints.
But now it's it's I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I
was just gonna say, you know, it's it's such an
advantage when you can go over to that turf and
you don't have to do things like where you have
(03:44):
to sit into a cramped gym or just go break
down film or Dale was even telling me the other
day that in the in the past they've loaded up
before and tried to bust to the south side to
go into the indoor facility. Because it was raining and
it was just such a bad storm. I mean, you'd
much rather just waddle over towards the turf field and
have practice on a turf field that is about one
(04:06):
yards away from where you're usually practiced than any of all. Yeah,
So it's such a good advantage to upgrade that field
and have that as an option, right and before you know,
the redone one, I mean, but beyond the south side,
I mean there was um one summer, you know, getting
on busses and going to high schools around here. Penn
Trafford was one that I remembered clearly. But yeah, you
(04:32):
don't want to do any of that getting on buses
except for Friday night lights, which is just like over
the hill from here. Uh yeah, that's that's brutal, I'm
sure for the players and you know, those of us
who have to go over there and watch that and
then write about it or talk about it or any
(04:53):
of that stuff, you know, just adds on to a
already long and I'm often uncomfortable day. Well, the steel
did get their full practice in, including the return of
seven Shots labs. We noted yesterday that it was not
around on Wednesday's first practice of training camp. It came
back yesterday, Thursday's second day of training camp, practicing the
(05:15):
quarterback battles. Over right, Mitch is the guy. Three points
for the offense and seven shots to Mason's one. That's
three to one scoreboard. Yeah. What I haven't heard yet though,
is uh, you know, let me break break this down.
There was one um kind of and there's there's often
a lot of arguing among the offense versus defense because
(05:38):
you know, there are no officials, and Garrett Diemont, the
strength and conditioning coach, often is charged with that really
thankless job of you know, did he catch it or not?
Was he over the plane or not? Um? And we've
seen professional NFL officials mangle that decision enough times to
know that, you know, if you're one person without necessarily
(06:02):
a good angle, UM, it can be difficult. So just
to break it down, there, of the seven it started
with UM. Mr Bisky opened UM and so the first
play was a touchdown past the chase Cape Claypool one. Nothing.
Next snap Drabisky through a nice pass over the middle
(06:25):
to Zach Gentry. But you know, from where I was
standing watching and I was watching it with the binoculars
I didn't think Gentry had you know, stuck the ball away.
It was it wasn't bobbling, but it also wasn't you
know they officials called securing the catch. I didn't think
(06:46):
he had secured the catch. And Devin Bush made it
really nice quick came across the middle, and as Gentry
was trying to gather it, it seemed to me anyway
that Bush just pulled it out of his hands, and
it was I'm sure it would have been an interception.
If it was, you know, the ruling would have been
he didn't secure the catch yet. So there was a
(07:08):
lot of arguing with that. And then oftentimes Mike Tomlin
will give it to the unit that needs the point
more than the other. So since you don't want it
to be to nothing offense, you give it to the defense.
So it's one to one. So that's the way I
had scored it as well, knowing that he likes to
(07:29):
do that. And then usually what will happen is in
the evening's film review of practice, there will be some
sort of resolution that comes out of that. Now, maybe
we find out today. Probably the only way would be,
you know, somebody from the defense chirping about it, Um,
but you know who knows. But anyway, for for the
(07:51):
purpose of scoring the competition yesterday, and you know, UM,
dragging out the drama, let's make it one to one.
Then on the third one, UM, Drabinsky completed a past
the Anthony Miller two to one for the offense. Um.
Then he did throw another pass the gentry. He caught
(08:11):
that one cleanly immediately three to one offense. And then
Drabinsky was done. Uh. And Mason Rudolph came in so uh,
Rudolph through incomplete to Steven Sims. That makes it three
to two. UM. The next past Rudolph to Kevin Raider
was broken up by Trey Norwoods. It's a three three tie.
(08:31):
This is and this is what Tomlin likes the most.
Three three game seven right, Um. And then Rudolph through
a completed a past the Tyler Vaughans in the end zone,
touched on for three offense. And seriously, the reaction to
that on the field was like he said to them,
(08:52):
you're off tomorrow, you know, I mean, Um, these guys
get excited for this way more than it deserves. But
again that's what you want to see, high level of competitiveness.
And then um glee from the winners and angst and
(09:12):
anger from the losers, and you know, can't wait to
get back at it the next time. So yeah, seven
Shots was back. I don't really know why it went away,
but um it has been pretty much Robiski and Rudolph
getting the chances and seven Shots not a lot of
reps so far throughout the off season and even into
(09:35):
this training camp. Obviously this was the first one. But
for Kenny Pickett and Chris Olagokin. By the way, just
for all those people who want to get rid of
Mason Rudolph as soon as possible, he has not taken
a snap nothing, not a single thing, not a single
thing correct, not a single thing in Team Joels not
(09:56):
a snap, So you know, letting you know now, I
have to assume most of our listeners out there are
more interested in the quarterback that we didn't talk about
in our recapping of seven Shots than the two that
we did. Uh, shouldn't be much concerned for Kenny Pickett
not getting into seven Shots at all. It's super early
in his process and I don't see that as being permanent,
(10:19):
do you He'll he'll get a go at seven Shots eventually.
Here in camp. Oh yeah, I mean he'll he'll get
a shot at everything. But right now, UM, and I
know that this will UM not please a lot of
fans and or listeners. UM, Mason Rudolph's the best quarterback
in this camp right now, including over men. Yeah, I mean,
(10:42):
UM Rudolph has been the most consistent. Um, he has
been decisive, and he of the three, he has been
most willing to push the ball down the field. You
know a lot of UM, a lot of Kenny Pickett stuff,
and he's playing like a rookie. He's a rookie and
(11:04):
he's playing like when I mean, a lot of checkdown stuff, safe, easy.
You know, a lot of the things that UM Rudolph
was getting criticized for you're seeing from from Kenny Pickett,
you know, checking down, patting the ball a little bit,
maybe too much, UM, waiting for receivers to be open
(11:25):
like they used to be open maybe in college. And
you're never gonna see that in the NFL because UM
defenses are just too good. So you know, it's a process.
And uh, I'm not I'm not saying that Kenny Pickett
isn't you know, anything at a disappointment or any of
that stuff. But it's it's people have to understand that
(11:47):
the game is different. Um, and he is, he is
having he is having to adjust and uh um and
Trabinsky he has been a little ratic in terms of
aall location and think erratic is the word that I
would use for him. And um. He also, I think
(12:08):
is trying not to be careless. So I won't say
he's tentative, but he is playing its safe. A lot
of you know, outlets, checkdowns, those kinds of things. I think,
I don't know this. It just seems to me watching basing,
Rudolf figures, hey, I got nothing to lose. Let it
(12:31):
rip right, yeah, right, go down, you know, leave uh,
fire all the bullets in your gun before they trade
you to Jacksonville or whatever, because that seems to be um,
you know what fans expect the indoor want, you know,
to your point. In the seven on seven drill that
they did, Rudolph had the deepest connection with gunnar Lsowski
(12:53):
down the left sideline with Norwood and coverage so very
evident that he's trying to push the ball down the field.
And you know, that's kind of been the readings from
Steelers coaching this year. You know, we do want to
have an offense that pushes the ball down the field more. So.
I do get watch your Binsky, and I do especially
get why Kenny might be being a little bit more conservative.
But when it comes to Mitch in particular, the coaching
(13:13):
staff is gonna want to start beating some of that
conservative stuff. You gotta start pushing the ball down the
field a little bit more. We brought in a younger
quarterback this year, making this transition when Ben retired to
push the ball down the field a little bit more consistently.
So the checkdown stuff is probably not gonna fly for
too too long, or if he keeps doing it too much,
then maybe Mason does start to creep up on Mitch
a little more than we expected. Yeah, it's it's gonna
(13:36):
be something worth watching. I mean, I'm sure that uh well,
let me say this, I would um believe that what
you say about your Binsky becomes true as he gets
I won't say comfortable, because the guy is a has
been an NFL starter. He should be um, you know,
(13:56):
comfortable enough, even though it's a new offense with new
teammates too. You know, to understand some of the things
that a veteran quarterback needs to understand to succeed at
this level. So, um, we're gonna see I I haven't
said I know one. Let me say. Let me say,
I haven't seen anything from Rubinsky to say that they
(14:19):
shouldn't assigned him or he's a bust or you know,
any of that stuff. But M Rudolph has been the
best quarterback and it's I don't think it's really that
much of a stretch to make that point. Well, we'd
like to be very positive on this show. I know
you're a super positive guy. So looking at Kenny Pickett,
Looking at Kenny Pickett, glass half full, you know, rough
(14:40):
start to eleven on eleven again. I think he had
a couple of rough plays in eleven on eleven yesterday
as well, But he was intercepted in his first past
by rookie free agent y back Chris Steele. Next snap
ball batted down by six ft five outside linebacker Dlante Scott.
