August 5, 2025 • 45 mins
Labs and Tom talk about the Steelers new Depth Chart and Sunday's practice. We hear from Coach Tomlin and talk about Alex Highsmiths injury.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Iheartradios Live coverage Job twenty twenty five Steelers Training Camp
is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next, and also
brought to you by First National Bank, by Klucy Chevrolet,
iron Workers' Union Number Three, by Easy Home Exteriors, by
S ANDT Bank, Remax Select Realty, by Don's Appliances, the
(00:30):
Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Shop, by Always Safe Flagging and Traffic Control,
and by US Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
The Steelers are back in action today at Saint Vincent
College after having a day off yesterday. That means myself,
Tom Opferman and Bob Larriola had a day off of
the training camp. Report too happy to be back with
you today, though, Labs, I missed you, But it's good
that we got a little bit of a gift for
us Returning to the airwaves today, the Pittsburgh Steelers put
a nice little depth chart under our tree. Was it
(01:00):
that very nice of them?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, yeah, it's it's it's tradition. I mean, well, it's
actually part of the rules.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
They have to get it right.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, yeah, the NFL requires, you know, press releases before
every every game preseason, regular season, postseason, and so you know,
the press release typically goes out two days before the
preseason game or the Tuesday before you know. Uh, and
(01:29):
so yeah, the depth chart is part of that release.
The release went out at nine o'clock and so we
got a depth chart.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But this isn't a depth chart that people shouldn't, you know,
treat like it's written in stone. Far from it. Mike
Tomlin may have some input on this, but this isn't
anything that he's too. No, he has none on this.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
No, no, no, some input. No, I would go the
other way all of the.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Input on this, but this is nothing that again that
he's holding himself to. This is just something that he
has to go through, right.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
I understand, Well, yes he does it, but it is
you know he he personally okays every line of it.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Anything that kind of surprised you.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I mean, it's it's you know, it's a very kind
of typical for this time of the year. I mean,
you know, we've seen anybody who's been at practice or
listen to us or I mean, a lot of this
stuff is you know, in terms of the starters, it's obvious.
I mean we've been seeing it every day at practice.
(02:40):
And then when you get beyond that, a lot of
times backups and stuff were organized by how much experience
they have in the leg or how much experience they
have with the Steelers, or you know, when you get
in the case of rookies, they're prioritized by where we're on,
where they drafted in, you know that kind of stuff.
(03:00):
So you know, the starters again are what we've been
seeing every day, and then the other things. Really it's
not necessarily reflective of how the rosters are going to
be cut when they go down to fifty three. I
think it's August twenty second. Maybe I'll have to look
(03:24):
that up and I'll get that exact date for you.
But yeah, so like for example, when you're looking at
the offensive lineman or the defensive backs. You know, a
guy who's listed a third team defensive back right now,
that doesn't really mean anything. And the other thing that
the depth chart does not include at all or special
(03:47):
teams beyond you know, the kickers and the return guys.
So if you're a you know, if you're a Danny
Smith Corps special teams guy, let's just pretend. Okay, just
picking up a name here, James Pierre is listed as
the number three right cornerback. Well, I mean when the
(04:08):
rosters get cut. You know, James Pierre's value on kick
coverage teams is not reflected in this depth chart, So
that's that's another factor. But it's a nice guide. I mean,
you know, gives us something to talk about, which is
the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It does, And there's a couple of things that I
do take away from it. I always like seeing those oars,
you know what I mean, like the Pat Friarmuth or
John new Smith. Speaking of which labs, it's interesting to
see that there's two slots for tight ends on the
Steelers depth chart. You have Darnell listed as a starter
and then you have John new Smith or Pat Fryarmouth
listed as a starter as well. That kind of hints
(04:46):
that they're going to live in twelve personnel a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah. I mean they also got a fullback to list it, right, Yeah.
So yeah, I mean there's as I said, there's a
lot of thing is on here that you either have
to fill out based on what the NFL rules are,
and you know you also kind of get to you know,
(05:11):
throw some things out there. Again, back on defense, you know,
there's twelve twelve slots for quote unquote starters, so the
Steelers list their three four regular defense and then they
thrown a nickelback, so you know what the nickel is
going to look like when the nickelback is actually in
(05:31):
or the guy that you're listing as the nickelback, would
you would assume that he is in in the game
is not necessarily you know this this configuration. There's just
so many personnel groupings in different situational things that go
on in the NFL today that you know, you can't
(05:52):
really account for all of the different all of the
different ones. Here's another one that kind of I don't
understand it or I'm not really paying too much attention
to it. Hy A Black is the number three nose tackle.
(06:12):
I mean, I thought he's been having some pretty good
practices here. I don't think he's number three. But he's
a rookie, and so you know, the only rookie. There's
only one rookie among the starters, right, that's Derek Carmon.
So I think the Ya Black number three nose tackle
thing is just kind of you're a rookie and you're
(06:34):
paying your dues. I mean, they're not gonna put you,
you know, keep you hungry, keep you guessing that's a long, long,
long time standard football coach tactic.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Similar thinking. Maybe when it comes to Caleb Johnson and
where he falls on this first step chart, the rookie
running back landed at third string running back behind Kenny
g and second string and Jalen Warren as the starter.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, I mean, and that's another to me package situation,
offensive package, situation, personnel grouping. I think Kenny g is
going to be the third down back. So but if
the Steelers are in first and second down football, so
(07:18):
to speak, and they take Jalen Warren out, I think
it'll be Caleb Johnson. So that's where the depth chart
kind of can be deceiving because it doesn't mean that
Kenneth Gainwell is the second running back into the game
in all situations. You know, again, a depth chart really
(07:42):
cannot account for all of the different variations. The thing
that you can usually count on, you know, is the
offensive line. That is usually a pretty good representation. You
have the starters. Who are the starters, Broderick Jones, a Ciamalu,
Zach Frasier, Mason McCormick, and Troy fo Otano. Okay, that's
(08:05):
your starting offensive line. When everyone's healthy. And then I
think it's also somewhat revealing the second team offensive line
because a lot of times at practice here the lines
will go in. They go in as units. You know.
(08:25):
Offensive line isn't like wide receiver where you have personnel
packages and you're changing them based on down in distance,
play call what you're expecting from the opponent.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Right, it's like a full line change in HOTE when
you do the line.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yes so and that group left to right, Calvin Anderson,
Spencer Anderson, Ryan McCollum, Max Sharping, and Dylan Cook. So
I think that you can kind of look at those
guys as your backup alignment. Now that represents ten players.
Are they going to keep ten on the fifty three
(09:01):
meion roster? I don't know. I would doubt it. So,
you know, even all of those names aren't necessarily you know,
put them in, put write them in, and ink in
the fifty three men roster thing.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
If you want to take a look at the Steelers
first depth chart for your own eyes, go to Steelers
dot com. It's published there right now, labs. We did
have a practice on Sunday. It was the third padded
practice for the Steelers. It was family day. We talked
before that practice on our training camp report that there's
gonna be a little bit of extra juice probably in
the air because of the families being there. Well, boy,
the defense seemed to be drinking up all that juice,
(09:37):
and that seems to be a thing in recent practices
with the Steelers, is the dominance from the defense. We
usually like to start with seven shots, and it was
a six to one win for that side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah, the defense was Excuse me, the defense had the
better of the play, I thought throughout the day. And
I also thought it was interesting that seven shots the
only it was a six to one win for the defense,
and the one that the touchdown that they scored was
a running play. So the three quarterbacks who participated, Aaron Rodgers,
(10:13):
Mason Rudolph and Will Howard were oh for five passing,
you know, And there were a couple three of those
oh for passing situations where there was nobody open. So,
I mean, it's not a lot of times. The assumption
is if Aaron Rodgers, as an example, goes oh for
(10:36):
three and seven shots, well he was off target or no.
I mean, there was one that was a miscommunication with
Ben Scronic and we saw a little bit of Aaron
Rodgers's I won't say temper because it wasn't that, but
he was displeased because he threw the ball. You know,
(10:56):
the ball was out of his hand before the route
was completed, and nic didn't go where Rogers threw the ball.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
He's a stickler, Labs. We talked about that.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I understand that. And as I've said I said before,
and I'll say it again here right now, I love that. Yeah,
I love that. So and then you know, Mason Rudolph
also had some instances where you know, holding the ball,
holding the ball, looking looking looking looking, and then you
just kind of throw it away. So the defense, this
(11:27):
defense could be really special beyond I think what we
have seen here in Pittsburgh for the previous few seasons.
