August 7, 2025 • 43 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's tom on froman on the training camp report. Let's
go right to the podium where Mike Tomlin is addressing
the media before the preseason opener against Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Things regarding the game and just in general our mindset
and plans for the weekend, and kind of stated the
union as we get into our first preseason game action.
We've acquired a couple veteran players. We've suffered some attrition
in this process. Like most people, Logan Woodside. We acquired
(00:29):
at quarterback. He's no stranger to the NFL. He's had
a past relationship with Arthur Smith. Given the circumstances with
Will Howard, we thought that that was appropriate. He'll be
a quick study. We'll work hard over the next forty
eight hours, and he'll certainly we'll have game availability. Whether
or not he plays remains to be seen, but that
(00:50):
was the intention. We're acquired Pete in the offensive line.
He is a versatile veteran. He has played both guard
and tackle. We've absorbed some attrition in those spaces, and
so you know, a grizzly veteran with multi positional experience
as an asset. And so we've got those two guys
you'll see those guys on the practice field today, they
walk through this morning, and glad to have them aboard. Now,
(01:14):
regarding the game as always in the preseason participation or
no as a component of the equation. And I've identified
some guys that won't be playing in this game this week,
and it has nothing to do with injury. They need
less runway to take off, to be quite honest with you,
because of their experience and where they are in their careers.
(01:34):
Oftentimes I preserve them through this process while provide more
opportunity for those that need more preparation or more opportunity
to display their talents and so forth. And so here's
a list of some guys or that won't be playing
in this game. Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, John Eu and Mouth.
(01:56):
Isaac won't be playing in the offensive line, Jalen Warren
and won't play it running back, the top three corners, Ramsey,
Porter and Slave The Elliott will not play, Patrick Queen
will not play, Cam and TJ will not play, Herbic
will not play, Boz will not play. There's some other
(02:18):
guys who are tentatively scheduled not to play because of
short term related injury. And so forth. Their practice participation
has been limited and so the likelihood of their participation
is minimal. An example of those guys are Calvin Austin
high Smith, Dante Kent, and Trice. There's no playing yet
(02:40):
in place in terms of the amount of playtime for
those that will be playing. Our mindset is if you're
in uniform, you're prepared to play throughout the course of
the game. It's up to the coordinators whether or not
some of those people will be used throughout the game,
but there's a mindset there that we're interested in that
if you're in the uniform, you're ready to play. The
(03:01):
things that we value going into this first preseason game
is less about the people that we play. Obviously, they
have no twenty twenty five tape, their new staff in
a lot of ways, and so the focus for us
is what we do. Part of being a good team
is not beating your own butt, and so we're focusing
on some things relative to that. We're looking for guys
(03:24):
to make routine players routinely. We're looking for pre snap
cleanliness on both sides of the ball. From a penalty perspective,
I expect the offense to manage the play clock to
manage shifts and motions in the clean manner. I expect
the defense to be ready if the change is a
pace in terms of how the opposing offenses operate, and
(03:45):
I expect the guys to ball key, meaning to not
be in the neutral zone and provide free yards and
free plays or free possession downs, et cetera. And that
leads me into situational football. I expect situational knowledge and
behavior to be on display. We've worked a lot in
(04:05):
various forms of two minutes, particularly this week. We've infused
possession down ball in a big way over the last
week and a half in terms of our team development.
And so I'm really excited about seeing situational knowledge and
appropriate situational behavior based on circumstance. And so, you know,
we've worked hard to simulate some of those things, but
(04:27):
there's no substitute for in stadium or in game action
as you transition from unit to unit and coordinate some
of those exchanges, matching personnel and so forth. And so
just coaching player engagement, how we communicate formally informally on
the sideline, and an effort to get the appropriate people
on the field and ready to play. Will be something
(04:48):
that has our attention in this game. Special teams performance
and awareness is a major component of this game. When
you look at the process of going from ninety to
fifty three, A lot of those decisions are made in
that phase of the game. Offensive players who can tackle,
(05:09):
defensive players who can block in space, the unique challenges
and skills that are put on displaying teams or things
that really has my attention, particularly on those guys that
are new to us and new to the National Football
League that are getting an opportunity to play. Oftentimes, you
get a young guy and he thinks his performance is
(05:30):
going to be judged by his day job and some
of these supplementary things and things that they do outside
of their home position oftentimes as is critical or more
critical than their day jobs. And so those are some
of the things that are being discussed, plans that are
being formulated in mindset regarding this game and our pause
(05:51):
and open up for questions.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
A juggle when you have veteran players, proven players like
Aaron and DK and Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, a couple
of those older guys wanting to get them because they're
new to maybe kind of mesh together, but also protect
them for the regular season.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You know, I just make judgments based on what I'm
looking at. I just feel comfortable with what I've seen
from those guys through this portion of the process that
makes me comfortable in saying that they won't play this week.
Next week may be different. We really respect the days
that artists process, and I try not to make plans
(06:32):
with broad strokes, but really kind of more smaller increments.
And so the decision not to play some of those
guys that I mentioned really was based on what I've
seen from them in this environment.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
To this point. We expect Aaron to play in one
of the preseason games.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
You know, I'm not looking ahead, to be quite honest
with you, I'm just extremely comfortable with my decision not
to play them this week.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Like he told us yesterday, Arthur is letting him speak
to the group in meetings, go over film with the players.
Is that a fairly common thing or uncommon thing? And
have you experienced a quarterback that does that?
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Very common?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Mike?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Who is the second player you mentioned you acquired? We
haven't given that Pete Pete?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (07:15):
Is that?
Speaker 7 (07:15):
And yes, yes, Mike, I know Derek mispracticed yesterday.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Do you think he's going to play on Saturday? Who's
that Derek Harmon?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, the scheduled to play.
Speaker 8 (07:26):
How much you have playing time or do you know
with the offensive line that you know getting the first
team to unit out there.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
We'll play by here and that's what I meant. We've
made no plans about the amount of playtime for those
suited at this juncture. We might view some of those
instances on an individual basis. We might view some of
those decisions on somewhat of a collective basis because of
the cooperative work component of development. We'll have a you know,
(07:52):
have a better understanding of that or our intentions in
that area as we get closer to the game. To
be kind of honest with you, at this time of year,
forty eight hours out is a long time, and then
we won't be opposed to being lighter on our feet
and make decisions based on what we see in game
along those.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
Lines throughout throughout the spring and summer of the offensive line?
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Is that collected with or without seem all will involved?
How have you seen their development?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I'm sorry, the.
Speaker 9 (08:19):
Offensive line which with us, how have you seen like
through training camp in the spring.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I think with each passing day, Man, I'm seeing signs
of growth and development, but that's to be expected. I
like their general approach. I like their level of conditioning.