But as you noted in your practice report, followed those
two plays up with back to back completions in the
(15:01):
same drill. So if you're gonna look at things glass
half full, you want to have a starting quarterback that
has a short memory in the NFL, someone that can
shake off a couple of bad plays and make a
couple of positive ones and in a very very very
small vacuum without pads on Kenny at least illustrated his
ability to do that, to not let an interception in
a batted ball really get to him and have his
(15:22):
whole you know, session in eleven on eleven spiral because
of it. Yeah, and that what I'm sure what he
was told though, was, you know, the batted ball is
one thing. The interception is. You know, you don't get
in camp. Uh, you throw an interception and you're you
immediately go back into the huddle and then you run
another place so you get a chance to redeem yourself
(15:45):
in the game. Um, you know, they might be ringing
up the scoreboard before you get back onto the field,
and then you're getting the Harry eyeball from the coaching staff,
your defensive teammates and you know all that kind of stuff. So, um,
the turn overs, I can just imagine that that is
the most um egregious offense that you can have, regardless
(16:10):
of whether it's practice or preseason game. When you know,
certainly it ratchets up when the game's kind of standings,
or you know, it's one and one win or go
home in the playoffs, he's gonna have to I don't know.
I don't want to say that he's gonna have to
learn that because I'm sure he's been playing quarterback long.
I have to understand, you know, how bad those kinds
(16:31):
of things are. But it's as bad as it was
for him in college, um times ten. Now when we
come back, we're gonna hear from coach Tomlin and his
thoughts post day to practice, and we're also going to
talk about some rotations at the offensive line and at
the middle linebacker position with the first team units for
(16:52):
both of those position groups, respectively. So that's all on
the way. Next here on the training camp report right
here on Steelers Nation Radio DC is no Training camp
report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Day three of Steelers training camp practice up at Latrobe,
(17:15):
schedule to start at one today, Labs, I know you
like to put on your meteorologist hat when you're up
at St. Vincent's weather looking good. I know you have
the radar plastered onto your wall via projection seven when
you walk into your room up at St. Vincent's in
the dormitory. So what's the radar looking like? Um, we'll
(17:37):
see that. The thing about Latrobe is that, um, if
you don't like the weather, you know way fifteen minutes
and it may change the right. So um, right now,
there's it's nothing. There is no anything going on. It's
one of the things I will say though, since we're
(17:58):
talking about the weather, the temperatures have been very, very
mild for this time of the year, in this particular
little slice of heaven. The humidity has not been except
for on the days of rains obviously because in the
humidity is high, but it hasn't been that take your
(18:20):
breath away Southeast Asia feel to it. Uh. And you
know the high temperatures right now, it's only seventy degrees,
which it's only nine year thirty about. Uh So seventy
you know, it's not I'm not gonna say it's cold,
but you know the high today is only supposed to
be uh, in the in the high seventies. So I
(18:42):
know someone who's not pleased about that. And he's usually
the guy at that practice all dressed in black every day.
So um, he what did he say, he said. The
first couple of days, he used the term this is
heat acclamation period. We want to get acclimated to the heat.
I'm not going to according to plan their coach. Well, right, Um,
so you know today's forecast, and I don't want to
(19:04):
scare any fans away or anything, but um, reading off
the National Weather Service website, a chance of showers with
thunderstorms also possible after two pm, which practice starts at one,
so perfect timing. Um, so we'll have to see. But
(19:25):
you know. Then then the forecast goes on to say
that the chance of precipitation is so that's a pretty
low number. Uh. And certainly yesterday, looking at the sky
around m hm early afternoon, I was thinking, well, I
don't care what the percentage is, it's d chance going
to rain, because it looked it was very gray and
(19:48):
ominous looking up into the sky, and it did not
keep the fans away. Yesterday. We should make a note
of that. They were still out in force, a chuck
and all field. And let me let me say this too.
I'm sure some left. You know, it's hard to gauge,
but there were a lot of fans gathered in clusters
(20:09):
under trees, and it was okay to do that yesterday
because it was just rain. There was no thunder, there
was no lightning. Uh, not a lot of wind either. Um.
So you know, hardy fans because during a couple of periods,
four minute periods over the course of the wet the
bad weather, uh, that rain was coming down. I mean
(20:32):
it was like someone turned on a hose. UM. So
I don't think I would have been that hardy to
stay through that. But then the other thing you have
to consider is by the time you walk to your car, uh,
you're probably as what as you're gonna be, so you
might as well just you know, stick it out. Tough decision,
(20:53):
but you're right. A lot of fans came and at
the end of practice there was still a decent number
waiting for autographs, no question about in her Nazi's name
called a ton from fans around the fences as they
were trying to get the start running back over to
sign some things we mentioned. Practice today starts at one
(21:14):
fifty five. That's day three practice for the Steelers. Coach
Tomlin spoke to the media after practice yesterday. Day two
session wrapped up. Let's hear what coach had to say
right here on SNR, really good developmental day for us. UM.
I love the uncertainty of the weather man. It it
forces us to be light on our feet and adaptable.
It challenges them from a from a mindset standpoint, and
(21:37):
so it's just opportunities to teach them to learn and
for guys to display their football character in their enthusiasm
and passion for the game in spite of whatever adversity
UM the elements of the game may present, and so
we're appreciative of it. Um. When the weather is less
than ideal, Man, it's a great opportunity for defenders the
ball search. It's a great opportunity for office of guys
(21:57):
to focus on ball security and making root team like
plays routinely. And so there's some some coaching points and
some things to look at tonight based on what transpired. Man,
But all in all, days like today are good because
they provide that platform to grow UM. From a health standpoint,
not a lot new to talk about. Uh friar Muth
(22:18):
didn't finish the last period or two here experienced some
lower body tightness. Will exercise that necessary precaution, get him
evaluated and not let a small thing become a big thing.
Other than that, it's kind of status quo on some
of those guys uh that we mentioned yesterday, Killer Brew
and so forth, our pause and open it up for questions.
(22:39):
We're in camp Uh. It's a part of development and
doing so appropriately and so displaying that passion, but also
using those displays as an opportunity to teach and learn.
And that's also what we're doing here. The last couple
of eys tjs out there there in the DJ things
are you are? Are you happy to see that? Are
almost like? Man, we can't even get a snap sometimes.
(23:01):
I am not going to discourage t J from being
t J, my nearest only one signed the last year
from last year at the adsdition. When you've gotten from Rudolph,
he's been mason Um. He's taking advantage of the opportunities.
He's been detailed. He's doing a good job of communicating
(23:21):
with others. He's been competitive. Um. Not anything out of
the out of the usual in terms of his approach
of business. Tell me to ask you again today, you're
gonna name a quarterback after day two? Not yet? Not yet?
Did you get all the working if you wanted to?
We did? We absolutely did. We got every staff today
thankfully from um pickus in Austin. They're doing a really
(23:48):
good job. Man. They get an opportunity to get some
reps um. There's some mistakes, but that's part of the process.
Um do they not make the same mistake twice? How
did they learn from those mistakes? And when they're less
than certain do they still play at full speed? I
think those are certain things that you look forward to
wide receiver position and and they're getting an opportunity to
learn those lessons and display their skills. And Miller looks
(24:10):
like they're attention of absolutely anyone else. What you said,
the ball security was a focus and given them weather,
there was a couple of turnovers. How do you read
You know when you're working good on good or Steelers
versus Steelers, when someone's success is someone else's failures. So
I didn't I don't over evaluate that. If they took
(24:31):
care of the ball today, we'd be talking about why
didn't the defense get it? And so that's the nature
of team development. Veterans on the line already. I'm not
gonna go so far as to acknowledge what you just said.
Anyone else with what's plan brings you, what does he
(24:53):
bring you maybe to the other other guy. Um, I don't.
I hadn't thought about it in that way. I'm really
just focused on getting him better. Man. It's it's been
a nice maturation process for him. Um, he asked good questions.
He's a football guy, he's a junkie. Um, you're starting
to see that turn up in his play. And I
think that's a reasonable expectation for a good that that
(25:13):
that has that attention to detail and that passion for
the game. That's coach Tomlins speaking to the media after
Steelers practice yesterday. Labs little less enthusiastic there about the
quarterback question. Huh. He was having a good old chuckle
about it with day one, but day two, I don't.
I said to ask me tomorrow. But I don't think
you got that. I was joking about that, right and UM,
(25:34):
you know, I just let me just say this, Uh,
I agree with you. It was funny the first time.