I mean, there have been times, you know, even going
back to twenty twenty two, when the Steelers won some
games with good defense and complementary offense being kind, I mean,
(11:53):
this defense could even be better than a lot of
those units that were you know, winning games or closing
out games or you know, holding onto leads, taking the
ball away, setting up the offense. I mean, we'll have
to see how the takeaway things go in terms of
numbers and the timing of them and where the offense
(12:17):
ends up with the ball after those takeaways. But I
don't know this this defense is. It's been pretty impressive,
I think, on a pretty consistent basis out here.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
We also had our first installment of goal line during
Sunday's practice. Just like seven shots, they have seven plays
at the goal line. And one thing that was of
note LABS was who was lining up at fullback. He
didn't enter into the equation at fullback and the Steelers
initial depth chart release today, but a number ninety three
inside linebacker Mark Robinson had his hand in the dirt
(12:49):
when it came to the offense, didn't he.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, And it was interesting because you know, in practice,
offense wears white, defense wears gold. And so you know,
I noticed because I was looking in the huddle to see,
you know, as the drill was forming before the first
snap of goal line, I was looking to see, you know,
(13:13):
what the personnel grouping was, because I was wondering if
Arthur Smith was going to go run heavy, you know,
try and establish you know, a physical kind of mindset
slash presence down near the goal line for the offense.
So I had the binoculars on and I'm looking and
I see a guy wearing a white jersey number ninety three,
and I thought, well, there is no number ninety three
(13:34):
in white on the roster. Number ninety three in gold
is Mark Robinson, who played running back in college before
he switched the linebacker for his last season at Mississippi. So,
you know, and I noticed there was a little bit
of extra talking to him going on in the huddle.
(13:54):
You know, I can only assume that it was, you know,
making sure he knew where to line up right, sure
he knew, you know, what his assignment was, you know,
those kind of things. You know. He came off the
ball and made blocks both times, but it didn't matter
in terms of the offense getting the ball in the
end zone. And I'm not saying it was Mark Robinson's fault.
(14:18):
I just mean, you know, sometimes the assumption is, well,
all they need to do is put a fullback in
run behind the fullback in a goal to go situation
and you get in the end zone. Well maybe you
do on some against some units, but I mean this,
the Steelers defense is just not having it. I mean,
(14:38):
and Cam Hayward did not participate. T J. Watt did
not participate. Alex Heismith did not participate at this point
because he had felt something in his growing a growing
muscle situation. So, you know, and I mentioned why Black
he was part of that, as was Derrick Harmon, Keanu Benton.
(15:04):
You know, these guys are they're playing some pretty good
run defense, and you know that has a lot to
do with why what I was saying earlier about this
unit showing me a lot of potential for being extra special.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, and you know it's obviously people tend to maybe
gravitate towards the worry side of the fence and say, oh,
what's going on with the offense? What's going on with
the offense? But I really think the main factor is
what you were laying out there is just that you're
looking at one of the better defenses in the NFL,
A defense that for the most part has been together
for years now at a time. New piece is obviously
(15:39):
being inserted, important new pieces, but there's a lot of
cohesion already on that defense, and these guys are blending
in almost seamlessly. It seems there's talent through the roof. Obviously,
big time names, superstar players. I mean, it's just kind
of the way it goes, where the defense is ahead
of the offense to begin the football season anyway, and
this defense is gonna be, as you've put it, extra
(16:00):
special or we hope, so.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, and the defense is looking to impress both individually
in terms of individual players and you know, as units,
so they have they have a lot of skin in
the game as well. And who knows what kind of
side situations were going on in terms of who won
(16:25):
the drill or who made the tackles or you know whatever.
I don't know what was you know, for dinner on
family day, But I don't think anybody you know got
stuck eating franks and beans because their side lost the
drill in the practice.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Wouldn't that be extra gutting if you had to give
your family like franks and beans to like I'm sorry, honey.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that would be tough. But you know,
some a lot of those guys on defense, you know,
Jan Thornhill and Jalen Ramsey, and you know, they're new guys,
but they're very very much into the whole emotion and
trying to be impressive in practice, and you know, they're
(17:06):
exhorting each other, and they like to talk trash to
the other guys, and so you know, they have a
lot of emotion that they're carrying into these drills too.
So you know, again, yeah, this is a pretty good defense.
That's that's I'm gonna stick with that theme.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
We got some more observations from this practice that we'll
get to throughout this first hour of the show. We're
gonna hear from coach Mike Tomlin and his thoughts about
Sunday's practice when we come back. But one last thing
I wanted to touch on before we take our break. Labs,
Cam Hayward TJ Watt. They were both dressed in pads
during this practice, but as you noted in your practice report,
neither really participated much. And then Pat Fayrearmuth was given
(17:48):
the day off completely.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yes, and then you know Alex Heismith.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And unfortunately, yes, yes, the injury.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah, hopefully we'll get some good news about that after
practice today for Mike Tomlin. But you know that a
groin injury is what kind of I won't say ruined
Alex Heigsmith's season last year, but certainly kept him out
of you know, several games.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, slowed him down, I'd say, because boy he was healthy,
he was so impactful.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Yes, And you know that just emphasizes puts an exclamation
point on the need for quality depth. And you know,
Nick Herby could probably be starting for a lot of
teams on the edge. He is the guy who would be,
you know, first off the bench if Alex Heismith is
out for any kind of lengphant time.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We'll hear from Mike Tomlin next, and we'll also hear
from Bob Labriola and his weather report. If you're headed
up to camp practice today, we'll give you the lowdown
on what you can expect weather wise. It's Tom Opferman,
It's Bob Labriola, It's the Training Camp Report on Fox
Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Network, Iheartradios Live coverage Job Not twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next
and also brought to you by First National Bank, by
Kalucy Chevrolet, iron Workers Union Number Three, by Easy Home
(19:21):
Exteriors by S ANDT Bank, Remax Select Realty, by Don's Appliances.
The Pittsburgh Steelers pro Shop, by Always Safte Flagging and
traffic control and by us steel.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Labsley had a little bit of a rocky start when
it comes to the weather, but it's been picture perfect
for the past few practices for the Steelers. What's today
gott in store. We're going to keep that hot streak alive.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Well, you know how the weather forecast was pretty much
leather rense repete when we first got out here. Only
it was miserable. It was miserable every day. You know,
it was always hot and humid, chance of flowers, showers
and thunders.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Show right practices, ending early practices, moving to the gym,
it was chaoss well.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
And it was miserable. Miserable is the word that I
would use, because it was a situation where, you know,
a lot of times when it's hot and humid and
it rains sometimes that cools things off. During that stretch,
it was hot and humid and then it rained and
that just made it steamier. So but now we're in
the same kind of leather rints for pete cycle. But
(20:27):
it's pleasant. For example, right now it's eighty one degrees
and it's you know, the humidity is low forty five percent.
It's you know, it's nice walking around. I mean you
can when you're walking around outside, even when you're you know,
if you have a distance to walk in the sun,
I mean, you don't feel like a piece of bacon
(20:49):
in the pan. It's just it's not. It's very nice
again today, so you know that the high temperature today
is supposed to be eighty four degrees, mostly sunny. The
sky is really pretty, as I mentioned, the humidity is low,
and we're in a pattern now, you know, looking at
(21:09):
the National Weather Service website, it's it's pretty much the same,
you know, sunny and clear eighties through the weekend. So
you know it's gonna get a little hotter here Saturday
and Sunday. But there's no practice either one of them.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I was gonna say, we don't need it to go
through the weekend, just these next few days, right.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
I mean, Saturday is the preseason opener, Sunday is there
is the player's day off. So I mean, you know,
we'll have to see what the next week brings. You know,
who knows, maybe the weather, Mother Nature will bookend us
with you know, hot and humid and rain to start
and end this training camp. But right now we're in
a great weather pattern. Get outside and enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
And of course, did you bring your umbrella with you?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
I did not. Okay, I'm not brought my umbrella for
a few days now.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And remind me again, that's the thing that you do,
right if you don't bring it then, or if you
bring it, it's guaranteed to rain, or what's what's.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
The Oh, if I bring it, it doesn't rain.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Okay, So we are tempting the gods a little bit there,
But yeah, but it looks like we're clear.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Yeah, but this is this is not even this is
not even a close. There's no chance and they're not
listing any chance of precipitation at all for the next
few days. I mean I was even reading that this
is the longest stretch of no rain since November twenty
twenty four. So yeah, we're in a nice cycle right here.
(22:37):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
We're gonna hear from Mike Tomlin in just a second,
but before we do labs. One thing that can always
be such a theme throughout training camp is when guys
have a veteran days off or players do unfortunately come
up injured, you can have players take that opportunity and
run with it. And that's something that Mike Tomlin's really
looking at here, right is Yeah, it's the back of
(22:59):
his head. He's like, uh, I really need Heismith to
get back, or man, it stinks that Corey Trice keeps
getting hurt, or Joey Porter Junior needs to get him
back on the practice field. But he's also looking at
the opportunity for some of the guys deeper on his
depth charts to get thrown into some deep waters against
some great competition and see if they can swim or not.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, because you know, you're not going to get through
a season without injuries. You're just not. And a lot
of these guys who are quote unquote backups at training
camp or working with a second team, or however you
want to describe them, they're going to make the roster
and they're gonna be in a situation where if the
player in front of them is injured, they're going to
(23:37):
have to go in and play, and there's not going
to be a whole lot of you know, time to
prepare or work up to it or any of that stuff.
I mean, a guy gets injured on a Sunday, you
know you might be up playing a significant amount of
snaps the next game, which could be as early as Thursday.