I like their commitment to continue conditioning. I love the
way that they're communicating. It's a work in progress, but
so far, so good.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
Specifically with the offense with Aaron and DK and some
of his others receivers. What have you seen that makes
you comfortable that you don't need to see them in
a game environment this week?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Progress to this point, you guys have been at practice
the way I've been at practice. It's on the upswing,
certainly in terms of precision and execution and cohesion that's
required to be successful.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Is it too much to ask for Logan to get
in there on Saturday? Again? He just got here.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I know that he has a past experience with Arthur,
and so I'm not gonna close the door on it.
But we'll see.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Like some of the.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Stuff you guys are ruping on defense pressman blitzing, are
these things you're exploring or preparing?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I would neither confirmed or deny some of the questions
that you asked there regarding strategy now we want to
be a versatile group. We got versatile and capable players.
You're not gonna be good in the National Football League,
let alone great unless you have some diversity in your
call sheet, and that's in any of the three phases.
And so certainly it's the time of the year for
(09:42):
us to explore different postures from a defensive perspective, and
whether or not we choose to utilize them as we
get into the regular season has a lot to do
with how how we perform in them. So far, it's
pretty good, it's pretty versatile.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
You expect, is will Howard jen kind of short term?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, I think I would characterize it this week to
week at this juncture, I'll be optimistic and we'll see
what what next week holds.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Do you think it's possible he could play in the preseason?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Certainly?
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Obviously, Cale Johnson handle the things outside of just running
the ball, the other responsibilities for running back.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I love his general demeanor regarding to get better. He's
a work in progress, like a lot of young runners
in terms of blitz pick up. Not only recognition on
the NFL level, but technically you know the posture that's
required and how to create power and so forth. But
he's been really impressive in that he's a young man
(10:38):
that doesn't run away from things. He runs two things
and and so he's getting better in all areas.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Anyone else like.
Speaker 9 (10:46):
This is I don't know if I'm asking this from
a coaching point of view in terms of strategy or
what you want to see from them, or is this
a guy that likes football?
Speaker 4 (10:52):
And I know you scouted Hunters just.
Speaker 9 (10:53):
Like everybody else going into the draft, draft to win
for you guys your position, But are you intrigued to
see as they announced you will play all offs and
defense on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Are you intrigued to see how that might work?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
To be honest with you, I hadn't thought a lot
about it in this first preseason game. It's so so
much in terms of us and the things that we
need to do. I hadn't really kind of pondered that
component of it, just from a you know, an appreciator
of athleticism standpoint. I certainly will pay attention in stadium,
but it's not a component of our planning or strategy
(11:26):
or game planning. It's just not it's too too early
in the process for us to worry about the Joneses.
Whoever the Joneses may.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Be, Mike, this is gonna be Romans first extended in
stadium action.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
What are you kind of looking to see from him
with the first team.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I just expect to see similar things that I've seen
out here, continual get better in playmaking. He's highly conditioned.
I expect that to show in his play. Really focused
on kind of his offensive contributions. This week. Next week
we're gonna, you know, infuse him some more and special teams,
and we tentatively have played this week because we just
(12:03):
think it's appropriate. You know, he's a young guy. Sometimes
you're thoughtful about what you ask them the master in
this process and an effort to see the best of
them in certain components of play, and so specifically for Roman,
it's about offense this week. Next week will infuse some
teams and continue on with his growth of the development process.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Did you have a lot of young or.
Speaker 8 (12:25):
At least in experienced guys to the team on defense
on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (12:29):
You're curious to see how Peyton Wilson takes the lead.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
Of that group because it looks like he's taking that
second year's jump.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
If you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
One very much so, but we don't wait to end
stadium action to explore that. Every day that we give
Patrick Queen off, he instantly becomes a quarterback of the defense.
The coach, the player goes through him, for example, you
have to develop leader and where he is in his
career is appropriate. And so that's what I mean that
(12:58):
when I say we have different agendas when we give
guys off days, it's not only about the preservation of
those guys. It's about the elevation of others, whether it's
in the number of snaps that they get or whether
it's their roles. In his case, it's quarterback in the
defense and being a hub of communication and some of
the leadership things that really, quite honestly, he displays in
(13:19):
a very natural way. But because of how we divide
the labor up PQ being a much older guy, he's
more and more of a support role when PQ works,
and so Patrick won't be working to day, for example,
it'll be a big day, It'll be a big day
for Peyton to quarterback to defense and all the communication
will flow through him. And so certainly I'm looking for
(13:39):
those things in stadium, But we won't wait to the stadium,
or we haven't been waiting to get to the stadium
to develop some of those things.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
For example, Aaron said yesterday that he finds that joint
practices in the preseason can be more valuable than a
preseason game. How do you kind of balance that you
and what has the most value.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
In your eyes.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
I don't necessarily compare it in terms of what has
more value than the other. They're all are valuable, and
so we participate in in joint practices because it's a
you know, it's a different environment, it's different schematics. We're
working against Tampa Bay and their four down defense and
we're three four defense, and so you know, there's some
(14:19):
good things for all parties involved there, and so you know,
I don't waste time wondering what's more valuable. They're both
are valuable. We're participants in both. Mike, we use both punters,
and whatever you thought about their competition, we intend on
using both punters and we'll trade for punt and we're
probably gonna be in that posture until we get clarity
(14:41):
or throughout the preseason. It's highly competitive. They're both varsity,
but that's the type of competition that you want. You
want guys to win jobs because of what they do,
not because of what people others don't do, and and
so far we've been really impressed by both guys and
out here the things that we've and team development will
(15:01):
continue to watch them as we get into stadiums.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
An you want else? All right?
Speaker 10 (15:08):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Thanks? Mine.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
See as head coach Mike Tomlin and his comments to
the media before the preseason game against Jacksonville Saturday night.
When we come back, we'll go over what Tomlin had
to say, including some of the players that will not
be active on game day. It's Tom Opferman on the
training camp report, Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and
the Steelers audio.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
Network Iheartradios Live coverage job Dot twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp is presented by fatx where Now meets Next
and also brought to you by First National Bank, by
Kalucy Chevrolet, iron Workers Union Number three, by Easy Home
(15:53):
Exteriors by S ANDT Bank, Remax Select Realty, by Don's Appliances,
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Speaker 1 (16:07):
Tom off from and Ryan Solo Today on the training
camp report, Bob Labriola sitting down with coach Mike Tomlin
perhaps at this very moment for his network pregame chat
that you all hear during the pregame show. I guess
he's got bigger fish to fry today, so we'll give
him a pass. Coach Tomlin did address the media kind
of his first official press conference of the season as
(16:29):
the Steelers head to Jacksonville for a seven pm kickoff
on Saturday night to start the preseason schedule against the Jags,
and boy, it was a long list of players that
Tomlin already rolled out in case you missed it. Aaron Rodgers,
Dk Metcalf, John new Smith, Pat Fryarmouth, Isaac Camalu, and
Jalen Warren will be the members of the offensive side
of the ball that won't be playing Saturday. Joey Porter, Junior,
(16:52):
Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, Deshaun Elliott, Patrick, Queen cam Hayward,
TJ Watt, Nick Herbig on the defense side of things,
and then Chris Boswell also won't be playing, so Pittman
Ben Sols will be stepping in. I'm sure he'll do
a great job. Utmost confidence in him injured players Calvin Anderson,
Alex high Smith, Dante Kent, and Corey Trice, so don't
(17:14):
expect to see them playing either. So really nobody of
note will be playing in this preseason Well, I shouldn't
say that, because there's a couple of people of note here.