Maybe it'll be tolerated a couple of more times, but
you know, to continue to do that every day, it's
just gonna haunk him off and ruin the information uh
distribution distribution process that all the other members of the
(25:58):
media are looking for we're needing from those daily post
practice briefings. So hey, I'm not here to tell anybody
how to do their job or anything. But I'm just
telling you what what's going to happen, because he will
get short and um, the Burt Lout and the PR
guy UH is gonna read that uh situation and then
(26:22):
those things will become shorter and shorter and shorter. So
like I said, I I don't I'm just telling you
what it's going to happen. Um, So we'll see if
it continues. Well. He definitely had his fair share of
short answers during that scrum that we just listened to,
And the last two questions that were thrown at him
are perfect segues into what I wanted to talk about,
(26:42):
and that's the changes in the first team for the
middle linebacker and the offensive line. Uh. Let's start with
the offensive line. The question was thrown at him, you know,
Dotson is becoming more of a veteran now on that line.
Have you sensed more of that veteran presence and that
kind of leadership from him? And Tomlin was very frank
and he said no, I would not even go close
to as far as what you're describing right there. Um,
(27:04):
you saw dots and go from the first team to
the second team. Yesterday Kendrick Green elevated to first team
reps with the offensive line. That's a legitimate position battle
going on, huh. I mean, I know the quarterback thing
is one thing, and that's what everybody has their eye on.
But for my money, this might be the most intense
battle that we see all camp. Um, you could be right,
(27:25):
you know, and we'll see, uh see it as it unfolds.
You know, so often times, especially in a training camp
situation where you know, Mike Tomlin continues to use the
phrase team development, team to team development, jobs are lost
as often as they're one. And so I'm not saying
that they they move. You can either look at it
(27:49):
as a promotion of Kendrick Green to the first team temporary,
you know, as it is, or a demotion for Kevin
Dotson to the second team, and we could very well
be back, you know, the other way to day. Um,
but these guys are gonna get opportunities and to show
what they can do, uh with the other first group,
(28:10):
and um, you know that also, I think what we're
gonna see is or what the coaches will be looking for.
An at will be how they then bounce back from
a good or bad performance with the first group and
then they're the second group the next day. Uh. You know,
you can have a great day with the first group
and then they tell you, well, okay, the other guy
(28:32):
is gonna be in that spot today. Well then do
you pout or you know, how do you respond with
you playing even better or just as well? You know,
consistency of performance is what they're looking for. So um,
you know Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson or in a
position battle and uh, this is the way that these
(28:54):
kinds of things normally are fleshed out. You you handle
it on the field, and so you know, we'll see,
we'll see how it is. Uh. The the hall, the alignment,
the deployment works today, tomorrow, first day in pads, etcetera.
Because I don't think that it's going to be a
short term thing. I would imagine that unless uh and
(29:17):
again I would think that if a quick decision is
going to be made one over the other, it's gonna
be be be because of one guy losing the job.
I don't know that a guard uh in a non
contact rooms can show enough where you're gonna make a
move in the lineup as a result of that. You know,
(29:39):
I would anticipated probably will go into the preseason games
because you want to see, um, these guys succeed or
fail against uh NFL competition that is not wearing the
same kind of helmet as yourself. And um, you know,
Kendrick Green was the third round draft pick. Kevin Dotson
(29:59):
was a worth round draft pick. I mean both they're
both of those guys came here with a little bit
of an expectation that they can play. So they're going
to get a chance to show that they either can
or can't, and then that situation will kind of resolve itself.
It's it's not so much that, as I said to
start this, it's not so much that one guy wins
(30:24):
the job over the other. Uh it often is one
guy loses the job to the other. So you could
see it if they're both you know, playing well in
camp and no one's you know, they're not looking at
film later and just going to this guy is just
not checking any box. We can't have him in our
starting lot of You wouldn't be surprised if this battle
continues to drag into the second, maybe even the third
(30:45):
preseason game before they officially come out with the depth
chart and have someone established at number one. As long
as they're doing okay, this could be a very very
long fight between the two. Yeah, and there's really no
um urge. And see, I don't think because again I
don't want I'm not trying to demean either player or
what they're the position that they're fighting for. But left
(31:08):
guard is not quarterback. It's not like you need a
guy to be uh settled. Um, so that there's a
lot of um, you know, in sync with the people
around him, because again it's not like one guy is
participating in the other guy is not. Then you have
a situation where, you know, you could be in a
(31:29):
little bit of trouble if you suddenly decide you're gonna
go to the the other guy. Uh So, if they
continue to go back and forth, UM, I don't think
that there's very much danger in the sense that, well,
we better pick a guys because we want them, you know,
to get acclimated with the other people on the line. Well,
he just played there yesterday. Um And once you get
(31:51):
into the season, you know, games are only once a
week anyway. So during this camp process, I think you
can afford to take time go back and forth on
a daily basis maybe or maybe it turns out to
be every couple of days or whatever. And I'll tell
you another thing that's going to be significant is are
who's available every day? Who practices? Okay, first day in
(32:13):
Pat's boy, and that's that's intense. Everybody's up for it
their hitting. Now kill somebody right, well right, and then okay,
Then the next day do you come back and say
my shoulder hurts or my hamstrings tight? You know? So
that's also the kind of thing, you know, do you
fight through the little lags and pains that are inherent
with the job. And also the situation that you have
(32:37):
a training camp which is hitting every day. That's another factor,
you know, Um you you're one of your best abilities
up here, better be availability. So there's a lot of
factors involved, and so I agree with you. I think
that this can go uh weeks weeks before a decision
is made. Well. The other rotational thing of note is
(33:00):
on the defensive side of the ball, and that's at
middle linebacker where Spillane on the eleven eleven eleven on
eleven drills took the other spot opposite of Miles Jack,
and that was the same in the practice ending team
drill with the first team unit where Splane and Jack
where you're inside backers. Uh. Tomlin spoke about Splene in
that conference that we heard with the media just recently, saying,
(33:20):
you know, this guy thinks the game so well, he's
just a football junkie. Um, you've been around Tom Win
his entire head coaching career in Pittsburgh. I've been watching
as a fan and now transitioning into the media side
of things. That's the kind of player that Tomlin loves
more than anyone. Is the guy that just thinks the
game on a different level. And you can really tell
that his love for the game is overpowering and him
(33:44):
saying that that's starting to transition to his play on
the field, you know, thinking the game really smart, making
smart plays. Uh. It's early, but it seems like there's
some writing on the wall that Splane is going to
see a little bit more of a workload than we
thought this year. It's possible. Uh. You know, I don't
want Barry Devon Bush here because the practice and he
(34:06):
was with the first he was with the first defense
when when practice started. So it's I think that the
inside linebacker situation is more fluid within a particular days
practice than the left guard thing is. Because the left
guard thing, it was Kevin Dotson first team the whole
(34:28):
way on the first day of training camp, then yesterday
it was Kendrick Green first team left guard the whole practice,
second day of practice at training camp. The bush um
Miles Jack's Blaine thing that changes often from period to
(34:48):
period within the same practice. You know, defense is a
much more fluid situation with a lot of these rotations
personnel groupings, because you know, as soon as the offense
comes out of multiple wide receivers receivers, the defense will
respond to that with its own personnel groups. So, um,
I just I just trying to explain this in a
(35:11):
little bit more detail for fans because some people might
hear this and think, well, they're given up on Bush
or Bush stinks or that's not what I'm saying, and
that's not what you're seeing either, because you know, one
of the things with Robert Splaine and um, you know,
obviously Mike Tomlins said some good things about him and
all that stuff, but he is not um a stud
(35:34):
in coverage, or let me say this, he has not
been a stud in coverage, and uh so you have
to he has to improve in that area and the
Steelers have to limit his exposure in that area because
as we talked about yesterday, um he comes out on
the field, the guy up in the box for the
(35:55):
other team calls down to the play caller and says, hey,
forty ones in the game, call it pass. You know,
so you know you can't have that. Um So, again,
he made a nice play, a read and an interception
in eleven on eleven as Devin Bush, I think I
made a nice read and uh I guess that would
(36:17):
have been a fumble recovery not an interception. I don't
know how they would have ruled it, but it was
a takeaway nonetheless in my eyes. So you know, both
of these guys have to continue, you know, to improve themselves.
But again, I think that what the long term forecast
is at this particular position and that this particular rotation
(36:39):
system is you want to have three guys who are
more in a fluid situation throughout the game. Then you're
you know, you're not going to be changing your left
guard every other series. I mean not that you don't
want to do that anyway. We'll wrap up the Training
Camp Report when we come back. We'll talk about the
secondary having another good day uh in day two of
(37:00):
actice yesterday, we'll look ahead to day three and tell
you fans about some things you can look forward to
today and over the weekend at St. Vincent and Latrobe.
That's all on the way next on the Training Camp Report.