So this is you know, good practice for them to
(23:58):
you know, get on the field with some of the
people that they may have to be on the field with,
you know, when the games really count. And it's not
only for example, I mean pick a guy you brought
up high Smith, so Nick Herbig, Now he plays a
lot anyway, but we're just using this as an example.
So Nick Krbig gets a chance to run with the
(24:21):
ones for a significant amount of time at training camp
when Alex Highsmith is injured in camp practice out here.
So you have a situation where not only is Nick
Herbig getting you know, a chance to acclimate himself to
that position with that group, but the rest of the
(24:44):
group is also getting a chance to acclimate themselves with
Nick Herbig because you know, it is an eleven man
thing situation, and if you want to be successful either
offensively or defensively, I mean, it has to operate as
a unit, and so those things go both ways. You know.
(25:04):
We often think about it as you know, next man up,
that's the guy who has to adjust and you know,
fit in. But it's also the other ten guys who
have to adjust and fit in with him, So you know,
it's an opportunity. It works both ways. You don't like
to see injuries, but they are inevitable. There's no team
(25:29):
ever in the history that has ever gone through an
entire season without, you know, losing players to injury. It's
just that's the nature of the sport played at this level.
So yeah, you can look at it either way, either
an opportunity for a guy or an opportunity for the
other ten to kind of get their stuff together out here.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Mike Tomlin always stops buying chats with the media on
his way off the practice field. Let's hear what he
had to say following Sunday's practice.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Man, a really big day, kind of the cold Nation
of a big week for us. This second week of
team development. You take significant steps in a lot of areas,
hopefully you're minimizing some self inflicted wombs, and you start
to see some playmaking not based on what others don't do,
but based on the quality of performance. And so we
saw some signs of that. It's been a good week.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
You know.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
We bring the week to a close with some significant football,
some short yarded, some goal line appreciate the efforts and energy.
We'll comb through the tape and just continue to work
to get better.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Man.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
We've been appreciative of the presence of the NFL referees here.
That's also a component of Week two, you know, just
playing clean, not only in terms of penalties, but pre
snap cleanliness on offense and respecting the neutral zone, etc.
On defense, And so we appreciate those guys. It's the
preseason for the officials as well. Their presence benefits us,
(26:55):
but just from communicating with those guys, they need the
prep as well, and so we're thankful for that partnership.
So bumps and bruises associated with play, but we had
a lot of guys getting back to action today, particularly
in the offensive line. Some of those guys were full
participants that have been partial participants, which is good as
we lean in on next week and get ready to
(27:16):
step into a stadium, man, we're going to need everyone.
Everyone's gonna need an opportunity to show what they're capable of.
And certainly we wait in stadium performances a little heavier
than some of the stuff that we be that we
see out here, and so excited about some of that.
The only new injury to mention Alex Heighsmith didn't finish.
Don't know the severity of it. Over here in the
(27:37):
one on one pass rush, he stopped. He said he
felt his maybe is growing. But we'll evaluate it and
I'll be more definitive next time we talk not only
about the injury, but the significance of it. I'll pause
and open up for questions.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Mike, you mentioned that you're starting to see plays.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
What do you think is leading to that?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Just timing, guys getting to know each other.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Yeah, it's it's a process. That's why we come to
locations like this. Physical repetition required not only in terms
of developed individual skill, but collective cohesion. And the second
weekend you're starting to feel some of those things. And
when you do, that's when you get an opportunity to
see the talent. Let the talent be the deciding factor.
(28:19):
And that's and that's what we aspired to get to today.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
When did ninety three at full back to his resume.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
You know he played he played running back in college.
Those of you that are familiar with his resume, and
so it's not a it's not a completely foreign act.
We just want to give him a look at it
and see what it looked like. Maybe we'll do some
more in the future with him, Maybe we'll do some
more with some others. The more versatile you are, it
adds to your calls and it asks the hours.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I guess I was more so asked when did you
guys decide to try? And there's enough seeing them spear
guys and backs on backers. He decided, I'm not gonna
join you in that spear work.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Anyone else?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Did you have a ninety three in white waiting or
did you have to have one especially made.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
For I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it.
I know it's probably pretty interesting, but we just gave
him a couple of snaps.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
What about Mason in the role he's accepted and done?
Speaker 3 (29:06):
How do you see him doing his campaign?
Speaker 4 (29:09):
You know, Mason's been a team player man. We're familiar
with him his his second time here. He's always a
hand in the pole guy. He's always working to compete
and get better as well, and so I appreciate his
ability to balance those things.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin following Sunday's practice and labs, he
hit on the offense in a little bit of a
struggle that we've seen early in this camp, and he said,
basically what we've been saying. It's a timing thing and
it's just stuff that you have to work through and
it's all about repetition with that side of the ball.
And that increases a little bit this year with the
quarterback being all about that timing and everything being so precise.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah, and you know it's a natural thing, you know,
for when you're trying to put together a football team
that it takes the offense longer to kind of you know,
come together and look like it functioning on all cylinders
because you know, on defense, you can win a lot
(30:05):
of downs, you know, just by for example, if it's
a pass play and you're playing on defense, you don't
have to do any more than you know, make it
force an incompletion. Uh. And there's a lot less that
goes into that than completing the pass, if you understand
(30:29):
what I mean. Like, on offense, you need, you know,
good protection, the quarterback has to make the correct and
proper throw, and then the receiver has to get open
right and then you know, catch the ball. On defense,
if you can mess up any one of those aspects,
of it right. You you made, you did the job
(30:52):
on that play, so you know you can see how
or why sometimes it takes the offense a little bit longer,
you know, to come together because there are a lot
of things that have to be working and they have
to all kind of work together.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And that's why they're at training camp, as Mike Tomlin said,
to get those reps under their belt. And he also
noted how you know, we're looking at that in stadium
performance just on the horizon with them going to Jacksonville
on Saturday, and the weight that they put into that
kind of film and that kind of tape. More so
what they see out at training camp. You know, some
(31:28):
of those players should really start to feel that this week,
like this is a big opportunity to maybe I'm not
trying to be dramatic here, but you further down on
that roster to change your life.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Yes, I mean, and it is, you know, because there's
a lot of things that go into it, just in
terms of the evaluation. I mean, they're the coaches will
be looking to see, you know, which guys rise to
the occasion kind of you know, when the lights go on,
to use a cliche, which guys do not, which guys
show that they belong, which guys kind of don't. In
(32:01):
addition to then the performance per play and within their
position group, and then within the whole unit. So a
lot of these things, and especially for the new guys
and the young guys, you know, they're being evaluated the
whole experience. You know, are you are you ready to
go into the game from the sideline when your unit
(32:24):
is called, If you're part of a personnel group, are
you standing there, you know, ready with your helmet on,
so that whatever they call, you know, thirteen personnel or
you know, whatever it might be, you know what who
you're supposed to be with and when you're supposed to
be on the field, and you get out there in
a timely manner because the forty second clock is a factor.
(32:45):
You know, the play clocks are not an issue usually
at training camp. So you know, there's a lot of
other things that are being evaluated once you get to
the preseason games, and that's why they come more.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
We'll get more into Alex highsmith injury when we come back,
and the trickle down effect who stepped up in his
absence from that edge rushing position group. We'll also hear
from Steelers Ed Rusher Nick Herbig. That's all on the
way on the Training Camp Reports on Fox Sports Pittsburgh
nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Network Iheartradios Live Coverage Job Dot twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp. He is presented by FedEx where Now meets
Next and also brought to you by bud Light, Independence
Health System by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino,
(33:36):
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Speaker 2 (33:50):
Tom Up from An and Bob Labriola on the Training
Camp Report Labs of Mike Tomlin was speaking to the
media and we heard it. Last segment, he gave us
the update on Alex Highsmith, who left day's practice with
an injury. Uh, he didn't really have much of an update.
Then we're hoping we'll get one today after practice from coach.
It appeared to be a groin. He was doing some
one on one stuff and he kind of felt something funny,
(34:13):
so he pulled himself out. We hope that it's not
too serious. But that did open up the door for
mister Jack Sawyer to have himself a nice little practice
on Sunday in Highsmith's absence, didn't it.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Yeah, Jack Jack Sawyer really showed up, as the scouts
like to say, uh Sunday. I mean, he was a
you know, he's a big guy, and he was a
physical presence in a lot of those drills yesterday, you know,
the the tackle football drill, the goal line drill. You know.
(34:46):
You know, Jack Jack Sawyer, he I thought he had
his best practice. Now I only maybe I only think
so because I noticed him a lot. He did a
lot of noticeable things. Maybe he has had other practices
where you know, he was just doing what he was
supposed to do, you know, and there's nothing wrong with
(35:08):
that either. So but yeah, as a as a draft pick,
as a rookie, I think this guy is someone who
is going to have a role on this team, both
on defense and on special teams. And he looked good Sunday.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
And look, this guy can rush the passer. Okay, he
did that at Ohio State. He's one of the greatest
buck guys ever. He's a legend at that school. And
that's a tough, tough school to be a legend at.