You're still going to see most of that offensive line.
You're gonna see Broderick Jones. Now, I won't have Isaac
seam All dough next to him, but I didn't list
Darnel Washington as one of the players that is inactive,
so you'll probably see Mount Washington lined up on the
(17:37):
hip left hip of Broderick Jones, aiding him in protection.
I think that's something that the Steelers will utilize a
lot this year as they try to help ease this
transition from right tackle to left tackle for their third
year first round pick Jones. So interested to see what
Broderick Jones does in this preseason debut, and really interested
(17:58):
to see the entirety of that offensive line because other
than the guy who has the day off, Isaac Ciamalu,
nobody has more than three years experience under their belt.
And that's Proderck Jones perhaps the biggest question mark on
this line. You got the two second year guys on
the interior, with Zach Frasier your center, and Mason McCormick
at right guard, and then Troy Fatanu at right tackle,
(18:19):
who I'm excited to see get some game action under
his belt as well. This team was so high on
him last year. You know, he was hurt for most
of the preseason, and then they jump them in front
of Broderick Jones for that game Week two in Denver
and gets hurt obviously, so we get robbed of his
rookie season. But all accounts seem to illustrate that he
(18:41):
has bounced back from this injury and that the Steelers
are incredibly high on the potential for Troy Fatano could
possibly be that all pro type, that anchor for the
offensive line. So that's of intrigue. Your first round pick
from this year will be on the field, Derek Harmon,
and with no care Hayward, you'll see a lot of
(19:01):
Benton Harmon and whyya Black and I like seeing kind
of that young or that youthful angle to this defensive
line take over for maybe a quarter. Mike Tomlin didn't
really get into the specifics of how long people will
be playing, but we know what Cam Hayward's going to
bring to the table. I'm fine if Cam Hayward doesn't
(19:22):
play a single preseason game, to be honest with you.
Keep him fresh, keep him healthy. But I want to
see what these three guys can do. I want to
see if any one of them can really step up
and kind of take the reins. Is that, you know
number two on that defensive line. The front runner's got
to be the first round pick, Derek Harmon. You know,
Benton had a lot of moments in his rookie season.
It's too early to just rule him out from being
(19:45):
a big time impact player. So interesting to see how
those three play. At the beginning of the game, I
didn't notice what Jackson's Jacksonville's plan is going to be.
It's a new coaching staff. Mike Tomlin said that he,
you know, doesn't have any film to go off of
from last year because of that, So not really sure yet.
If it's going to be Trevor Lawrence out there, what
(20:07):
they're gonna look like offensively, I'd have to imagine that
they won't play their quarterback, although I don't know he's
an offensive coach. Liam Cohen. Maybe he wants to start
getting a little bit of a sample of what he's
gotten quarterback Trevor Lawrence and what his offense looks like
being run by him. But defensive line and offensive line
(20:28):
is certainly areas of intrigue for the Steelers. And then
you're gonna see Jan Thornhill at safety play as kind
of that guy in the secondary. And I think that's
pretty interesting because all of the other running mates when
they go into Nickel, if he does win that safety spot,
Porter Junior, Sleigh Ramsey, the three corners and Deshaun Elliott,
his would be running made at safety. They ain't playing.
(20:49):
So Thornhill's gonna kind of have to be that lead
dog at the beginning of the game. And it's nothing
that he shouldn't be able to do. This man has
a lot of experience in the NFL, got two Super
Bowl rings, So you know that's definitely an area that
you look at this Steelers defense and you say, where
are potential weak spots, where are potential players that quarterbacks
might look at and say, let's try to expose that.
(21:12):
And it's no insult to one Thornhill. This is how
offenses approach every defense. You know, you can't be perfect,
all pro caliber at every single position. And there are
others that might be targeted on that defense by opposing teams.
But Thornhill's one that I think is something that sticks out.
And if he you know, he doesn't have to be
a a superstar, but if he can just be a
(21:33):
really solid safety and not allow an opposing team to
kind of pick on him exploit him when he's on
the field, then man, the talk that you're hearing out
of some of the Steelers, both on the offense and
the defensive side of the ball, about the expectations for
this defense, well those could really come to fruition. I mean,
(21:55):
one Thornhill said yesterday it might be the best defense ever.
I don't think that that's quite possible anymore, the way
that the league is shifted. I don't think anybody's going
to top some of the great defenses of yesteryear. But
all they have to be is one of the best
defenses of this year, and on paper, they absolutely should be.
(22:17):
Other things of note from coach Mike Tomlins press conference.
With the Will Howard injury, it looks like he's going
to be out for all of the preseason. That's a
tough blow because you had to think that this game
he was going to get a lot of reps, and
who knows, maybe down the road in that third preseason
game when you go to Carolina, that's just a Will
Howard game, right, Like maybe you just say, hey, Rook,
(22:38):
roll the ball out, play all four quarters. Let's see
what you do. Get an NFL game under your belt. Well,
now you can't do any of that. Steelers bring in
quarterback Logan Woodside to add to the quarterback room. Labs
and I were discussing that on yesterday's training camp report
if we thought the Steelers might do that, and we
kind of came to the conclusion that maybe not, because,
(22:59):
you know, is anybody going to be able to jump
in and pick up things adequately enough quickly enough to
help out in these training camp practices to come and
in the practices throughout the rest of the preseason period
of the schedule. Well, I guess if you've got a
quarterback out there like Logan Woodside who already has some
familiarity with Arthur Smith, as Mike Tomlin laid out in
(23:21):
his press conference, then it makes sense to bring him
in and have that extra arm I was wondering if
we were going to see Mason Rudolph first quarter, then
all Skyler Thompson. Now, I wonder if we'll see Mason
Rudolph for even less than that. Throw Skyler Thompson in
for most of the game, and if you're comfortable enough
(23:41):
over these next couple days, let Logan Woodside kind of
mop up in the fourth quarter late in the fourth quarter.
But it does suck that we were robbed of seeing
Will Howard play. Not that I am on the hype
train for him being the quarterback of the future, but
this was really going to be the only time, if
all things go well for the Steelers this year, that
(24:03):
you would see him on the field is in these
preseason games. So it sucks for that rookie to miss
that opportunity, And it kind of stinks for all of
us to not be able to at least have somewhat
of an entertaining angle to that quarterback position because we've
had that right for the past few preseasons. We've kind
of had that intrigue. No Russell Wilson last year, he's hurt.