Right here on SNR they sees the Training Camp Report
with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio,
(37:22):
wrapping things up here on day three of the Training
Camp Report. Practice starts at one five today St. Vincent
College in Latrobe, before we get into the secondary and
some other notes to end the festivities here today. Just
wanted to make a note. If you're just waking up
tuning in now, or you miss the Training Camp Report today,
don't worry. We got you covered. You can go to
(37:43):
Steelers dot com the nav menu at the very top
of the web page. There's three dots that you click on.
It's right next to the word fans. Click on those
three dots, A little drop down bar comes down. You
click on podcasts, scroll all the way down. You'll see
the training camp reports. So even if you slept in
a little bit lab as we got you covered, you
can still catch all of this radio glory. Can I
do that sleep in and then catch up with you later. Um,
(38:08):
I haven't really been able to nail down the impersonation
of your voice yet, so give me another week and
then I can do the show by myself playing both parts.
Does that work for you? Yeah, let me know. Yeah,
let me make sure make sure you get right back
to me on that. Uh, but yeah, it is. It
is a nice thing, um that you know these on
(38:31):
s and r uh. You know you can archives things.
I mean, it's not like real radio necessarily, where you
know if you miss it, you miss it. Um. So yeah,
you can catch up. You can even go back and
listen if you really liked one, Um, you can listen
to it again and again all day long if you
wanted to. I wanted to talk about the secondary before
(38:55):
we we got into some notes for the fans to
wrap up, and you know, ended the session at end
yesterday with another turnover. That's two practices and two times
ending the practice with a turnover. I've seen practices up
close and personal in the past two days. Of course,
you have a lot of passes broken up, it seems
a lot of interceptions. Is that just a matter of
(39:16):
it's a lot harder to get your timing down and
play offense than it is to you know, step on
the field and play defense when you start these camp sessions. Well,
you know, um, it's one of those things where in
a training camp practice you can either praise or criticize
after every play. Tomlins said something of that nature and
(39:37):
his his media scrum. That's right, right, So you know, um,
as you started with that, you know, talking about the
takeaways by the secondary in each of the last few practices,
I thought you were going back to the quarterbacks, think
because you know that's that's one of the things I
think that is a natural process. You know, when you
(40:00):
see an interception, do you praise the guy who made
the interception or do you criticize the guy who threw it?
So it goes both ways. Um, I just think that
it's in a training camp setting, especially with no hitting
at all, it's much more difficult to play defense than offense.
(40:25):
And so I would tend to, uh give props to
the defense for taking the ball away, um. Others may
not look at it that way, and hey, that's you
know again, Uh, tomato, tomato. However you want to approach
it is, uh, is fine with me. So I would
(40:46):
say that based on where we are right now, and
if you look at the Steelers and try and project
what they're gonna need to be when the season opens
September eleventh in Cincinnati, that a a ball hawk can
take away defense would serve them very very well. Because
you've got to assume if there's gonna be a little
(41:08):
bit of a adaptation period for the offense, new quarterback, um,
and we're gonna have to see what the play calling
is and what direction Matt Canada wants to go with
the new quarterback and all those kinds of things. Uh.
And so you may have to rely on your defense
to close games, end games like the defense did these
(41:30):
last couple of practices. So I would at this point
choose to approach it with a glass half full perspective. Then,
Uh boy, these quarterbacks are sure not looking very good.
One thing that we need to make note of as well.
Deonte Johnson, for the second practice, decided not to participate
in the team portion of practice, went onto the sidelines
(41:54):
and did some individual work. I kind of echo what
you had to say on our training camp report yesterday.
You know, you kind of really need that guy out there, UM,
not just for his own benefit, but you're working in
new quarterbacks, you're working in a new offense, I mean
not completely new, but a lot of new elements to
the MC Canada offense. Now. Uh, you need who's going
to potentially be your number one receiver. And statistically speaking,
(42:15):
he was your number one receiver last year out there
working and jailing with these guys. So I really do
hope that that doesn't last much longer. Yeah, I mean,
and to be fair to Deonte Johnson too, I mean,
it's not like he's saying, I mean, this was a discussion.
It had to be. I don't know that for a fact,
but I don't believe I think it was a discussion
(42:35):
with t J. Watt. It was a discussional with Minka Fitzpatrick.
Only minkas um hold in as they're now known. Only
UM covered a little bit of the off season program.
But you know, Deonte Johnson does walk into Mike Tomlin's room. UM.
You know at is practice, say one o'clock and say Hey,
you know, I'm not I'm not going to take part
(42:57):
in team drills. I mean, this is this is some
thing that I'm sure at some levels, uh that included
both UH coaching staff and g M. O. Mar Con
that you know, this is going to be how we're
going to proceed. And I'm sure that it would involve
more than just Deonte Johnson, probably his agent as well.
(43:19):
So uh, you know, it's a business thing. Uh. And
while it can be frustrating the fans and even some
of the team. Uh. And as I mentioned, I don't
think it's necessarily the wisest um of course of action
for Deonte Johnson to take. Uh. This is something again
(43:39):
that is not a solely his decision or something that
is done without, as I said, meetings and discussions so
that everybody understands, you know, what's going to happen. So um,
But yes, he did not take part in team drills yesterday.
But I'll tell you what, as I said yesterday about Minkoff,
(43:59):
its Patrick working on on the side because he's on
n f n f I list, Deante Johnson is not sitting,
uh you know, around under a a tent sipping on
gate rate. He uh he was on the field after
the practice ended for a long time. I mean it
(44:19):
was in Antonio Brown esque post practice um session that
he went through catching balls, running, you know that kind
of stuff. So you know, he's not on vacation up here. Um,
just just to make it clearer, uh, to to listeners
so that he doesn't come across as I don't know, uh,
(44:40):
you know, a villain or a butting um problem for
the team. Moving forward, We're gonna see how it works out,
and as you said, hopefully it gets resolved quickly so
that um, you know, he is able to try and
integrate himself in with these new quarterbacks. Some on things
for fans that we wanted to remind you of before
(45:02):
we wrap up and hand things off to Wolf and
Starks here on Steelers Nation Radio. First padded practice Monday,
August one, So if you want to see the pads
on and some real hitting, get up there Monday, August
first for that Hall of I would bet I would
bet with real quick um backs on backers too. Will
be the first competitive period that that's been a Mike
(45:23):
Tomlin trademark, just like Bill Coward's trademark was always goal
line At Friday night lights. Mike Tomlin's trademark is backs
on backers right away. Uh, tone setting drill, first stand
of camping pads. Tomorrow at camp is a very exciting day.
That is when the class of the Steelers Hall of
Honor will be revealed. So definitely want to be in
(45:44):
the stands for that. Uh, can you at least give
us a hint on how many members will be in
the class? Four four members will be going into the
Hall of So that's something to look forward to on Saturday.
And today is Chris Hope Day. He is your Steelers legend.
Twelve to twelve thirty. He will be taking pictures. You
can chat them up, maybe get an autograph with um
(46:05):
Chris Hop. Then from twelve thirty to one, he will
be playing Madden with a member of the Pittsburgh Nights,
the video game team here in Pittsburgh, will be playing
against him. I believe his name is John Beast, very
very great name and intimidating name to go up against.
And a couple of more updates on the list of
former Steelers who boot participating in this August three, which
(46:27):
is a Wednesday, Rocky Blyer and then August eighteenth, which
is the last day of practice open to fans um
someone who truly lives up to the building of Steelers legend,
Mel Blunt, some big heavy hitters in the middle and
end of August for you to go and get a
photo up with. That's gonna do it for us. Here
on the Training Camp Report for day three practice at
(46:50):
one five today for your Steelers, Wolf and Starks are
up next in the locker room. This has been the
training camp Report with Tom Opferman and Bob Labriola right
here on Steelers Nation Rate Yo
Man, we're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get started, and so now we take off. She's the
Training Camper Report with Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola on
Steelers Nation Radio. Well, the weather tried its hardest to
put a damper on Day two of Steelers practice yesterday
up at Latroux, but Mike Tomlin wasn't having any of it. Labs.
(00:28):
It was a torrential downpour at the started practice at
one five and it kept going for a decent bit
there until about two nineteen pm when the worst of
it finally subsided. But he said so much in his
post practice press conference, and you could just tell by
the look on his face. Tomlin likes that kind of stuff.
He likes seeing some of that adversity really early. Yeah,
(00:50):
And um, you know, as as we've talked before previously
a little bit, he's completely different than Bill Kauer in
that respect. Um. You know, Bill Kawur was always someone
who did not, um like to deal with inclement weather
at training camp. Um, you know, coward would move things
(01:11):
into the gym fairly regularly. I won't say, you know,
every time it rained, but certainly on a day like yesterday, Um,
they would have been in the gym. But you know,
if there's no lightning, Mike Tomlin will remain outside. And
the only other thing that would kind of um push
(01:34):
him off the field is if the grasses is in
danger of being ruined. You know, because the rosters are ninety.
If the fields are like a little soggy or moist
from days of rain, you get ninety guys on it.