But his size and what he can do in stopping
the run labs, I think is going to be a
real asset for this team. We saw last year when
the Steelers were a little bit smaller than the Ravens,
(35:45):
they struggled against Derrick Henry in that playoff game, in
that second game of the season last year. A guy
like Jack Sawyer can allow you to tap into that
depth while still not sacrificing the size.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah, Jack Sawyer listed you know almost six to four
and a half two hundred and fifty nine, two hundred
and sixty pounds. You know that that is a physical
presence on the edge there. There is a considerable responsibility
for those edge guys in the Steelers defense and playing
the run. And so, yeah, you don't want to be
(36:20):
just a you know, a light light in the backside
kind of guy who can get by with you know
speed off the edge to you know, run to the
quarterback because as you mentioned, you know, when you have
to play the Ravens, when you have to play the Bills,
you have to you have to be able to stay
in there, hold the point of attack and place stout
(36:44):
against the run. Jack Sawyer certainly has the physical makeup
for that. And you know, as I said, he showed
up on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, and that size and that physicality I think showed
up in Sunday's Backs on Backers when he was not
pushed around at all by Darnell Washington. In fact, as
you put it in your report, Labs, it was more
than a stalemate on more than one occasion in favor
of Jack Sawyer and Mount Washington has been somebody that's
been kind of like, you know, the final boss when
it comes to backs on backers, like who's going to
(37:14):
beat this guy? Who's going to get the best of
this guy? And I'm not saying Sawyer made him look bad,
but he had some traction.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Right, And that's you know, when you look at the
recent history of backs on backers, you know, Darnell Washington
kind of you know, made a name for himself in
getting stalemates with TJ. Watt when he was when Washington
was a rookie. And so now you're flipping around in Washington.
Darnell Washington is the I don't know, the gunslinger in
(37:44):
the in the group. You know what I mean in
terms of right you know, like you said, who's going
to beat this guy? And you know, Jack Sawyer held
his own and a lot of times in those kind
of drills, that's the way it starts. You start holding
your own and then should get more accustomed to it,
grow into it a little more in terms of understanding
(38:05):
the drill, how it works, and understanding the technique that
you need to use to be successful in it. You know,
you become even better at it.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Nick Herbig also factors into this equation when high Smith
or an edge rusher, one of the top two goes
down and knock on wood that they won't and Highsmith
comes back soon, but you know her Big, and this
is another advantage to Jack Sawyer coming onto the roster
labs is sometimes when Nick Herbig gets cast into a
more a role that requires more snaps, playing at least
(38:35):
against heavier personnel, I think he can wear down a
little bit more. And I'm not trying to, you know,
make light of him as a player, because his impact
in the role that he is in as kind of
that pass rush specialist is so great. He's played in
thirty games and he has eight and a half sacks.
He's got fourteen quarterback hits, and even that's a little
bit deceiving because his snap counts aren't, you know, in
(38:57):
the seventies eighty percent range like some other plays are.
In those thirty games, he's efficient almost beyond comprehension, and
I like that. You if Sawyer continues to progress well
and can get on the field, you can kind of
keep her Big in that similar role even if a
water heighsmith goes down.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Yeah, and you know, but you mentioned Nick Herbig you know,
doesn't play a lot of snaps compared to other players
at that position. But last year, you know, when Alex
Heismith had some injury issues, Herbig did play fifty percent
of the snaps, which you know, for a guy who
is not listed as a starter, that's that's that's fairly
(39:38):
significant total. I mean, you need a guy like him
to be as productive as you describe him for you know,
for the defense to work. If a guy's going to
play fifty percent of the snaps at an edge position,
which is probably the most important position on that Steelers
defense in terms of what you're looking for in terms
(39:58):
of production, you need you need him to put up
some stats, and Herbig has done that and I see
no reason why he won't continue.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Now, we obviously want Alex Hihsmith to get back healthy,
and before we hear from Nick Herbig after practice Sunday Labs,
I think Alex hig Smith is one of the more
underrated ed rushers in the NFL because he has impact
in games, sometimes more so than TJ. Watt does. That
Giants game on Monday Night Football last year. I know
Wat showed up all over the stat sheet, but I
(40:28):
just remember watching that game in fifty six was just
work and his man over and over and over again
and really causing havoc, and Watt was able to clean
up a lot of that stuff. I think the fact
that Watt is arguably the greatest defensive player in the
NFL right now kind of overshadows high Smith a little
bit when you know, people around the league look at
the Giant at the full scope of that position.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
Yeah, I won't disagree that he is maybe a little
bit overlooked, but I also think that he deserves credit
for being able to take advantage as a result of
some of the things opponents have to do to try
and minimize t J. Watt, because you know, the the
double teams, the chipping and all that kind of stuff.
(41:14):
The t J. Watt sees, Okay, so that happens. Now
you need somebody else on the in the group on
the field to maybe take advantage of some of the
opportunities that that, uh, the t J. Watt is kind
of creating for the rest of the unit out there
(41:35):
by drawing all that extra attention. So I'm not trying
to minimize what Alex high Smith is doing because of
the attention that t. J. Watt is getting. I'm pointing
out that that's exactly what you need from that other
guy when the other team chooses to emphasize you know,
(41:56):
one of your teammates.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Stewart's outside linebacker Nick her Big, spoke to the media
following Sunday's practice. Let's take a listen to what he
had to say. It's like the defensive intensity has picked
up every time you guys have put on ads. What's
been clicking well for you guys early?
Speaker 5 (42:12):
I think it's just like, you know, we're finally coming
into our own.
Speaker 6 (42:15):
We've got a lot of guys who play a.
Speaker 5 (42:17):
Lot of football on the defense, you know, a lot
of experience, So I think it's about time.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
For us to put on the show and someone how
much pride are you taking the fact you said two
seven chats periods, I think the defense one total twelve
to two. And how much pride do you guys take
in that as it?
Speaker 5 (42:31):
Yeah, I mean you can't overlook that too much, you know,
because that's what we're expected to do. Like we're the
Pittsburgh Steelers were the Steel Curtain. We play great defense,
you know, and that's the testament of the offense that
they're able to go against us all the time. So
I just iron and iron and we make each other
better every day.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
Then we hear outside linebackers all the time the sacks,
But how much do you enjoy the wrung.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
Stuff in you ass?
Speaker 5 (42:52):
But yeah, I mean there's no feeling, Don't get me wrong,
there's no feeling like a strip sack. But I take
great pride in the run game. You know, you can't
get a third down if you don't stop them on
first and second down. So I take great pride in that.
And coach Salmon less to mess with me, uh and
tell me I don't like to play the run, but
you know, I like to show them otherwise.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
It seems like you.
Speaker 6 (43:11):
Guys like I know it's just a week cost of practice,
but it seems like you guys are really kind of
suffocating the offensive time.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
So how do you feel like.
Speaker 6 (43:18):
You guys are actually coming along when it comes to
being right for the two?
Speaker 5 (43:21):
I mean it's hard to tell. You know, we're just
a weekend, two weeks in at that, so you know,
we're just out there getting to feel for each other.
You know, there's a lot of new guys and not
familiar faces, but.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
A lot of experience.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
Like I said, so we're just getting feel for each other.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Do you get a sense that the offense is getting
frustrated by how much you guys are shutting them down?
Speaker 5 (43:38):
No, I don't. I don't think so. I think it's
good on good you know, Uh, it's ones on ones,
twos on two, so it's always good on good, iron
on iron. We're making each other better every day.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Like, what's your advantage of flipping your guys around?
Speaker 5 (43:48):
And man, is that something that they can go to
see a lot? Oh, I can't give you the saws, man,
what about your TJ that you wut them out as
one would expect somebody to statue freeze, I'm more reps.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
For you guys.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
You guys feel like you're taking it here.
Speaker 5 (44:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (44:03):
I think it's not only good for me, but you
know the younger guys like Sawyer and Eku and Jules,
you know, those guys to get more reps, you know,
prepare them, you know.
Speaker 5 (44:14):
So I think it's great. I'm all around and TJ's
like another coach out there. I mean, obviously we all
know what he does on Sunday, so it's good.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
And Yesterday don't.
Speaker 6 (44:23):
Know how to do thatch down and I think name
seven or Yesterday chapter seven tons in that, So like,
how do you cover a guy like Darnet?
Speaker 3 (44:31):
How atensive Tack?
Speaker 5 (44:33):
I mean personally, I don't cover Darnell, so I wouldn't know.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Nick Herbig always gives a great interview. That was him
following Sunday's practice, Steelers will be back at it today
after a day off yesterday, one fifty five start time
for practice up at La Trope. We still got a
lot to get to in our second hour, labs can
walk us through the practice script. Let you know what
you're gonna be seeing at Steelers practice today. John Colbe's
gonna join us a little bit later to end the show.