What's justin Field's looked like running this offense. Kenny Pickett
(24:26):
obviously lit up that preseason a couple of years ago
and everybody thought that the Steelers were going to the
super Bowl. You had the Mitch Trubisky when he first
took the reins as the quarterback, and Kenny Pickett's rookie
year and that kind of preseason to keep an eye on.
You're looking at your first round pick, Kenny Pickett when
he comes into the game this year. There's no real
intrigue at that position because of Rogers obviously being QB one,
(24:50):
and if you see him at all in this preseason,
I bet it's just for a few snaps at Akroscher
Stadium against Tampa Bay, not this Saturday, but the following one.
But Will Howard was gonna have a little bit of
that intrigue for you at the QB position. Now it
will just be Rudolph and Skyler Thompson and maybe a
little bit of Logan Woodside as well. I'm excited to see,
(25:14):
you know, Derek Harmon, Caleb Johnson, Jack Sawyer, the rookies
from this class get their first taste to the NFL.
Real high on this rookie class. Labs and I were
talking about that yesterday and let's see them make a
splash an early impression here in their first quote unquote
NFL game action. Tom off from an in solo today.
(25:36):
But let's have Labs join in spirit. Let's go over
his practice report and kind of update you what happened
yesterday in practice. The Steelers put the pads on the
shelves yesterday. They will be back in pads today. Now,
I'm not trusted like Bob Labriolaz, so I don't get
handed the practice script, so I can't tell you exactly
what they're gonna do. But I will tell you they
(25:56):
will be in pads. I am almost certain of that,
after not having them on yesterday and just having a
walk through tomorrow and travel to Jacksonville. They did go
through seven shots as always, this one was a four
to three win to the offense. It went like this.
Rogers found dk Metcalf running across the back of the
(26:17):
end zone on the first snap of the drill for
a touchdown. Then on his next two attempts, Rogers was incomplete,
first to Darnell Washington and then the second was batted
at the line of scrimmage by Ya Black, who is
really impressing. And I didn't include him in this rookie
class when I said him, excited to watch a few
of these guys, and I need to because man, he's
(26:37):
coming that first man off the bench when it comes
to all Steelers participating in that defensive line. So excited
to see the rookie out of Iowa maybe make a splash,
maybe bad a pass down like he has been starting
to kind of be known to do up a training
camp in this game against Jacksonville. But that was it
for Rogers. He had three reps there. Then Mason Rudolph
checked in. His first pass to Robert Woods was incomplete
(27:00):
back on his next snap to hit Robert Woods for
a touchdown. So the defense was up three to two
at that point. Skyler Thompson then checked in, handed the
ball off to Lou Nichols who ran up the middle
into a massive players no pads though, so no one
was tackling. They ruled it a touchdown. Maybe a little
bit of massaging there from Mike Tomlin, but that set
up the three to three tie, and that brought the
first team back onto the field and they did that
(27:22):
alignment that Labs was talking about where they put three
receivers on the left side and Metcalf as a single
on the right and kind of just io him up.
You saw Ab do that all the time when he
was here. You just get a matchup one on one
if you can. And that's exactly what the Steelers worked
here in their Game seven. The bunch that was on
the left side all ran to the left corner of
the end zone and Metcalf cut toward the center of
(27:44):
the field. Rogers hit him and stride for the touchdown
his second to Metcalf of that drill and it gave
the offense that four to three win that game seven
walkoff win, and love seeing the Rogers to Metcalf connection
really start to blossom. Had a quarterback wide receiver tandem
like that since Ben and Ab and I'm not saying
(28:06):
that they're going to be able to mind meld like
they did. They had years and years of experience together
to build a rapport Ben and Ab did. But just
talent wise, DK's not as good as Ab, Rogers isn't
as good as Ben was in his prime currently, but
just that ceiling as far as their talent is concerned, still,
(28:30):
that tandem is something that could do a lot of
damage in the NFL and something that the Steelers have
been missing a lot in years past. Other observations that
labs made from practice. You know, it had to do
with why You're Black. He got a little, a little reckless,
if you will, in the padless practice when Caleb Johnson
took a hand off, ran through the line of scrimmage
and why you Black blasted him to the ground. And
(28:52):
Pat Fryarmouth had to, you know, let black know, Hey,
this is a padless practice. Let's not be doing that
here at the professional level. And Mike Tomlin said that
he's a high energy, big and for an enormous man,
he hustles and he finishes, and man, he's making a
lot of impact and making people notice him. And he's
a big guy who's really athletic. It's hard not to
(29:12):
notice him. But turning some heads at camp so far
for these Steelers. Pick out of Iowa, y you Black.
Steelers also did a two minute drill in yesterday's padless practice.
There were two reps of it. Rogers took control of
the first rep, and just like yesterday, this ended with
another interception. One Thornhill made a diving interception. The pass
(29:33):
was intended for Pat Fryermuth down the middle of the field.
Some debate on whether Thornhill secured the ball before it
hit the ground as Labs put it in his practice report,
but they did finally rule it in interception. The second
rep included a one handed sideline catch by wide receiver
Brandon Johnson got the offense in position for a thirty
seven yard field goal for Ben SAAL's tom and called
(29:54):
a time Mike Toma called a time out to try
to ice him, but Saul's drilled the field goal through
the upright. So a win there, I'd say, for the
second rep of the two minute drill. But the Rogers
rep the first rep it ended again in an interception.
But the thing I like to hear from that they
were looking at the middle of the field, intended for
Pratt Fryarmouth down the middle. That's somewhere that the Steelers
(30:15):
have been a bit allergic to in years past. And
I don't blame them because you're kind of trying to
minimize the turnovers when it comes to your young quarterback.
Can you Pickett than justin fields. That's what you were
trying to detox out of his game, was the turnovers,
so you avoid the muddiness of the middle of the field.
Russell Wilson just does that on his own, especially at
this stage in his career. So utilizing the middle of
(30:36):
the field is something that I think has been sorely
missing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Very happy to see them
employ that in training camp and hopefully it's a sign
of things to come that Rogers will be willing to
attack that middle of the field, even though yeah, ball
will get tipped up sometimes and get picked off by safety.
Still a lot more to come here on the training
camp report. We're gonna hear from both quarterbacks a little
(30:58):
bit later on in the program. By both quarterbacks, I
mean Aaron Rodgers, the starter, and then Skyler Thompson, who
I think you'll see a lot of on Saturday Night.