I mean, it can ruin it pretty quick. And UM,
you know there's not a lot you can do if
(01:55):
you ruin a field at this stage of the process,
because you know you needed every day. So you know,
those are the two considerations that he will keep in
mind if um, a decision has to be made with
regards to do we stay um I'll tell here, or
do we go into the gym? Now? The other recent
(02:15):
development is, let's say see because I've always got to
remember about the pandemic, and we haven't been here for
three years, so I'd say about maybe five years ago. Um,
there wasn't the way the fields are set up for
those who haven't been here. There's three grass fields, full
fields right next to each other, and then um kind
(02:38):
of adjacent to those Caddy corner maybe is one artificial
turf field and that's the college uses that for things
like soccer, lacrosse and that kind of stuff. Okay, so
that artificial turf field was not in very good shape
until it was redone. Um, I'm sure this ulers have
(03:01):
a little bit of a saying that or responsibility to
making sure that the bills got paid. So anyway, um,
that now is as a newer turf surface. So because
that was that was a situation where before they redid it,
um the players after a day or two on that
(03:23):
if it was necessary. You saw a lot of guys
even getting a maintenance day or you know whatever, moving
slowly because that that was just tough on the joints.
But now it's it's I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I
was just gonna say, you know, it's it's such an
advantage when you can go over to that turf and
you don't have to do things like where you have
(03:44):
to sit into a cramped gym or just go break
down film or Dale was even telling me the other
day that in the in the past they've loaded up
before and tried to bust to the south side to
go into the indoor facility. Because it was raining and
it was just such a bad storm. I mean, you'd
much rather just waddle over towards the turf field and
have practice on a turf field that is about one
(04:06):
yards away from where you're usually practiced than any of all. Yeah,
So it's such a good advantage to upgrade that field
and have that as an option, right and before you know,
the redone one, I mean, but beyond the south side,
I mean there was um one summer, you know, getting
on busses and going to high schools around here. Penn
Trafford was one that I remembered clearly. But yeah, you
(04:32):
don't want to do any of that getting on buses
except for Friday night lights, which is just like over
the hill from here. Uh yeah, that's that's brutal, I'm
sure for the players and you know, those of us
who have to go over there and watch that and
then write about it or talk about it or any
(04:53):
of that stuff, you know, just adds on to a
already long and I'm often uncomfortable day. Well, the steel
did get their full practice in, including the return of
seven Shots labs. We noted yesterday that it was not
around on Wednesday's first practice of training camp. It came
back yesterday, Thursday's second day of training camp, practicing the
(05:15):
quarterback battles. Over right, Mitch is the guy. Three points
for the offense and seven shots to Mason's one. That's
three to one scoreboard. Yeah. What I haven't heard yet though,
is uh, you know, let me break break this down.
There was one um kind of and there's there's often
a lot of arguing among the offense versus defense because
(05:38):
you know, there are no officials, and Garrett Diemont, the
strength and conditioning coach, often is charged with that really
thankless job of you know, did he catch it or not?
Was he over the plane or not? Um? And we've
seen professional NFL officials mangle that decision enough times to
know that, you know, if you're one person without necessarily
(06:02):
a good angle, UM, it can be difficult. So just
to break it down, there, of the seven it started
with UM. Mr Bisky opened UM and so the first
play was a touchdown past the chase Cape Claypool one. Nothing.
Next snap Drabisky through a nice pass over the middle
(06:25):
to Zach Gentry. But you know, from where I was
standing watching and I was watching it with the binoculars
I didn't think Gentry had you know, stuck the ball away.
It was it wasn't bobbling, but it also wasn't you
know they officials called securing the catch. I didn't think
(06:46):
he had secured the catch. And Devin Bush made it
really nice quick came across the middle, and as Gentry
was trying to gather it, it seemed to me anyway
that Bush just pulled it out of his hands, and
it was I'm sure it would have been an interception.
If it was, you know, the ruling would have been
he didn't secure the catch yet. So there was a
(07:08):
lot of arguing with that. And then oftentimes Mike Tomlin
will give it to the unit that needs the point
more than the other. So since you don't want it
to be to nothing offense, you give it to the defense.
So it's one to one. So that's the way I
had scored it as well, knowing that he likes to
(07:29):
do that. And then usually what will happen is in
the evening's film review of practice, there will be some
sort of resolution that comes out of that. Now, maybe
we find out today. Probably the only way would be,
you know, somebody from the defense chirping about it, Um,
but you know who knows. But anyway, for for the
(07:51):
purpose of scoring the competition yesterday, and you know, UM,
dragging out the drama, let's make it one to one.
Then on the third one, UM, Drabinsky completed a past
the Anthony Miller two to one for the offense. Um.
Then he did throw another pass the gentry. He caught
(08:11):
that one cleanly immediately three to one offense. And then
Drabinsky was done. Uh. And Mason Rudolph came in so uh,
Rudolph through incomplete to Steven Sims. That makes it three
to two. UM. The next past Rudolph to Kevin Raider
was broken up by Trey Norwoods. It's a three three tie.
(08:31):
This is and this is what Tomlin likes the most.
Three three game seven right, Um. And then Rudolph through
a completed a past the Tyler Vaughans in the end zone,
touched on for three offense. And seriously, the reaction to
that on the field was like he said to them,
(08:52):
you're off tomorrow, you know, I mean, Um, these guys
get excited for this way more than it deserves. But
again that's what you want to see, high level of competitiveness.
And then um glee from the winners and angst and
(09:12):
anger from the losers, and you know, can't wait to
get back at it the next time. So yeah, seven
Shots was back. I don't really know why it went away,
but um it has been pretty much Robiski and Rudolph
getting the chances and seven Shots not a lot of
reps so far throughout the off season and even into
(09:35):
this training camp. Obviously this was the first one. But
for Kenny Pickett and Chris Olagokin. By the way, just
for all those people who want to get rid of
Mason Rudolph as soon as possible, he has not taken
a snap nothing, not a single thing, not a single
thing correct, not a single thing in Team Joels not
(09:56):
a snap, So you know, letting you know now, I
have to assume most of our listeners out there are
more interested in the quarterback that we didn't talk about
in our recapping of seven Shots than the two that
we did. Uh, shouldn't be much concerned for Kenny Pickett
not getting into seven Shots at all. It's super early
in his process and I don't see that as being permanent,
(10:19):
do you He'll he'll get a go at seven Shots eventually.
Here in camp. Oh yeah, I mean he'll he'll get
a shot at everything. But right now, UM, and I
know that this will UM not please a lot of
fans and or listeners. UM, Mason Rudolph's the best quarterback
in this camp right now, including over men. Yeah, I mean,
(10:42):
UM Rudolph has been the most consistent. Um, he has
been decisive, and he of the three, he has been
most willing to push the ball down the field. You
know a lot of UM, a lot of Kenny Pickett stuff,
and he's playing like a rookie. He's a rookie and
(11:04):
he's playing like when I mean, a lot of checkdown stuff, safe, easy.
You know, a lot of the things that UM Rudolph
was getting criticized for you're seeing from from Kenny Pickett,
you know, checking down, patting the ball a little bit,
maybe too much, UM, waiting for receivers to be open
(11:25):
like they used to be open maybe in college. And
you're never gonna see that in the NFL because UM
defenses are just too good. So you know, it's a process.
And uh, I'm not I'm not saying that Kenny Pickett
isn't you know, anything at a disappointment or any of
that stuff. But it's it's people have to understand that
(11:47):
the game is different. Um, and he is, he is
having he is having to adjust and uh um and
Trabinsky he has been a little ratic in terms of
aall location and think erratic is the word that I
would use for him. And um. He also, I think
(12:08):
is trying not to be careless. So I won't say
he's tentative, but he is playing its safe. A lot
of you know, outlets, checkdowns, those kinds of things. I think,
I don't know this. It just seems to me watching basing,
Rudolf figures, hey, I got nothing to lose. Let it
(12:31):
rip right, yeah, right, go down, you know, leave uh,
fire all the bullets in your gun before they trade
you to Jacksonville or whatever, because that seems to be um,
you know what fans expect the indoor want, you know,
to your point. In the seven on seven drill that
they did, Rudolph had the deepest connection with gunnar Lsowski
(12:53):
down the left sideline with Norwood and coverage so very
evident that he's trying to push the ball down the field.
And you know, that's kind of been the readings from
Steelers coaching this year. You know, we do want to
have an offense that pushes the ball down the field more. So.
I do get watch your Binsky, and I do especially
get why Kenny might be being a little bit more conservative.
But when it comes to Mitch in particular, the coaching
(13:13):
staff is gonna want to start beating some of that
conservative stuff. You gotta start pushing the ball down the
field a little bit more. We brought in a younger
quarterback this year, making this transition when Ben retired to
push the ball down the field a little bit more consistently.