So excited for that, and we're gonna hear from Dealers
(45:00):
inside linebacker Patrick Queen. Listening to the Training Camp Report
with Tom ob Ferment and Bob Labriola on Fox Sports
Pittsburgh nine seventy am and the Steelers Audio Network
Iheartradios Live coverage Job twenty twenty five Steelers Training Camp
is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next, and also
brought to you by First National Bank, by Klucy Chevrolet,
iron Workers' Union Number Three, by Easy Home Exteriors, by
S ANDT Bank, Remax Select Realty, by Don's Appliances, the
(00:30):
Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Shop, by Always Safe Flagging and Traffic Control,
and by US Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
The Steelers are back in action today at Saint Vincent
College after having a day off yesterday. That means myself,
Tom Opferman and Bob Larriola had a day off of
the training camp. Report too happy to be back with
you today, though, Labs, I missed you, But it's good
that we got a little bit of a gift for
us Returning to the airwaves today, the Pittsburgh Steelers put
a nice little depth chart under our tree. Was it
(01:00):
that very nice of them?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, yeah, it's it's it's tradition. I mean, well, it's
actually part of the rules.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
They have to get it right.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, yeah, the NFL requires, you know, press releases before
every every game preseason, regular season, postseason, and so you know,
the press release typically goes out two days before the
preseason game or the Tuesday before you know. Uh, and
(01:29):
so yeah, the depth chart is part of that release.
The release went out at nine o'clock and so we
got a depth chart.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But this isn't a depth chart that people shouldn't, you know,
treat like it's written in stone. Far from it. Mike
Tomlin may have some input on this, but this isn't
anything that he's too. No, he has none on this.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
No, no, no, some input. No, I would go the
other way all of the.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Input on this, but this is nothing that again that
he's holding himself to. This is just something that he
has to go through, right.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
I understand, Well, yes he does it, but it is
you know he he personally okays every line of it.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Anything that kind of surprised you.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I mean, it's it's you know, it's a very kind
of typical for this time of the year. I mean,
you know, we've seen anybody who's been at practice or
listen to us or I mean, a lot of this
stuff is you know, in terms of the starters, it's obvious.
I mean we've been seeing it every day at practice.
(02:40):
And then when you get beyond that, a lot of
times backups and stuff were organized by how much experience
they have in the leg or how much experience they
have with the Steelers, or you know, when you get
in the case of rookies, they're prioritized by where we're on,
where they drafted in, you know that kind of stuff.
(03:00):
So you know, the starters again are what we've been
seeing every day, and then the other things. Really it's
not necessarily reflective of how the rosters are going to
be cut when they go down to fifty three. I
think it's August twenty second. Maybe I'll have to look
(03:24):
that up and I'll get that exact date for you.
But yeah, so like for example, when you're looking at
the offensive lineman or the defensive backs. You know, a
guy who's listed a third team defensive back right now,
that doesn't really mean anything. And the other thing that
the depth chart does not include at all or special
(03:47):
teams beyond you know, the kickers and the return guys.
So if you're a you know, if you're a Danny
Smith Corps special teams guy, let's just pretend. Okay, just
picking up a name here, James Pierre is listed as
the number three right cornerback. Well, I mean when the
(04:08):
rosters get cut. You know, James Pierre's value on kick
coverage teams is not reflected in this depth chart, So
that's that's another factor. But it's a nice guide. I mean,
you know, gives us something to talk about, which is
the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It does, And there's a couple of things that I
do take away from it. I always like seeing those oars,
you know what I mean, like the Pat Friarmuth or
John new Smith. Speaking of which labs, it's interesting to
see that there's two slots for tight ends on the
Steelers depth chart. You have Darnell listed as a starter
and then you have John new Smith or Pat Fryarmouth
listed as a starter as well. That kind of hints
(04:46):
that they're going to live in twelve personnel a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah. I mean they also got a fullback to list it, right, Yeah.
So yeah, I mean there's as I said, there's a
lot of thing is on here that you either have
to fill out based on what the NFL rules are,
and you know you also kind of get to you know,
(05:11):
throw some things out there. Again, back on defense, you know,
there's twelve twelve slots for quote unquote starters, so the
Steelers list their three four regular defense and then they
thrown a nickelback, so you know what the nickel is
going to look like when the nickelback is actually in
(05:31):
or the guy that you're listing as the nickelback, would
you would assume that he is in in the game
is not necessarily you know this this configuration. There's just
so many personnel groupings in different situational things that go
on in the NFL today that you know, you can't
(05:52):
really account for all of the different all of the
different ones. Here's another one that kind of I don't
understand it or I'm not really paying too much attention
to it. Hy A Black is the number three nose tackle.
(06:12):
I mean, I thought he's been having some pretty good
practices here. I don't think he's number three. But he's
a rookie, and so you know, the only rookie. There's
only one rookie among the starters, right, that's Derek Carmon.
So I think the Ya Black number three nose tackle
thing is just kind of you're a rookie and you're
(06:34):
paying your dues. I mean, they're not gonna put you,
you know, keep you hungry, keep you guessing that's a long, long,
long time standard football coach tactic.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Similar thinking. Maybe when it comes to Caleb Johnson and
where he falls on this first step chart, the rookie
running back landed at third string running back behind Kenny
g and second string and Jalen Warren as the starter.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, I mean, and that's another to me package situation,
offensive package, situation, personnel grouping. I think Kenny g is
going to be the third down back. So but if
the Steelers are in first and second down football, so
(07:18):
to speak, and they take Jalen Warren out, I think
it'll be Caleb Johnson. So that's where the depth chart
kind of can be deceiving because it doesn't mean that
Kenneth Gainwell is the second running back into the game
in all situations. You know, again, a depth chart really
(07:42):
cannot account for all of the different variations. The thing
that you can usually count on, you know, is the
offensive line. That is usually a pretty good representation. You
have the starters. Who are the starters, Broderick Jones, a Ciamalu,
Zach Frasier, Mason McCormick, and Troy fo Otano. Okay, that's
(08:05):
your starting offensive line. When everyone's healthy. And then I
think it's also somewhat revealing the second team offensive line
because a lot of times at practice here the lines
will go in. They go in as units. You know.
(08:25):
Offensive line isn't like wide receiver where you have personnel
packages and you're changing them based on down in distance,
play call what you're expecting from the opponent.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Right, it's like a full line change in HOTE when
you do the line.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yes so and that group left to right, Calvin Anderson,
Spencer Anderson, Ryan McCollum, Max Sharping, and Dylan Cook. So
I think that you can kind of look at those
guys as your backup alignment. Now that represents ten players.
Are they going to keep ten on the fifty three
(09:01):
meion roster? I don't know. I would doubt it. So,
you know, even all of those names aren't necessarily you know,
put them in, put write them in, and ink in
the fifty three men roster thing.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
If you want to take a look at the Steelers
first depth chart for your own eyes, go to Steelers
dot com. It's published there right now, labs. We did
have a practice on Sunday. It was the third padded
practice for the Steelers. It was family day. We talked
before that practice on our training camp report that there's
gonna be a little bit of extra juice probably in
the air because of the families being there. Well, boy,
the defense seemed to be drinking up all that juice,
(09:37):
and that seems to be a thing in recent practices
with the Steelers, is the dominance from the defense. We
usually like to start with seven shots, and it was
a six to one win for that side of the ball.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah, the defense was Excuse me, the defense had the
better of the play, I thought throughout the day. And
I also thought it was interesting that seven shots the
only it was a six to one win for the defense,
and the one that the touchdown that they scored was
a running play. So the three quarterbacks who participated, Aaron Rodgers,
(10:13):
Mason Rudolph and Will Howard were oh for five passing,
you know, And there were a couple three of those
oh for passing situations where there was nobody open. So,
I mean, it's not a lot of times. The assumption
is if Aaron Rodgers, as an example, goes oh for
(10:36):
three and seven shots, well he was off target or no.
I mean, there was one that was a miscommunication with
Ben Scronic and we saw a little bit of Aaron
Rodgers's I won't say temper because it wasn't that, but
he was displeased because he threw the ball. You know,
(10:56):
the ball was out of his hand before the route
was completed, and nic didn't go where Rogers threw the ball.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
He's a stickler, Labs. We talked about that.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I understand that. And as I've said I said before,
and I'll say it again here right now, I love that. Yeah,
I love that. So and then you know, Mason Rudolph
also had some instances where you know, holding the ball,
holding the ball, looking looking looking looking, and then you
just kind of throw it away. So the defense, this
(11:27):
defense could be really special beyond I think what we
have seen here in Pittsburgh for the previous few seasons.
I mean, there have been times, you know, even going
back to twenty twenty two, when the Steelers won some
games with good defense and complementary offense being kind, I mean,
(11:53):
this defense could even be better than a lot of
those units that were you know, winning games or closing
out games or you know, holding onto leads, taking the
ball away, setting up the offense. I mean, we'll have
to see how the takeaway things go in terms of
numbers and the timing of them and where the offense
(12:17):
ends up with the ball after those takeaways. But I
don't know this this defense is. It's been pretty impressive,
I think, on a pretty consistent basis out here.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
We also had our first installment of goal line during
Sunday's practice. Just like seven shots, they have seven plays
at the goal line. And one thing that was of
note LABS was who was lining up at fullback. He
didn't enter into the equation at fullback and the Steelers
initial depth chart release today, but a number ninety three
inside linebacker Mark Robinson had his hand in the dirt
(12:49):
when it came to the offense, didn't he.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, And it was interesting because you know, in practice,
offense wears white, defense wears gold. And so you know,
I noticed because I was looking in the huddle to see,
you know, as the drill was forming before the first
snap of goal line, I was looking to see, you know,
(13:13):
what the personnel grouping was, because I was wondering if
Arthur Smith was going to go run heavy, you know,
try and establish you know, a physical kind of mindset
slash presence down near the goal line for the offense.