We will be joined by Tim Whorley later on in
the last segment of the show, end of the one
o'clock hour. So excited for that. And I think, well,
let's go with PROGERC. Jones. Let's hear from progerck Jones
when we come back. It's a big game for him
(31:19):
on Saturday. It's a big year for him, so we'll
hear what he had to say. Following practice yesterday. It's
Tom Opperman on the Training Camp Report, Fox Sports Pittsburgh
nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 7 (31:29):
Network Iheartradios Live coverage job Dot twenty twenty five. Steelers
Training Camp is presented by Fatex where Now meets Next
and also brought to you by First National Bank, by Calucy, Chevrolet,
(31:50):
iron Workers Union Number three, by Easy Home Mixteriors by
SNT Bank, we Max Select Realty, by Tom's Appliances, Pittsburgh
Steelers Pro Shop, by Always Safe Flagging and Traffic Control,
and by US Steel.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Tom Opferman back on the Training Camp Report. Steeler is
going to be hitting the practice field at Saint Vincent
College in a little over an hour from now. This
will be their final practice of the week. They'll have
a walk through tomorrow, jump on a plane, go to
Jacksonville and play the Jags on Saturday night. So important
practice for a lot of people. Kind of last impressions,
(32:29):
I guess if you will for some the pads will beyond.
Maybe you can get yourself into the game a little
bit earlier than the coaches have planned for you already.
But we'll see what happens at practice. Today if you
missed coach Mike Tomlins press conference. A slew of players
will not be available. Aaron Rodgers, Dk Metcalf, John new Smith,
(32:49):
Pat Fryarmouth, Jalen Warren and Isaac Camali on the offensive
side of things, Porter Junior, Sleigh Ramsey, Elliott, Queen Hayward,
Watt her Big and then Boswell too won't be playing.
So no Isaac cmali on that offensive line, but it's
still a big game for the rest of that unit,
especially for Roderick Jones. Had a little bit of turbulence
(33:10):
at the beginning of this training camp with an injury,
but he seems to be able to bounce back from
that relatively smoothly. Now he's making the switch from right
tackle to left tackle. He was a left tackle at Georgia,
so this is the position that he was more naturally
comfortable at. But it's been two years now where he's
been a right tackle in the NFL. So how easy
(33:33):
is that switch going to be made?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Well?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I think Isaac cmal is going to do his best
to make it as easy as possible. We won't see
him on Saturday, of course, but in the regular season.
I think that that's something that the Steelers can really
lean on. Is that your veteran is that left guard,
and he'll be on Proderc's right hip. I think another
thing that you can do to kind of help him
out is put on his left hip big Darnell Washington,
(33:56):
who when the Steelers came out with their first iteration
of their depth chart, was listed as a starter. All
three tight ends were listed as starters. So I wonder
if there is maybe some inclination to pair him with
Jones a lot and provide some help, because if Roderick
Jones isn't capable, then the Steelers are going to be
(34:17):
in trouble. He doesn't have to be a superstar. You
want him to be. You train it up for him.
He's a first round pick, lots of talent in there,
big boy, you know, kind of checks all the prototypical boxes.
To be a left tackle in this league just hasn't
translated to the NFL yet at a consistent level. Doesn't
have to be that superstar. Just has to be capable.
(34:40):
Just be a little better than Dan Moore was and
you'll be fine. The Steelers should be able to survive that.
Rogers should be able to survive that. But the pressure
is most certainly on Broderick Jones. And I've said this
a lot throughout this training camp period. It's not just
pressure for or the team to have success and for
(35:02):
him to not be the reason why they don't for
him to let the team down, but individually, your first
round pick, you know, the team's gonna think about picking
up your fifth year option or not this offseason. That's
a huge raise, and that's guaranteed money, all of it.
And right now, I would be surprised if the Steelers
(35:23):
were confident enough to extend that to him. Now he's
got a season here in front of him to make
them feel very comfortable doing that. And trust me, the
Steelers would want to do that. You don't, you know,
have a goal of picking a player in the first
round and then not picking up their fifth year option.
Every first round pick. That's the goal, the pick up
the fifth year. So not just for the team's sake,
(35:46):
but for the individual. For Broderick Jones to establish himself
as an NFL player, to establish his bank account as
an NFL bank account, you know, this is a season
that he has to excel to the point of being
at least capable because look, even capable tackles get money.
(36:07):
Dan Moore got a ton of money in Tennessee, and
I think most of Steelers Nation was okay with watching
him move on. But that position just gets paid a premium.
And it's up to Proderick Jones to step up and
fill that left tackle position for the Steelers, protect Aaron
(36:31):
Rodgers's blindside, and keep this offense, you know, operating under
him for the entirety of the season so they can
hopefully achieve more than they have in years past. Broderick
Jones spoke to the media following yesterday's practice. Let's take
a listen to what the offensive lineman had to say.
Speaker 10 (36:52):
An Daron, Yeah, he's a great, great leader. He's very vocal.
So you know, we just got I can and make
sure everybody's on one page and you know, making sure
we're keeping on my brother.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
There's been a lot to talk to you about this
all line and how it's not the biggest all line
and you know, maybe.
Speaker 10 (37:10):
Doesn't have a whole lot of death.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
What do you want to say about that.
Speaker 10 (37:14):
It's never about the size, It's all about the fighting
adult and I feel like everybody on our old line
has that fight. They come in each and every day
ready to work on things that they need to work
on to get better. And you know, I feel like
as long as you have that mindset, nobody can.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Stop you from been go thring.
Speaker 10 (37:30):
Now to that'll most of you guys, I mean, are
are you dealing with the injuries that.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
You guys have?
Speaker 10 (37:35):
Yeah, it's tough always, you know, dealing with injuries. But
it's a physical game. It comes with it. So sometimes
you just gotta take the god with the bad and
just continue to play, you know, even if it's just
for a practice or a game. You know, you just
got to try and fight through and push through for
your team.
Speaker 8 (37:53):
Like there's the other teams, you guys picking up different
funs to flip the defenses.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
That's throwing at you guys, but they throw a lot
at you guys.
Speaker 8 (37:59):
What you say about the improvement that you guys have
had from the start a camp for now and doing those.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Things, man, it's great.
Speaker 10 (38:07):
Our defense is top notch, man, our defense has always
been top notch. So just being able to go up
against them every day. Coach Ta he dials it up
every day. It's something new every day with him, so
you know, it keeps us on our toes, and you know,
I feel like that's a good thing for us too,
because with us being able to see a lot of
things when the game is slowed down for us.
Speaker 8 (38:25):
So I sat back and forth, I go back and
forth with you. A Pat seemed like like that pass
play to him, like, oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:32):
We was just here.
Speaker 10 (38:36):
And me and Patt are always joking. We're always busting
each other's shops, just trying to get the best out
of each other. It's never nothing personal. I know that
he knows that, so you know, we just continue to
do it.
Speaker 8 (38:46):
How do you feel about the camaraderie in this office though,
to be able to call each other out when there
is a real mistake and it's.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Like hey, and people take it like professionals and.
Speaker 10 (38:54):
Move forward together. You don't have a choice, Buss, because
it doesn't just affect you, would affects the whole team.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 10 (39:02):
So you know, you just gotta take it away a
brain salt personally.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
For Yeah, you know your three Now, just what are
you hoping to see.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Out of yourself year?