So the checkdown stuff is probably not gonna fly for
too too long, or if he keeps doing it too much,
then maybe Mason does start to creep up on Mitch
a little more than we expected. Yeah, it's it's gonna
(13:36):
be something worth watching. I mean, I'm sure that uh well,
let me say this, I would um believe that what
you say about your Binsky becomes true as he gets
I won't say comfortable, because the guy is a has
been an NFL starter. He should be um, you know,
(13:56):
comfortable enough, even though it's a new offense with new
teammates too. You know, to understand some of the things
that a veteran quarterback needs to understand to succeed at
this level. So, um, we're gonna see I I haven't
said I know one. Let me say. Let me say,
I haven't seen anything from Rubinsky to say that they
(14:19):
shouldn't assigned him or he's a bust or you know,
any of that stuff. But M Rudolph has been the
best quarterback and it's I don't think it's really that
much of a stretch to make that point. Well, we'd
like to be very positive on this show. I know
you're a super positive guy. So looking at Kenny Pickett,
Looking at Kenny Pickett, glass half full, you know, rough
(14:40):
start to eleven on eleven again. I think he had
a couple of rough plays in eleven on eleven yesterday
as well, But he was intercepted in his first past
by rookie free agent y back Chris Steele. Next snap
ball batted down by six ft five outside linebacker Dlante Scott.
But as you noted in your practice report, followed those
two plays up with back to back completions in the
(15:01):
same drill. So if you're gonna look at things glass
half full, you want to have a starting quarterback that
has a short memory in the NFL, someone that can
shake off a couple of bad plays and make a
couple of positive ones and in a very very very
small vacuum without pads on Kenny at least illustrated his
ability to do that, to not let an interception in
a batted ball really get to him and have his
(15:22):
whole you know, session in eleven on eleven spiral because
of it. Yeah, and that what I'm sure what he
was told though, was, you know, the batted ball is
one thing. The interception is. You know, you don't get
in camp. Uh, you throw an interception and you're you
immediately go back into the huddle and then you run
another place so you get a chance to redeem yourself
(15:45):
in the game. Um, you know, they might be ringing
up the scoreboard before you get back onto the field,
and then you're getting the Harry eyeball from the coaching staff,
your defensive teammates and you know all that kind of stuff. So, um,
the turn overs, I can just imagine that that is
the most um egregious offense that you can have, regardless
(16:10):
of whether it's practice or preseason game. When you know,
certainly it ratchets up when the game's kind of standings,
or you know, it's one and one win or go
home in the playoffs, he's gonna have to I don't know.
I don't want to say that he's gonna have to
learn that because I'm sure he's been playing quarterback long.
I have to understand, you know, how bad those kinds
(16:31):
of things are. But it's as bad as it was
for him in college, um times ten. Now when we
come back, we're gonna hear from coach Tomlin and his
thoughts post day to practice, and we're also going to
talk about some rotations at the offensive line and at
the middle linebacker position with the first team units for
(16:52):
both of those position groups, respectively. So that's all on
the way. Next here on the training camp report right
here on Steelers Nation Radio DC is no Training camp
report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Day three of Steelers training camp practice up at Latrobe,
(17:15):
schedule to start at one today, Labs, I know you
like to put on your meteorologist hat when you're up
at St. Vincent's weather looking good. I know you have
the radar plastered onto your wall via projection seven when
you walk into your room up at St. Vincent's in
the dormitory. So what's the radar looking like? Um, we'll
(17:37):
see that. The thing about Latrobe is that, um, if
you don't like the weather, you know way fifteen minutes
and it may change the right. So um, right now,
there's it's nothing. There is no anything going on. It's
one of the things I will say though, since we're
(17:58):
talking about the weather, the temperatures have been very, very
mild for this time of the year, in this particular
little slice of heaven. The humidity has not been except
for on the days of rains obviously because in the
humidity is high, but it hasn't been that take your
(18:20):
breath away Southeast Asia feel to it. Uh. And you
know the high temperatures right now, it's only seventy degrees,
which it's only nine year thirty about. Uh So seventy
you know, it's not I'm not gonna say it's cold,
but you know the high today is only supposed to
be uh, in the in the high seventies. So I
(18:42):
know someone who's not pleased about that. And he's usually
the guy at that practice all dressed in black every day.
So um, he what did he say, he said. The
first couple of days, he used the term this is
heat acclamation period. We want to get acclimated to the heat.
I'm not going to according to plan their coach. Well, right, Um,
so you know today's forecast, and I don't want to
(19:04):
scare any fans away or anything, but um, reading off
the National Weather Service website, a chance of showers with
thunderstorms also possible after two pm, which practice starts at one,
so perfect timing. Um, so we'll have to see. But
(19:25):
you know. Then then the forecast goes on to say
that the chance of precipitation is so that's a pretty
low number. Uh. And certainly yesterday, looking at the sky
around m hm early afternoon, I was thinking, well, I
don't care what the percentage is, it's d chance going
to rain, because it looked it was very gray and
(19:48):
ominous looking up into the sky, and it did not
keep the fans away. Yesterday. We should make a note
of that. They were still out in force, a chuck
and all field. And let me let me say this too.
I'm sure some left. You know, it's hard to gauge,
but there were a lot of fans gathered in clusters
(20:09):
under trees, and it was okay to do that yesterday
because it was just rain. There was no thunder, there
was no lightning. Uh, not a lot of wind either. Um.
So you know, hardy fans because during a couple of periods,
four minute periods over the course of the wet the
bad weather, uh, that rain was coming down. I mean
(20:32):
it was like someone turned on a hose. UM. So
I don't think I would have been that hardy to
stay through that. But then the other thing you have
to consider is by the time you walk to your car, uh,
you're probably as what as you're gonna be, so you
might as well just you know, stick it out. Tough decision,
(20:53):
but you're right. A lot of fans came and at
the end of practice there was still a decent number
waiting for autographs, no question about in her Nazi's name
called a ton from fans around the fences as they
were trying to get the start running back over to
sign some things we mentioned. Practice today starts at one
(21:14):
fifty five. That's day three practice for the Steelers. Coach
Tomlin spoke to the media after practice yesterday. Day two
session wrapped up. Let's hear what coach had to say
right here on SNR, really good developmental day for us. UM.
I love the uncertainty of the weather man. It it
forces us to be light on our feet and adaptable.
It challenges them from a from a mindset standpoint, and
(21:37):
so it's just opportunities to teach them to learn and
for guys to display their football character in their enthusiasm
and passion for the game in spite of whatever adversity
UM the elements of the game may present, and so
we're appreciative of it. Um. When the weather is less
than ideal, Man, it's a great opportunity for defenders the
ball search. It's a great opportunity for office of guys
(21:57):
to focus on ball security and making root team like
plays routinely. And so there's some some coaching points and
some things to look at tonight based on what transpired. Man,
But all in all, days like today are good because
they provide that platform to grow UM. From a health standpoint,
not a lot new to talk about. Uh friar Muth
(22:18):
didn't finish the last period or two here experienced some
lower body tightness. Will exercise that necessary precaution, get him
evaluated and not let a small thing become a big thing.
Other than that, it's kind of status quo on some
of those guys uh that we mentioned yesterday, Killer Brew
and so forth, our pause and open it up for questions.
(22:39):
We're in camp Uh. It's a part of development and
doing so appropriately and so displaying that passion, but also
using those displays as an opportunity to teach and learn.
And that's also what we're doing here. The last couple
of eys tjs out there there in the DJ things
are you are? Are you happy to see that? Are
almost like? Man, we can't even get a snap sometimes.
(23:01):
I am not going to discourage t J from being
t J, my nearest only one signed the last year
from last year at the adsdition. When you've gotten from Rudolph,
he's been mason Um. He's taking advantage of the opportunities.
He's been detailed. He's doing a good job of communicating
(23:21):
with others. He's been competitive. Um. Not anything out of
the out of the usual in terms of his approach
of business. Tell me to ask you again today, you're
gonna name a quarterback after day two? Not yet? Not yet?
Did you get all the working if you wanted to?
We did? We absolutely did. We got every staff today
thankfully from um pickus in Austin. They're doing a really
(23:48):
good job. Man. They get an opportunity to get some
reps um. There's some mistakes, but that's part of the process.
Um do they not make the same mistake twice? How
did they learn from those mistakes? And when they're less
than certain do they still play at full speed? I
think those are certain things that you look forward to
wide receiver position and and they're getting an opportunity to
learn those lessons and display their skills. And Miller looks
(24:10):
like they're attention of absolutely anyone else. What you said,
the ball security was a focus and given them weather,
there was a couple of turnovers. How do you read
You know when you're working good on good or Steelers
versus Steelers, when someone's success is someone else's failures. So
I didn't I don't over evaluate that. If they took
(24:31):
care of the ball today, we'd be talking about why
didn't the defense get it? And so that's the nature
of team development. Veterans on the line already. I'm not
gonna go so far as to acknowledge what you just said.