So I had the binoculars on and I'm looking and
I see a guy wearing a white jersey number ninety three,
and I thought, well, there is no number ninety three
(13:34):
in white on the roster. Number ninety three in gold
is Mark Robinson, who played running back in college before
he switched the linebacker for his last season at Mississippi. So,
you know, and I noticed there was a little bit
of extra talking to him going on in the huddle.
(13:54):
You know, I can only assume that it was, you know,
making sure he knew where to line up right, sure
he knew, you know, what his assignment was, you know,
those kind of things. You know. He came off the
ball and made blocks both times, but it didn't matter
in terms of the offense getting the ball in the
end zone. And I'm not saying it was Mark Robinson's fault.
(14:18):
I just mean, you know, sometimes the assumption is, well,
all they need to do is put a fullback in
run behind the fullback in a goal to go situation
and you get in the end zone. Well maybe you
do on some against some units, but I mean this,
the Steelers defense is just not having it. I mean,
(14:38):
and Cam Hayward did not participate. T J. Watt did
not participate. Alex Heismith did not participate at this point
because he had felt something in his growing a growing
muscle situation. So, you know, and I mentioned why Black
he was part of that, as was Derrick Harmon, Keanu Benton.
(15:04):
You know, these guys are they're playing some pretty good
run defense, and you know that has a lot to
do with why what I was saying earlier about this
unit showing me a lot of potential for being extra special.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, and you know it's obviously people tend to maybe
gravitate towards the worry side of the fence and say, oh,
what's going on with the offense? What's going on with
the offense? But I really think the main factor is
what you were laying out there is just that you're
looking at one of the better defenses in the NFL,
A defense that for the most part has been together
for years now at a time. New piece is obviously
(15:39):
being inserted, important new pieces, but there's a lot of
cohesion already on that defense, and these guys are blending
in almost seamlessly. It seems there's talent through the roof. Obviously,
big time names, superstar players. I mean, it's just kind
of the way it goes, where the defense is ahead
of the offense to begin the football season anyway, and
this defense is gonna be, as you've put it, extra
(16:00):
special or we hope, so.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, and the defense is looking to impress both individually
in terms of individual players and you know, as units,
so they have they have a lot of skin in
the game as well. And who knows what kind of
side situations were going on in terms of who won
(16:25):
the drill or who made the tackles or you know whatever.
I don't know what was you know, for dinner on
family day, But I don't think anybody you know got
stuck eating franks and beans because their side lost the
drill in the practice.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Wouldn't that be extra gutting if you had to give
your family like franks and beans to like I'm sorry, honey.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that would be tough. But you know,
some a lot of those guys on defense, you know,
Jan Thornhill and Jalen Ramsey, and you know, they're new guys,
but they're very very much into the whole emotion and
trying to be impressive in practice, and you know, they're
(17:06):
exhorting each other, and they like to talk trash to
the other guys, and so you know, they have a
lot of emotion that they're carrying into these drills too.
So you know, again, yeah, this is a pretty good defense.
That's that's I'm gonna stick with that theme.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
We got some more observations from this practice that we'll
get to throughout this first hour of the show. We're
gonna hear from coach Mike Tomlin and his thoughts about
Sunday's practice when we come back. But one last thing
I wanted to touch on before we take our break. Labs,
Cam Hayward TJ Watt. They were both dressed in pads
during this practice, but as you noted in your practice report,
neither really participated much. And then Pat Fayrearmuth was given
(17:48):
the day off completely.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yes, and then you know Alex Heismith.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And unfortunately, yes, yes, the injury.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah, hopefully we'll get some good news about that after
practice today for Mike Tomlin. But you know that a
groin injury is what kind of I won't say ruined
Alex Heigsmith's season last year, but certainly kept him out
of you know, several games.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, slowed him down, I'd say, because boy he was healthy,
he was so impactful.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Yes, And you know that just emphasizes puts an exclamation
point on the need for quality depth. And you know,
Nick Herby could probably be starting for a lot of
teams on the edge. He is the guy who would be,
you know, first off the bench if Alex Heismith is
out for any kind of lengphant time.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We'll hear from Mike Tomlin next, and we'll also hear
from Bob Labriola and his weather report. If you're headed
up to camp practice today, we'll give you the lowdown
on what you can expect weather wise. It's Tom Opferman,
It's Bob Labriola, It's the Training Camp Report on Fox
Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Network, Iheartradios Live coverage Job Not twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next
and also brought to you by First National Bank, by
Kalucy Chevrolet, iron Workers Union Number Three, by Easy Home
(19:21):
Exteriors by S ANDT Bank, Remax Select Realty, by Don's Appliances.
The Pittsburgh Steelers pro Shop, by Always Safte Flagging and
traffic control and by us steel.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Labsley had a little bit of a rocky start when
it comes to the weather, but it's been picture perfect
for the past few practices for the Steelers. What's today
gott in store. We're going to keep that hot streak alive.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Well, you know how the weather forecast was pretty much
leather rense repete when we first got out here. Only
it was miserable. It was miserable every day. You know,
it was always hot and humid, chance of flowers, showers
and thunders.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Show right practices, ending early practices, moving to the gym,
it was chaoss well.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
And it was miserable. Miserable is the word that I
would use, because it was a situation where, you know,
a lot of times when it's hot and humid and
it rains sometimes that cools things off. During that stretch,
it was hot and humid and then it rained and
that just made it steamier. So but now we're in
the same kind of leather rints for pete cycle. But
(20:27):
it's pleasant. For example, right now it's eighty one degrees
and it's you know, the humidity is low forty five percent.
It's you know, it's nice walking around. I mean you
can when you're walking around outside, even when you're you know,
if you have a distance to walk in the sun,
I mean, you don't feel like a piece of bacon
(20:49):
in the pan. It's just it's not. It's very nice
again today, so you know that the high temperature today
is supposed to be eighty four degrees, mostly sunny. The
sky is really pretty, as I mentioned, the humidity is low,
and we're in a pattern now, you know, looking at
(21:09):
the National Weather Service website, it's it's pretty much the same,
you know, sunny and clear eighties through the weekend. So
you know it's gonna get a little hotter here Saturday
and Sunday. But there's no practice either one of them.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I was gonna say, we don't need it to go
through the weekend, just these next few days, right.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
I mean, Saturday is the preseason opener, Sunday is there
is the player's day off. So I mean, you know,
we'll have to see what the next week brings. You know,
who knows, maybe the weather, Mother Nature will bookend us
with you know, hot and humid and rain to start
and end this training camp. But right now we're in
a great weather pattern. Get outside and enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
And of course, did you bring your umbrella with you?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
I did not. Okay, I'm not brought my umbrella for
a few days now.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And remind me again, that's the thing that you do,
right if you don't bring it then, or if you
bring it, it's guaranteed to rain, or what's what's.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
The Oh, if I bring it, it doesn't rain.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Okay, So we are tempting the gods a little bit there,
But yeah, but it looks like we're clear.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Yeah, but this is this is not even this is
not even a close. There's no chance and they're not
listing any chance of precipitation at all for the next
few days. I mean I was even reading that this
is the longest stretch of no rain since November twenty
twenty four. So yeah, we're in a nice cycle right here.
(22:37):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
We're gonna hear from Mike Tomlin in just a second,
but before we do labs. One thing that can always
be such a theme throughout training camp is when guys
have a veteran days off or players do unfortunately come
up injured, you can have players take that opportunity and
run with it. And that's something that Mike Tomlin's really
looking at here, right is Yeah, it's the back of
(22:59):
his head. He's like, uh, I really need Heismith to
get back, or man, it stinks that Corey Trice keeps
getting hurt, or Joey Porter Junior needs to get him
back on the practice field. But he's also looking at
the opportunity for some of the guys deeper on his
depth charts to get thrown into some deep waters against
some great competition and see if they can swim or not.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, because you know, you're not going to get through
a season without injuries. You're just not. And a lot
of these guys who are quote unquote backups at training
camp or working with a second team, or however you
want to describe them, they're going to make the roster
and they're gonna be in a situation where if the
player in front of them is injured, they're going to
(23:37):
have to go in and play, and there's not going
to be a whole lot of you know, time to
prepare or work up to it or any of that stuff.
I mean, a guy gets injured on a Sunday, you
know you might be up playing a significant amount of
snaps the next game, which could be as early as Thursday.