Speaker 10 (39:10):
Just continue to grow each and every day. Really, no
set goal. I just want to be the best that
I can be each and every day, every game, and
like I said, just making sure I keep hearing up
all seasons.
Speaker 8 (39:21):
What's the part of your game that you feels has
proved the most from the end of last season to
right now. Whether it's footwork and placement or just like
overall knowing things.
Speaker 10 (39:32):
I would probably say probably not footwork and my hands,
just being able to quicken them up, being light on
my feet, you know, thinking thinking ahead of the playing
set of always trying to just have that process like
while we're going into the play, you know, which is
it caused you to slow down and not place as
(39:53):
fast as you want, and you know, all all sorts
of crazy things like that. So may I probably say,
you know.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Just being quicker with my and I see it.
Speaker 8 (40:01):
So you said experience and the loss of weight that
you took off to prepare for camp, all that's really
been helping you.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
Yes, all of it. Play the part and you're still.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Wrapped up from your whatever you can play. I've seen
you bring out some snaps and everything at that part.
Speaker 10 (40:12):
Is just getting back to I just do what they
tell me, you know, coach, I'll be trying to they
send them in to get me I'll be trying to
push them out, and they they don't.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
They always told me out.
Speaker 4 (40:21):
So you got to play Saturday or you think you're
you're playing.
Speaker 10 (40:24):
I'm pretty sure I the.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
Repsit left top, when game reps are left top. Is
that important to you to get some of the long runers? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (40:30):
Always, always, always.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
We've already out sorry.
Speaker 8 (40:33):
If you've already been asked this, but just how do
you feel as an offense, as an entire entire group.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
I guess that you guys have been coming together on
to the point we got around this morning, he said,
you know, the last three or four.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Practices, you guys kind of take it through the trying. Yeah,
you know, it's always just about the next day.
Speaker 10 (40:49):
You can't focus on what happened yesterday or what just
happened a partice today. It's all about going in.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
There watching film and you know, figuring.
Speaker 10 (40:55):
Out what we got to get better as a whole.
And you know, I feel like we do that every day.
You know, we come with an open mindset, and you
know when somebody like eight behind us, you know, it
just gives us a loucial confidence. So we just gotta
keep him a little project.
Speaker 8 (41:08):
Keep feeling like the offensive, skinning into a rhythm, like
you can kind of feel.
Speaker 10 (41:12):
Like bro this, you know, we just gotta continue to grow,
continue to jail together because we got a lot of
new moving pieces on.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
But at the end of the that, I think we'll
be all right.
Speaker 8 (41:23):
Brodaga, who's like ya black gone from a fifth round
rookie that was working his way up to being the
first guy that comes off the bench for them. You
guys have tussled a few times looking saying about him
and is avert and he comes with.
Speaker 10 (41:34):
A lot of grits, like comes, he comes with the fight,
he comes with the nastiness. He's a big, physical dude.
It's hard to move him. So you know, I feel
like he's gonna be a tough, a tough individual for us.
And you know, just for the rest of the camp and
for the season coming up. You know, we got a
(41:55):
lot of depth. And you know, it's good to have
depth in different positions because you never know how just
like camp people get all these little injuries and stuff
like that, so you never know. So it's just good
to be able to know you haven't as a you know,
backup all potential however, plays gout.
Speaker 8 (42:12):
I know, if when the practice is going practice is
going on, you're offen a guy, that's like making a
practiced code or hyper or like hyping someone up after that. Yeah,
like a conscious thing you do or letting that. You know,
I think it just comes natural.
Speaker 10 (42:26):
You know, it's always good to have fun and you know,
just not be so uptight with whatever you're doing. So
you know, we just hotch on whatever. I try and
keep that mindset, but you know, still having that mindset up, Okay,
you still have to work and do your job first
and then you know, so it's a it's a good
balance in there.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Steelers offensive lineman Broderck Jones speaking of the media following
practice yesterday, we'll get our first glimpse of Proderick Jones
at left tackle in a Steelers uniform on Saturday night
against Jacksonville. Tom off from an in solo today on
the Training Camp Report. When we come back, we'll hear
from Aaron Rodgers, We'll hear from Skyler Thompson. We'll do
a whole quarterback segment next. Labs would be proud. It's
(43:06):
the Training Camp Report on Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy
am and the Steelers Audio Network
It's tom on froman on the training camp report. Let's
go right to the podium where Mike Tomlin is addressing
the media before the preseason opener against Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Things regarding the game and just in general our mindset
and plans for the weekend, and kind of stated the
union as we get into our first preseason game action.
We've acquired a couple veteran players. We've suffered some attrition
in this process. Like most people, Logan Woodside. We acquired
(00:29):
at quarterback. He's no stranger to the NFL. He's had
a past relationship with Arthur Smith. Given the circumstances with
Will Howard, we thought that that was appropriate. He'll be
a quick study. We'll work hard over the next forty
eight hours, and he'll certainly we'll have game availability. Whether
or not he plays remains to be seen, but that
(00:50):
was the intention. We're acquired Pete in the offensive line.
He is a versatile veteran. He has played both guard
and tackle. We've absorbed some attrition in those spaces, and
so you know, a grizzly veteran with multi positional experience
as an asset. And so we've got those two guys
you'll see those guys on the practice field today, they
walk through this morning, and glad to have them aboard. Now,
(01:14):
regarding the game as always in the preseason participation or
no as a component of the equation. And I've identified
some guys that won't be playing in this game this week,
and it has nothing to do with injury. They need
less runway to take off, to be quite honest with you,
because of their experience and where they are in their careers.
(01:34):
Oftentimes I preserve them through this process while provide more
opportunity for those that need more preparation or more opportunity
to display their talents and so forth. And so here's
a list of some guys or that won't be playing
in this game. Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, John Eu and Mouth.
(01:56):
Isaac won't be playing in the offensive line, Jalen Warren
and won't play it running back, the top three corners, Ramsey,
Porter and Slave The Elliott will not play, Patrick Queen
will not play, Cam and TJ will not play, Herbic
will not play, Boz will not play. There's some other
(02:18):
guys who are tentatively scheduled not to play because of
short term related injury. And so forth. Their practice participation
has been limited and so the likelihood of their participation
is minimal. An example of those guys are Calvin Austin
high Smith, Dante Kent, and Trice. There's no playing yet
(02:40):
in place in terms of the amount of playtime for
those that will be playing. Our mindset is if you're
in uniform, you're prepared to play throughout the course of
the game. It's up to the coordinators whether or not
some of those people will be used throughout the game,
but there's a mindset there that we're interested in that
if you're in the uniform, you're ready to play. The
(03:01):
things that we value going into this first preseason game
is less about the people that we play. Obviously, they
have no twenty twenty five tape, their new staff in
a lot of ways, and so the focus for us
is what we do. Part of being a good team
is not beating your own butt, and so we're focusing
on some things relative to that. We're looking for guys
(03:24):
to make routine players routinely. We're looking for pre snap
cleanliness on both sides of the ball. From a penalty perspective,
I expect the offense to manage the play clock to
manage shifts and motions in the clean manner. I expect
the defense to be ready if the change is a
pace in terms of how the opposing offenses operate, and
(03:45):
I expect the guys to ball key, meaning to not
be in the neutral zone and provide free yards and
free plays or free possession downs, et cetera. And that
leads me into situational football. I expect situational knowledge and
behavior to be on display. We've worked a lot in
(04:05):
various forms of two minutes, particularly this week. We've infused
possession down ball in a big way over the last
week and a half in terms of our team development.