Anyone else with what's plan brings you, what does he
(24:53):
bring you maybe to the other other guy. Um, I don't.
I hadn't thought about it in that way. I'm really
just focused on getting him better. Man. It's it's been
a nice maturation process for him. Um, he asked good questions.
He's a football guy, he's a junkie. Um, you're starting
to see that turn up in his play. And I
think that's a reasonable expectation for a good that that
(25:13):
that has that attention to detail and that passion for
the game. That's coach Tomlins speaking to the media after
Steelers practice yesterday. Labs little less enthusiastic there about the
quarterback question. Huh. He was having a good old chuckle
about it with day one, but day two, I don't.
I said to ask me tomorrow. But I don't think
you got that. I was joking about that, right and UM,
(25:34):
you know, I just let me just say this, Uh,
I agree with you. It was funny the first time.
Maybe it'll be tolerated a couple of more times, but
you know, to continue to do that every day, it's
just gonna haunk him off and ruin the information uh
distribution distribution process that all the other members of the
(25:58):
media are looking for we're needing from those daily post
practice briefings. So hey, I'm not here to tell anybody
how to do their job or anything. But I'm just
telling you what what's going to happen, because he will
get short and um, the Burt Lout and the PR
guy UH is gonna read that uh situation and then
(26:22):
those things will become shorter and shorter and shorter. So
like I said, I I don't I'm just telling you
what it's going to happen. Um, So we'll see if
it continues. Well. He definitely had his fair share of
short answers during that scrum that we just listened to,
And the last two questions that were thrown at him
are perfect segues into what I wanted to talk about,
(26:42):
and that's the changes in the first team for the
middle linebacker and the offensive line. Uh. Let's start with
the offensive line. The question was thrown at him, you know,
Dotson is becoming more of a veteran now on that line.
Have you sensed more of that veteran presence and that
kind of leadership from him? And Tomlin was very frank
and he said no, I would not even go close
to as far as what you're describing right there. Um,
(27:04):
you saw dots and go from the first team to
the second team. Yesterday Kendrick Green elevated to first team
reps with the offensive line. That's a legitimate position battle
going on, huh. I mean, I know the quarterback thing
is one thing, and that's what everybody has their eye on.
But for my money, this might be the most intense
battle that we see all camp. Um, you could be right,
(27:25):
you know, and we'll see, uh see it as it unfolds.
You know, so often times, especially in a training camp
situation where you know, Mike Tomlin continues to use the
phrase team development, team to team development, jobs are lost
as often as they're one. And so I'm not saying
that they they move. You can either look at it
(27:49):
as a promotion of Kendrick Green to the first team temporary,
you know, as it is, or a demotion for Kevin
Dotson to the second team, and we could very well
be back, you know, the other way to day. Um,
but these guys are gonna get opportunities and to show
what they can do, uh with the other first group,
(28:10):
and um, you know that also, I think what we're
gonna see is or what the coaches will be looking for.
An at will be how they then bounce back from
a good or bad performance with the first group and
then they're the second group the next day. Uh. You know,
you can have a great day with the first group
and then they tell you, well, okay, the other guy
(28:32):
is gonna be in that spot today. Well then do
you pout or you know, how do you respond with
you playing even better or just as well? You know,
consistency of performance is what they're looking for. So um,
you know Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson or in a
position battle and uh, this is the way that these
(28:54):
kinds of things normally are fleshed out. You you handle
it on the field, and so you know, we'll see,
we'll see how it is. Uh. The the hall, the alignment,
the deployment works today, tomorrow, first day in pads, etcetera.
Because I don't think that it's going to be a
short term thing. I would imagine that unless uh and
(29:17):
again I would think that if a quick decision is
going to be made one over the other, it's gonna
be be be because of one guy losing the job.
I don't know that a guard uh in a non
contact rooms can show enough where you're gonna make a
move in the lineup as a result of that. You know,
(29:39):
I would anticipated probably will go into the preseason games
because you want to see, um, these guys succeed or
fail against uh NFL competition that is not wearing the
same kind of helmet as yourself. And um, you know,
Kendrick Green was the third round draft pick. Kevin Dotson
(29:59):
was a worth round draft pick. I mean both they're
both of those guys came here with a little bit
of an expectation that they can play. So they're going
to get a chance to show that they either can
or can't, and then that situation will kind of resolve itself.
It's it's not so much that, as I said to
start this, it's not so much that one guy wins
(30:24):
the job over the other. Uh it often is one
guy loses the job to the other. So you could
see it if they're both you know, playing well in
camp and no one's you know, they're not looking at
film later and just going to this guy is just
not checking any box. We can't have him in our
starting lot of You wouldn't be surprised if this battle
continues to drag into the second, maybe even the third
(30:45):
preseason game before they officially come out with the depth
chart and have someone established at number one. As long
as they're doing okay, this could be a very very
long fight between the two. Yeah, and there's really no
um urge. And see, I don't think because again I
don't want I'm not trying to demean either player or
what they're the position that they're fighting for. But left
(31:08):
guard is not quarterback. It's not like you need a
guy to be uh settled. Um, so that there's a
lot of um, you know, in sync with the people
around him, because again it's not like one guy is
participating in the other guy is not. Then you have
a situation where, you know, you could be in a
(31:29):
little bit of trouble if you suddenly decide you're gonna
go to the the other guy. Uh So, if they
continue to go back and forth, UM, I don't think
that there's very much danger in the sense that, well,
we better pick a guys because we want them, you know,
to get acclimated with the other people on the line. Well,
he just played there yesterday. Um And once you get
(31:51):
into the season, you know, games are only once a
week anyway. So during this camp process, I think you
can afford to take time go back and forth on
a daily basis maybe or maybe it turns out to
be every couple of days or whatever. And I'll tell
you another thing that's going to be significant is are
who's available every day? Who practices? Okay, first day in
(32:13):
Pat's boy, and that's that's intense. Everybody's up for it
their hitting. Now kill somebody right, well right, and then okay,
Then the next day do you come back and say
my shoulder hurts or my hamstrings tight? You know? So
that's also the kind of thing, you know, do you
fight through the little lags and pains that are inherent
with the job. And also the situation that you have
(32:37):
a training camp which is hitting every day. That's another factor,
you know, Um you you're one of your best abilities
up here, better be availability. So there's a lot of
factors involved, and so I agree with you. I think
that this can go uh weeks weeks before a decision
is made. Well. The other rotational thing of note is
(33:00):
on the defensive side of the ball, and that's at
middle linebacker where Spillane on the eleven eleven eleven on
eleven drills took the other spot opposite of Miles Jack,
and that was the same in the practice ending team
drill with the first team unit where Splane and Jack
where you're inside backers. Uh. Tomlin spoke about Splene in
that conference that we heard with the media just recently, saying,
(33:20):
you know, this guy thinks the game so well, he's
just a football junkie. Um, you've been around Tom Win
his entire head coaching career in Pittsburgh. I've been watching
as a fan and now transitioning into the media side
of things. That's the kind of player that Tomlin loves
more than anyone. Is the guy that just thinks the
game on a different level. And you can really tell
that his love for the game is overpowering and him
(33:44):
saying that that's starting to transition to his play on
the field, you know, thinking the game really smart, making
smart plays. Uh. It's early, but it seems like there's
some writing on the wall that Splane is going to
see a little bit more of a workload than we
thought this year. It's possible. Uh. You know, I don't
want Barry Devon Bush here because the practice and he
(34:06):
was with the first he was with the first defense
when when practice started. So it's I think that the
inside linebacker situation is more fluid within a particular days
practice than the left guard thing is. Because the left
guard thing, it was Kevin Dotson first team the whole
(34:28):
way on the first day of training camp, then yesterday
it was Kendrick Green first team left guard the whole practice,
second day of practice at training camp. The bush um
Miles Jack's Blaine thing that changes often from period to
(34:48):
period within the same practice. You know, defense is a
much more fluid situation with a lot of these rotations
personnel groupings, because you know, as soon as the offense
comes out of multiple wide receivers receivers, the defense will
respond to that with its own personnel groups. So, um,
I just I just trying to explain this in a
(35:11):
little bit more detail for fans because some people might
hear this and think, well, they're given up on Bush
or Bush stinks or that's not what I'm saying, and
that's not what you're seeing either, because you know, one
of the things with Robert Splaine and um, you know,
obviously Mike Tomlins said some good things about him and
all that stuff, but he is not um a stud
(35:34):
in coverage, or let me say this, he has not
been a stud in coverage, and uh so you have
to he has to improve in that area and the
Steelers have to limit his exposure in that area because
as we talked about yesterday, um he comes out on
the field, the guy up in the box for the
(35:55):
other team calls down to the play caller and says, hey,
forty ones in the game, call it pass. You know,
so you know you can't have that. Um So, again,
he made a nice play, a read and an interception
in eleven on eleven as Devin Bush, I think I
made a nice read and uh I guess that would
(36:17):
have been a fumble recovery not an interception. I don't
know how they would have ruled it, but it was
a takeaway nonetheless in my eyes. So you know, both
of these guys have to continue, you know, to improve themselves.