So this is you know, good practice for them to
(23:58):
you know, get on the field with some of the
people that they may have to be on the field with,
you know, when the games really count. And it's not
only for example, I mean pick a guy you brought
up high Smith, so Nick Herbig, Now he plays a
lot anyway, but we're just using this as an example.
So Nick Krbig gets a chance to run with the
(24:21):
ones for a significant amount of time at training camp
when Alex Highsmith is injured in camp practice out here.
So you have a situation where not only is Nick
Herbig getting you know, a chance to acclimate himself to
that position with that group, but the rest of the
(24:44):
group is also getting a chance to acclimate themselves with
Nick Herbig because you know, it is an eleven man
thing situation, and if you want to be successful either
offensively or defensively, I mean, it has to operate as
a unit, and so those things go both ways. You know.
(25:04):
We often think about it as you know, next man up,
that's the guy who has to adjust and you know,
fit in. But it's also the other ten guys who
have to adjust and fit in with him, So you know,
it's an opportunity. It works both ways. You don't like
to see injuries, but they are inevitable. There's no team
(25:29):
ever in the history that has ever gone through an
entire season without, you know, losing players to injury. It's
just that's the nature of the sport played at this level.
So yeah, you can look at it either way, either
an opportunity for a guy or an opportunity for the
other ten to kind of get their stuff together out here.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Mike Tomlin always stops buying chats with the media on
his way off the practice field. Let's hear what he
had to say following Sunday's practice.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Man, a really big day, kind of the cold Nation
of a big week for us. This second week of
team development. You take significant steps in a lot of areas,
hopefully you're minimizing some self inflicted wombs, and you start
to see some playmaking not based on what others don't do,
but based on the quality of performance. And so we
saw some signs of that. It's been a good week.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
You know.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
We bring the week to a close with some significant football,
some short yarded, some goal line appreciate the efforts and energy.
We'll comb through the tape and just continue to work
to get better.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Man.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
We've been appreciative of the presence of the NFL referees here.
That's also a component of Week two, you know, just
playing clean, not only in terms of penalties, but pre
snap cleanliness on offense and respecting the neutral zone, etc.
On defense, And so we appreciate those guys. It's the
preseason for the officials as well. Their presence benefits us,
(26:55):
but just from communicating with those guys, they need the
prep as well, and so we're thankful for that partnership.
So bumps and bruises associated with play, but we had
a lot of guys getting back to action today, particularly
in the offensive line. Some of those guys were full
participants that have been partial participants, which is good as
we lean in on next week and get ready to
(27:16):
step into a stadium, man, we're going to need everyone.
Everyone's gonna need an opportunity to show what they're capable of.
And certainly we wait in stadium performances a little heavier
than some of the stuff that we be that we
see out here, and so excited about some of that.
The only new injury to mention Alex Heighsmith didn't finish.
Don't know the severity of it. Over here in the
(27:37):
one on one pass rush, he stopped. He said he
felt his maybe is growing. But we'll evaluate it and
I'll be more definitive next time we talk not only
about the injury, but the significance of it. I'll pause
and open up for questions.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Mike, you mentioned that you're starting to see plays.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
What do you think is leading to that?
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Just timing, guys getting to know each other.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Yeah, it's it's a process. That's why we come to
locations like this. Physical repetition required not only in terms
of developed individual skill, but collective cohesion. And the second
weekend you're starting to feel some of those things. And
when you do, that's when you get an opportunity to
see the talent. Let the talent be the deciding factor.
(28:19):
And that's and that's what we aspired to get to today.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
When did ninety three at full back to his resume.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
You know he played he played running back in college.
Those of you that are familiar with his resume, and
so it's not a it's not a completely foreign act.
We just want to give him a look at it
and see what it looked like. Maybe we'll do some
more in the future with him, Maybe we'll do some
more with some others. The more versatile you are, it
adds to your calls and it asks the hours.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I guess I was more so asked when did you
guys decide to try? And there's enough seeing them spear
guys and backs on backers. He decided, I'm not gonna
join you in that spear work.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Anyone else?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Did you have a ninety three in white waiting or
did you have to have one especially made.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
For I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it.
I know it's probably pretty interesting, but we just gave
him a couple of snaps.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
What about Mason in the role he's accepted and done?
Speaker 3 (29:06):
How do you see him doing his campaign?
Speaker 4 (29:09):
You know, Mason's been a team player man. We're familiar
with him his his second time here. He's always a
hand in the pole guy. He's always working to compete
and get better as well, and so I appreciate his
ability to balance those things.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin following Sunday's practice and labs, he
hit on the offense in a little bit of a
struggle that we've seen early in this camp, and he said,
basically what we've been saying. It's a timing thing and
it's just stuff that you have to work through and
it's all about repetition with that side of the ball.
And that increases a little bit this year with the
quarterback being all about that timing and everything being so precise.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah, and you know it's a natural thing, you know,
for when you're trying to put together a football team
that it takes the offense longer to kind of you know,
come together and look like it functioning on all cylinders
because you know, on defense, you can win a lot
(30:05):
of downs, you know, just by for example, if it's
a pass play and you're playing on defense, you don't
have to do any more than you know, make it
force an incompletion. Uh. And there's a lot less that
goes into that than completing the pass, if you understand
(30:29):
what I mean. Like, on offense, you need, you know,
good protection, the quarterback has to make the correct and
proper throw, and then the receiver has to get open
right and then you know, catch the ball. On defense,
if you can mess up any one of those aspects,
of it right. You you made, you did the job
(30:52):
on that play, so you know you can see how
or why sometimes it takes the offense a little bit longer,
you know, to come together because there are a lot
of things that have to be working and they have
to all kind of work together.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And that's why they're at training camp, as Mike Tomlin said,
to get those reps under their belt. And he also
noted how you know, we're looking at that in stadium
performance just on the horizon with them going to Jacksonville
on Saturday, and the weight that they put into that
kind of film and that kind of tape. More so
what they see out at training camp. You know, some
(31:28):
of those players should really start to feel that this week,
like this is a big opportunity to maybe I'm not
trying to be dramatic here, but you further down on
that roster to change your life.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Yes, I mean, and it is, you know, because there's
a lot of things that go into it, just in
terms of the evaluation. I mean, they're the coaches will
be looking to see, you know, which guys rise to
the occasion kind of you know, when the lights go on,
to use a cliche, which guys do not, which guys
show that they belong, which guys kind of don't. In
(32:01):
addition to then the performance per play and within their
position group, and then within the whole unit. So a
lot of these things, and especially for the new guys
and the young guys, you know, they're being evaluated the
whole experience. You know, are you are you ready to
go into the game from the sideline when your unit
(32:24):
is called, If you're part of a personnel group, are
you standing there, you know, ready with your helmet on,
so that whatever they call, you know, thirteen personnel or
you know, whatever it might be, you know what who
you're supposed to be with and when you're supposed to
be on the field, and you get out there in
a timely manner because the forty second clock is a factor.
(32:45):
You know, the play clocks are not an issue usually
at training camp. So you know, there's a lot of
other things that are being evaluated once you get to
the preseason games, and that's why they come more.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
We'll get more into Alex highsmith injury when we come back,
and the trickle down effect who stepped up in his
absence from that edge rushing position group. We'll also hear
from Steelers Ed Rusher Nick Herbig. That's all on the
way on the Training Camp Reports on Fox Sports Pittsburgh
nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Network Iheartradios Live Coverage Job Dot twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp. He is presented by FedEx where Now meets
Next and also brought to you by bud Light, Independence
Health System by Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino,
(33:36):
Calciente Pizza and Draft House by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto,
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, we Max Select Realty, the Pittsburgh
Steelers Pro Shop and by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Tom Up from An and Bob Labriola on the Training
Camp Report Labs of Mike Tomlin was speaking to the
media and we heard it. Last segment, he gave us
the update on Alex Highsmith, who left day's practice with
an injury. Uh, he didn't really have much of an update.
Then we're hoping we'll get one today after practice from coach.
It appeared to be a groin. He was doing some
one on one stuff and he kind of felt something funny,
(34:13):
so he pulled himself out. We hope that it's not
too serious. But that did open up the door for
mister Jack Sawyer to have himself a nice little practice
on Sunday in Highsmith's absence, didn't it.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Yeah, Jack Jack Sawyer really showed up, as the scouts
like to say, uh Sunday. I mean, he was a
you know, he's a big guy, and he was a
physical presence in a lot of those drills yesterday, you know,
the the tackle football drill, the goal line drill. You know.
(34:46):
You know, Jack Jack Sawyer, he I thought he had
his best practice. Now I only maybe I only think
so because I noticed him a lot. He did a
lot of noticeable things. Maybe he has had other practices
where you know, he was just doing what he was
supposed to do, you know, and there's nothing wrong with
(35:08):
that either. So but yeah, as a as a draft pick,
as a rookie, I think this guy is someone who
is going to have a role on this team, both
on defense and on special teams. And he looked good Sunday.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
And look, this guy can rush the passer. Okay, he
did that at Ohio State. He's one of the greatest
buck guys ever. He's a legend at that school. And
that's a tough, tough school to be a legend at.