And so I'm really excited about seeing situational knowledge and
appropriate situational behavior based on circumstance. And so, you know,
we've worked hard to simulate some of those things, but
(04:27):
there's no substitute for in stadium or in game action
as you transition from unit to unit and coordinate some
of those exchanges, matching personnel and so forth. And so
just coaching player engagement, how we communicate formally informally on
the sideline, and an effort to get the appropriate people
on the field and ready to play. Will be something
(04:48):
that has our attention in this game. Special teams performance
and awareness is a major component of this game. When
you look at the process of going from ninety to
fifty three, A lot of those decisions are made in
that phase of the game. Offensive players who can tackle,
(05:09):
defensive players who can block in space, the unique challenges
and skills that are put on displaying teams or things
that really has my attention, particularly on those guys that
are new to us and new to the National Football
League that are getting an opportunity to play. Oftentimes, you
get a young guy and he thinks his performance is
(05:30):
going to be judged by his day job and some
of these supplementary things and things that they do outside
of their home position oftentimes as is critical or more
critical than their day jobs. And so those are some
of the things that are being discussed, plans that are
being formulated in mindset regarding this game and our pause
(05:51):
and open up for questions.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
A juggle when you have veteran players, proven players like
Aaron and DK and Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, a couple
of those older guys wanting to get them because they're
new to maybe kind of mesh together, but also protect
them for the regular season.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You know, I just make judgments based on what I'm
looking at. I just feel comfortable with what I've seen
from those guys through this portion of the process that
makes me comfortable in saying that they won't play this week.
Next week may be different. We really respect the days
that artists process, and I try not to make plans
(06:32):
with broad strokes, but really kind of more smaller increments.
And so the decision not to play some of those
guys that I mentioned really was based on what I've
seen from them in this environment.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
To this point. We expect Aaron to play in one
of the preseason games.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
You know, I'm not looking ahead, to be quite honest
with you, I'm just extremely comfortable with my decision not
to play them this week.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Like he told us yesterday, Arthur is letting him speak
to the group in meetings, go over film with the players.
Is that a fairly common thing or uncommon thing? And
have you experienced a quarterback that does that?
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Very common?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Mike?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Who is the second player you mentioned you acquired? We
haven't given that Pete Pete?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (07:15):
Is that?
Speaker 7 (07:15):
And yes, yes, Mike, I know Derek mispracticed yesterday.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Do you think he's going to play on Saturday? Who's
that Derek Harmon?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, the scheduled to play.
Speaker 8 (07:26):
How much you have playing time or do you know
with the offensive line that you know getting the first
team to unit out there.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
We'll play by here and that's what I meant. We've
made no plans about the amount of playtime for those
suited at this juncture. We might view some of those
instances on an individual basis. We might view some of
those decisions on somewhat of a collective basis because of
the cooperative work component of development. We'll have a you know,
(07:52):
have a better understanding of that or our intentions in
that area as we get closer to the game. To
be kind of honest with you, at this time of year,
forty eight hours out is a long time, and then
we won't be opposed to being lighter on our feet
and make decisions based on what we see in game
along those.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
Lines throughout throughout the spring and summer of the offensive line?
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Is that collected with or without seem all will involved?
How have you seen their development?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I'm sorry, the.
Speaker 9 (08:19):
Offensive line which with us, how have you seen like
through training camp in the spring.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I think with each passing day, Man, I'm seeing signs
of growth and development, but that's to be expected. I
like their general approach. I like their level of conditioning.
I like their commitment to continue conditioning. I love the
way that they're communicating. It's a work in progress, but
so far, so good.
Speaker 6 (08:40):
Specifically with the offense with Aaron and DK and some
of his others receivers. What have you seen that makes
you comfortable that you don't need to see them in
a game environment this week?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Progress to this point, you guys have been at practice
the way I've been at practice. It's on the upswing,
certainly in terms of precision and execution and cohesion that's
required to be successful.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Is it too much to ask for Logan to get
in there on Saturday? Again? He just got here.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I know that he has a past experience with Arthur,
and so I'm not gonna close the door on it.
But we'll see.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Like some of the.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Stuff you guys are ruping on defense pressman blitzing, are
these things you're exploring or preparing?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I would neither confirmed or deny some of the questions
that you asked there regarding strategy now we want to
be a versatile group. We got versatile and capable players.
You're not gonna be good in the National Football League,
let alone great unless you have some diversity in your
call sheet, and that's in any of the three phases.
And so certainly it's the time of the year for
(09:42):
us to explore different postures from a defensive perspective, and
whether or not we choose to utilize them as we
get into the regular season has a lot to do
with how how we perform in them. So far, it's
pretty good, it's pretty versatile.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
You expect, is will Howard jen kind of short term?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, I think I would characterize it this week to
week at this juncture, I'll be optimistic and we'll see
what what next week holds.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Do you think it's possible he could play in the preseason?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Certainly?
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Obviously, Cale Johnson handle the things outside of just running
the ball, the other responsibilities for running back.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I love his general demeanor regarding to get better. He's
a work in progress, like a lot of young runners
in terms of blitz pick up. Not only recognition on
the NFL level, but technically you know the posture that's
required and how to create power and so forth. But
he's been really impressive in that he's a young man
(10:38):
that doesn't run away from things. He runs two things
and and so he's getting better in all areas.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Anyone else like.
Speaker 9 (10:46):
This is I don't know if I'm asking this from
a coaching point of view in terms of strategy or
what you want to see from them, or is this
a guy that likes football?
Speaker 4 (10:52):
And I know you scouted Hunters just.
Speaker 9 (10:53):
Like everybody else going into the draft, draft to win
for you guys your position, But are you intrigued to
see as they announced you will play all offs and
defense on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 4 (11:01):
Are you intrigued to see how that might work?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
To be honest with you, I hadn't thought a lot
about it in this first preseason game. It's so so
much in terms of us and the things that we
need to do. I hadn't really kind of pondered that
component of it, just from a you know, an appreciator
of athleticism standpoint. I certainly will pay attention in stadium,
but it's not a component of our planning or strategy
(11:26):
or game planning. It's just not it's too too early
in the process for us to worry about the Joneses.