But again, I think that what the long term forecast
is at this particular position and that this particular rotation
(36:39):
system is you want to have three guys who are
more in a fluid situation throughout the game. Then you're
you know, you're not going to be changing your left
guard every other series. I mean not that you don't
want to do that anyway. We'll wrap up the Training
Camp Report when we come back. We'll talk about the
secondary having another good day uh in day two of
(37:00):
actice yesterday, we'll look ahead to day three and tell
you fans about some things you can look forward to
today and over the weekend at St. Vincent and Latrobe.
That's all on the way next on the Training Camp Report.
Right here on SNR they sees the Training Camp Report
with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio,
(37:22):
wrapping things up here on day three of the Training
Camp Report. Practice starts at one five today St. Vincent
College in Latrobe, before we get into the secondary and
some other notes to end the festivities here today. Just
wanted to make a note. If you're just waking up
tuning in now, or you miss the Training Camp Report today,
don't worry. We got you covered. You can go to
(37:43):
Steelers dot com the nav menu at the very top
of the web page. There's three dots that you click on.
It's right next to the word fans. Click on those
three dots, A little drop down bar comes down. You
click on podcasts, scroll all the way down. You'll see
the training camp reports. So even if you slept in
a little bit lab as we got you covered, you
can still catch all of this radio glory. Can I
do that sleep in and then catch up with you later. Um,
(38:08):
I haven't really been able to nail down the impersonation
of your voice yet, so give me another week and
then I can do the show by myself playing both parts.
Does that work for you? Yeah, let me know. Yeah,
let me make sure make sure you get right back
to me on that. Uh, but yeah, it is. It
is a nice thing, um that you know these on
(38:31):
s and r uh. You know you can archives things.
I mean, it's not like real radio necessarily, where you
know if you miss it, you miss it. Um. So yeah,
you can catch up. You can even go back and
listen if you really liked one, Um, you can listen
to it again and again all day long if you
wanted to. I wanted to talk about the secondary before
(38:55):
we we got into some notes for the fans to
wrap up, and you know, ended the session at end
yesterday with another turnover. That's two practices and two times
ending the practice with a turnover. I've seen practices up
close and personal in the past two days. Of course,
you have a lot of passes broken up, it seems
a lot of interceptions. Is that just a matter of
(39:16):
it's a lot harder to get your timing down and
play offense than it is to you know, step on
the field and play defense when you start these camp sessions. Well,
you know, um, it's one of those things where in
a training camp practice you can either praise or criticize
after every play. Tomlins said something of that nature and
(39:37):
his his media scrum. That's right, right, So you know, um,
as you started with that, you know, talking about the
takeaways by the secondary in each of the last few practices,
I thought you were going back to the quarterbacks, think
because you know that's that's one of the things I
think that is a natural process. You know, when you
(40:00):
see an interception, do you praise the guy who made
the interception or do you criticize the guy who threw it?
So it goes both ways. Um, I just think that
it's in a training camp setting, especially with no hitting
at all, it's much more difficult to play defense than offense.
(40:25):
And so I would tend to, uh give props to
the defense for taking the ball away, um. Others may
not look at it that way, and hey, that's you
know again, Uh, tomato, tomato. However you want to approach
it is, uh, is fine with me. So I would
(40:46):
say that based on where we are right now, and
if you look at the Steelers and try and project
what they're gonna need to be when the season opens
September eleventh in Cincinnati, that a a ball hawk can
take away defense would serve them very very well. Because
you've got to assume if there's gonna be a little
(41:08):
bit of a adaptation period for the offense, new quarterback, um,
and we're gonna have to see what the play calling
is and what direction Matt Canada wants to go with
the new quarterback and all those kinds of things. Uh.
And so you may have to rely on your defense
to close games, end games like the defense did these
(41:30):
last couple of practices. So I would at this point
choose to approach it with a glass half full perspective. Then,
Uh boy, these quarterbacks are sure not looking very good.
One thing that we need to make note of as well.
Deonte Johnson, for the second practice, decided not to participate
in the team portion of practice, went onto the sidelines
(41:54):
and did some individual work. I kind of echo what
you had to say on our training camp report yesterday.
You know, you kind of really need that guy out there, UM,
not just for his own benefit, but you're working in
new quarterbacks, you're working in a new offense, I mean
not completely new, but a lot of new elements to
the MC Canada offense. Now. Uh, you need who's going
to potentially be your number one receiver. And statistically speaking,
(42:15):
he was your number one receiver last year out there
working and jailing with these guys. So I really do
hope that that doesn't last much longer. Yeah, I mean,
and to be fair to Deonte Johnson too, I mean,
it's not like he's saying, I mean, this was a discussion.
It had to be. I don't know that for a fact,
but I don't believe I think it was a discussion
(42:35):
with t J. Watt. It was a discussional with Minka Fitzpatrick.
Only minkas um hold in as they're now known. Only
UM covered a little bit of the off season program.
But you know, Deonte Johnson does walk into Mike Tomlin's room. UM.
You know at is practice, say one o'clock and say Hey,
you know, I'm not I'm not going to take part
(42:57):
in team drills. I mean, this is this is some
thing that I'm sure at some levels, uh that included
both UH coaching staff and g M. O. Mar Con
that you know, this is going to be how we're
going to proceed. And I'm sure that it would involve
more than just Deonte Johnson, probably his agent as well.
(43:19):
So uh, you know, it's a business thing. Uh. And
while it can be frustrating the fans and even some
of the team. Uh. And as I mentioned, I don't
think it's necessarily the wisest um of course of action
for Deonte Johnson to take. Uh. This is something again
(43:39):
that is not a solely his decision or something that
is done without, as I said, meetings and discussions so
that everybody understands, you know, what's going to happen. So um,
But yes, he did not take part in team drills yesterday.
But I'll tell you what, as I said yesterday about Minkoff,
(43:59):
its Patrick working on on the side because he's on
n f n f I list, Deante Johnson is not sitting,
uh you know, around under a a tent sipping on
gate rate. He uh he was on the field after
the practice ended for a long time. I mean it
(44:19):
was in Antonio Brown esque post practice um session that
he went through catching balls, running, you know that kind
of stuff. So you know, he's not on vacation up here. Um,
just just to make it clearer, uh, to to listeners
so that he doesn't come across as I don't know, uh,
(44:40):
you know, a villain or a butting um problem for
the team. Moving forward, We're gonna see how it works out,
and as you said, hopefully it gets resolved quickly so
that um, you know, he is able to try and
integrate himself in with these new quarterbacks. Some on things
for fans that we wanted to remind you of before
(45:02):
we wrap up and hand things off to Wolf and
Starks here on Steelers Nation Radio. First padded practice Monday,
August one, So if you want to see the pads
on and some real hitting, get up there Monday, August
first for that Hall of I would bet I would
bet with real quick um backs on backers too. Will
be the first competitive period that that's been a Mike
(45:23):
Tomlin trademark, just like Bill Coward's trademark was always goal
line At Friday night lights. Mike Tomlin's trademark is backs
on backers right away. Uh, tone setting drill, first stand
of camping pads. Tomorrow at camp is a very exciting day.
That is when the class of the Steelers Hall of
Honor will be revealed. So definitely want to be in
(45:44):
the stands for that. Uh, can you at least give
us a hint on how many members will be in
the class? Four four members will be going into the
Hall of So that's something to look forward to on Saturday.
And today is Chris Hope Day. He is your Steelers legend.
Twelve to twelve thirty. He will be taking pictures. You
can chat them up, maybe get an autograph with um
(46:05):
Chris Hop. Then from twelve thirty to one, he will
be playing Madden with a member of the Pittsburgh Nights,
the video game team here in Pittsburgh, will be playing
against him. I believe his name is John Beast, very
very great name and intimidating name to go up against.
And a couple of more updates on the list of
former Steelers who boot participating in this August three, which
(46:27):
is a Wednesday, Rocky Blyer and then August eighteenth, which
is the last day of practice open to fans um
someone who truly lives up to the building of Steelers legend,
Mel Blunt, some big heavy hitters in the middle and
end of August for you to go and get a
photo up with. That's gonna do it for us. Here
on the Training Camp Report for day three practice at
(46:50):
one five today for your Steelers, Wolf and Starks are
up next in the locker room. This has been the
training camp Report with Tom Opferman and Bob Labriola right
here on Steelers Nation Rate Yo
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