But his size and what he can do in stopping
the run labs, I think is going to be a
real asset for this team. We saw last year when
the Steelers were a little bit smaller than the Ravens,
(35:45):
they struggled against Derrick Henry in that playoff game, in
that second game of the season last year. A guy
like Jack Sawyer can allow you to tap into that
depth while still not sacrificing the size.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Yeah, Jack Sawyer listed you know almost six to four
and a half two hundred and fifty nine, two hundred
and sixty pounds. You know that that is a physical
presence on the edge there. There is a considerable responsibility
for those edge guys in the Steelers defense and playing
the run. And so, yeah, you don't want to be
(36:20):
just a you know, a light light in the backside
kind of guy who can get by with you know
speed off the edge to you know, run to the
quarterback because as you mentioned, you know, when you have
to play the Ravens, when you have to play the Bills,
you have to you have to be able to stay
in there, hold the point of attack and place stout
(36:44):
against the run. Jack Sawyer certainly has the physical makeup
for that. And you know, as I said, he showed
up on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Yeah, and that size and that physicality I think showed
up in Sunday's Backs on Backers when he was not
pushed around at all by Darnell Washington. In fact, as
you put it in your report, Labs, it was more
than a stalemate on more than one occasion in favor
of Jack Sawyer and Mount Washington has been somebody that's
been kind of like, you know, the final boss when
it comes to backs on backers, like who's going to
(37:14):
beat this guy? Who's going to get the best of
this guy? And I'm not saying Sawyer made him look bad,
but he had some traction.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Right, And that's you know, when you look at the
recent history of backs on backers, you know, Darnell Washington
kind of you know, made a name for himself in
getting stalemates with TJ. Watt when he was when Washington
was a rookie. And so now you're flipping around in Washington.
Darnell Washington is the I don't know, the gunslinger in
(37:44):
the in the group. You know what I mean in
terms of right you know, like you said, who's going
to beat this guy? And you know, Jack Sawyer held
his own and a lot of times in those kind
of drills, that's the way it starts. You start holding
your own and then should get more accustomed to it,
grow into it a little more in terms of understanding
(38:05):
the drill, how it works, and understanding the technique that
you need to use to be successful in it. You know,
you become even better at it.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Nick Herbig also factors into this equation when high Smith
or an edge rusher, one of the top two goes
down and knock on wood that they won't and Highsmith
comes back soon, but you know her Big, and this
is another advantage to Jack Sawyer coming onto the roster
labs is sometimes when Nick Herbig gets cast into a
more a role that requires more snaps, playing at least
(38:35):
against heavier personnel, I think he can wear down a
little bit more. And I'm not trying to, you know,
make light of him as a player, because his impact
in the role that he is in as kind of
that pass rush specialist is so great. He's played in
thirty games and he has eight and a half sacks.
He's got fourteen quarterback hits, and even that's a little
bit deceiving because his snap counts aren't, you know, in
(38:57):
the seventies eighty percent range like some other plays are.
In those thirty games, he's efficient almost beyond comprehension, and
I like that. You if Sawyer continues to progress well
and can get on the field, you can kind of
keep her Big in that similar role even if a
water heighsmith goes down.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Yeah, and you know, but you mentioned Nick Herbig you know,
doesn't play a lot of snaps compared to other players
at that position. But last year, you know, when Alex
Heismith had some injury issues, Herbig did play fifty percent
of the snaps, which you know, for a guy who
is not listed as a starter, that's that's that's fairly
(39:38):
significant total. I mean, you need a guy like him
to be as productive as you describe him for you know,
for the defense to work. If a guy's going to
play fifty percent of the snaps at an edge position,
which is probably the most important position on that Steelers
defense in terms of what you're looking for in terms
(39:58):
of production, you need you need him to put up
some stats, and Herbig has done that and I see
no reason why he won't continue.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Now, we obviously want Alex Hihsmith to get back healthy,
and before we hear from Nick Herbig after practice Sunday Labs,
I think Alex hig Smith is one of the more
underrated ed rushers in the NFL because he has impact
in games, sometimes more so than TJ. Watt does. That
Giants game on Monday Night Football last year. I know
Wat showed up all over the stat sheet, but I
(40:28):
just remember watching that game in fifty six was just
work and his man over and over and over again
and really causing havoc, and Watt was able to clean
up a lot of that stuff. I think the fact
that Watt is arguably the greatest defensive player in the
NFL right now kind of overshadows high Smith a little
bit when you know, people around the league look at
the Giant at the full scope of that position.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
Yeah, I won't disagree that he is maybe a little
bit overlooked, but I also think that he deserves credit
for being able to take advantage as a result of
some of the things opponents have to do to try
and minimize t J. Watt, because you know, the the
double teams, the chipping and all that kind of stuff.
(41:14):
The t J. Watt sees, Okay, so that happens. Now
you need somebody else on the in the group on
the field to maybe take advantage of some of the
opportunities that that, uh, the t J. Watt is kind
of creating for the rest of the unit out there
(41:35):
by drawing all that extra attention. So I'm not trying
to minimize what Alex high Smith is doing because of
the attention that t. J. Watt is getting. I'm pointing
out that that's exactly what you need from that other
guy when the other team chooses to emphasize you know,
(41:56):
one of your teammates.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Stewart's outside linebacker Nick her Big, spoke to the media
following Sunday's practice. Let's take a listen to what he
had to say. It's like the defensive intensity has picked
up every time you guys have put on ads. What's
been clicking well for you guys early?
Speaker 5 (42:12):
I think it's just like, you know, we're finally coming
into our own.
Speaker 6 (42:15):
We've got a lot of guys who play a.
Speaker 5 (42:17):
Lot of football on the defense, you know, a lot
of experience, So I think it's about time.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
For us to put on the show and someone how
much pride are you taking the fact you said two
seven chats periods, I think the defense one total twelve
to two. And how much pride do you guys take
in that as it?
Speaker 5 (42:31):
Yeah, I mean you can't overlook that too much, you know,
because that's what we're expected to do. Like we're the
Pittsburgh Steelers were the Steel Curtain. We play great defense,
you know, and that's the testament of the offense that
they're able to go against us all the time. So
I just iron and iron and we make each other
better every day.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
Then we hear outside linebackers all the time the sacks,
But how much do you enjoy the wrung.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
Stuff in you ass?
Speaker 5 (42:52):
But yeah, I mean there's no feeling, Don't get me wrong,
there's no feeling like a strip sack. But I take
great pride in the run game. You know, you can't
get a third down if you don't stop them on
first and second down. So I take great pride in that.
And coach Salmon less to mess with me, uh and
tell me I don't like to play the run, but
you know, I like to show them otherwise.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
It seems like you.
Speaker 6 (43:11):
Guys like I know it's just a week cost of practice,
but it seems like you guys are really kind of
suffocating the offensive time.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
So how do you feel like.
Speaker 6 (43:18):
You guys are actually coming along when it comes to
being right for the two?
Speaker 5 (43:21):
I mean it's hard to tell. You know, we're just
a weekend, two weeks in at that, so you know,
we're just out there getting to feel for each other.
You know, there's a lot of new guys and not
familiar faces, but.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
A lot of experience.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
Like I said, so we're just getting feel for each other.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Do you get a sense that the offense is getting
frustrated by how much you guys are shutting them down?
Speaker 5 (43:38):
No, I don't. I don't think so. I think it's
good on good you know, Uh, it's ones on ones,
twos on two, so it's always good on good, iron
on iron. We're making each other better every day.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Like, what's your advantage of flipping your guys around?
Speaker 5 (43:48):
And man, is that something that they can go to
see a lot? Oh, I can't give you the saws, man,
what about your TJ that you wut them out as
one would expect somebody to statue freeze, I'm more reps.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
For you guys.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
You guys feel like you're taking it here.
Speaker 5 (44:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (44:03):
I think it's not only good for me, but you
know the younger guys like Sawyer and Eku and Jules,
you know, those guys to get more reps, you know,
prepare them, you know.
Speaker 5 (44:14):
So I think it's great. I'm all around and TJ's
like another coach out there. I mean, obviously we all
know what he does on Sunday, so it's good.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
And Yesterday don't.
Speaker 6 (44:23):
Know how to do thatch down and I think name
seven or Yesterday chapter seven tons in that, So like,
how do you cover a guy like Darnet?
Speaker 3 (44:31):
How atensive Tack?
Speaker 5 (44:33):
I mean personally, I don't cover Darnell, so I wouldn't know.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Nick Herbig always gives a great interview. That was him
following Sunday's practice, Steelers will be back at it today
after a day off yesterday, one fifty five start time
for practice up at La Trope. We still got a
lot to get to in our second hour, labs can
walk us through the practice script. Let you know what
you're gonna be seeing at Steelers practice today. John Colbe's
gonna join us a little bit later to end the show.
So excited for that, and we're gonna hear from Dealers
(45:00):
inside linebacker Patrick Queen. Listening to the Training Camp Report
with Tom ob Ferment and Bob Labriola on Fox Sports
Pittsburgh nine seventy am and the Steelers Audio Network
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