Whoever the Joneses may.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Be, Mike, this is gonna be Romans first extended in
stadium action.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
What are you kind of looking to see from him
with the first team.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
I just expect to see similar things that I've seen
out here, continual get better in playmaking. He's highly conditioned.
I expect that to show in his play. Really focused
on kind of his offensive contributions. This week. Next week
we're gonna, you know, infuse him some more and special teams,
and we tentatively have played this week because we just
(12:03):
think it's appropriate. You know, he's a young guy. Sometimes
you're thoughtful about what you ask them the master in
this process and an effort to see the best of
them in certain components of play, and so specifically for Roman,
it's about offense this week. Next week will infuse some
teams and continue on with his growth of the development process.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Did you have a lot of young or.
Speaker 8 (12:25):
At least in experienced guys to the team on defense
on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (12:29):
You're curious to see how Peyton Wilson takes the lead.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
Of that group because it looks like he's taking that
second year's jump.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
If you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
One very much so, but we don't wait to end
stadium action to explore that. Every day that we give
Patrick Queen off, he instantly becomes a quarterback of the defense.
The coach, the player goes through him, for example, you
have to develop leader and where he is in his
career is appropriate. And so that's what I mean that
(12:58):
when I say we have different agendas when we give
guys off days, it's not only about the preservation of
those guys. It's about the elevation of others, whether it's
in the number of snaps that they get or whether
it's their roles. In his case, it's quarterback in the
defense and being a hub of communication and some of
the leadership things that really, quite honestly, he displays in
(13:19):
a very natural way. But because of how we divide
the labor up PQ being a much older guy, he's
more and more of a support role when PQ works,
and so Patrick won't be working to day, for example,
it'll be a big day, It'll be a big day
for Peyton to quarterback to defense and all the communication
will flow through him. And so certainly I'm looking for
(13:39):
those things in stadium, But we won't wait to the stadium,
or we haven't been waiting to get to the stadium
to develop some of those things.
Speaker 6 (13:46):
For example, Aaron said yesterday that he finds that joint
practices in the preseason can be more valuable than a
preseason game. How do you kind of balance that you
and what has the most value.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
In your eyes.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
I don't necessarily compare it in terms of what has
more value than the other. They're all are valuable, and
so we participate in in joint practices because it's a
you know, it's a different environment, it's different schematics. We're
working against Tampa Bay and their four down defense and
we're three four defense, and so you know, there's some
(14:19):
good things for all parties involved there, and so you know,
I don't waste time wondering what's more valuable. They're both
are valuable. We're participants in both. Mike, we use both punters,
and whatever you thought about their competition, we intend on
using both punters and we'll trade for punt and we're
probably gonna be in that posture until we get clarity
(14:41):
or throughout the preseason. It's highly competitive. They're both varsity,
but that's the type of competition that you want. You
want guys to win jobs because of what they do,
not because of what people others don't do, and and
so far we've been really impressed by both guys and
out here the things that we've and team development will
(15:01):
continue to watch them as we get into stadiums.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
An you want else? All right?
Speaker 10 (15:08):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Thanks? Mine.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
See as head coach Mike Tomlin and his comments to
the media before the preseason game against Jacksonville Saturday night.
When we come back, we'll go over what Tomlin had
to say, including some of the players that will not
be active on game day. It's Tom Opferman on the
training camp report, Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and
the Steelers audio.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
Network Iheartradios Live coverage job Dot twenty twenty five Steelers
Training Camp is presented by fatx where Now meets Next
and also brought to you by First National Bank, by
Kalucy Chevrolet, iron Workers Union Number three, by Easy Home
(15:53):
Exteriors by S ANDT Bank, Remax Select Realty, by Don's Appliances,
the Pittsburgh Steeler Pro Shop, by Always Safe Flagging and
Traffic Control, and by us Steal.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Tom off from and Ryan Solo Today on the training
camp report, Bob Labriola sitting down with coach Mike Tomlin
perhaps at this very moment for his network pregame chat
that you all hear during the pregame show. I guess
he's got bigger fish to fry today, so we'll give
him a pass. Coach Tomlin did address the media kind
of his first official press conference of the season as
(16:29):
the Steelers head to Jacksonville for a seven pm kickoff
on Saturday night to start the preseason schedule against the Jags,
and boy, it was a long list of players that
Tomlin already rolled out in case you missed it. Aaron Rodgers,
Dk Metcalf, John new Smith, Pat Fryarmouth, Isaac Camalu, and
Jalen Warren will be the members of the offensive side
of the ball that won't be playing Saturday. Joey Porter, Junior,
(16:52):
Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey, Deshaun Elliott, Patrick, Queen cam Hayward,
TJ Watt, Nick Herbig on the defense side of things,
and then Chris Boswell also won't be playing, so Pittman
Ben Sols will be stepping in. I'm sure he'll do
a great job. Utmost confidence in him injured players Calvin Anderson,
Alex high Smith, Dante Kent, and Corey Trice, so don't
(17:14):
expect to see them playing either. So really nobody of
note will be playing in this preseason Well, I shouldn't
say that, because there's a couple of people of note here.
You're still going to see most of that offensive line.
You're gonna see Broderick Jones. Now, I won't have Isaac
seam All dough next to him, but I didn't list
Darnel Washington as one of the players that is inactive,
so you'll probably see Mount Washington lined up on the
(17:37):
hip left hip of Broderick Jones, aiding him in protection.
I think that's something that the Steelers will utilize a
lot this year as they try to help ease this
transition from right tackle to left tackle for their third
year first round pick Jones. So interested to see what
Broderick Jones does in this preseason debut, and really interested
(17:58):
to see the entirety of that offensive line because other
than the guy who has the day off, Isaac Ciamalu,
nobody has more than three years experience under their belt.
And that's Proderck Jones perhaps the biggest question mark on
this line. You got the two second year guys on
the interior, with Zach Frasier your center, and Mason McCormick
at right guard, and then Troy Fatanu at right tackle,
(18:19):
who I'm excited to see get some game action under
his belt as well. This team was so high on
him last year. You know, he was hurt for most
of the preseason, and then they jump them in front
of Broderick Jones for that game Week two in Denver
and gets hurt obviously, so we get robbed of his
rookie season. But all accounts seem to illustrate that he
(18:41):
has bounced back from this injury and that the Steelers
are incredibly high on the potential for Troy Fatano could
possibly be that all pro type, that anchor for the
offensive line. So that's of intrigue. Your first round pick
from this year will be on the field, Derek Harmon,
and with no care Hayward, you'll see a lot of
(19:01):
Benton Harmon and whyya Black and I like seeing kind
of that young or that youthful angle to this defensive
line take over for maybe a quarter. Mike Tomlin didn't
really get into the specifics of how long people will
be playing, but we know what Cam Hayward's going to
bring to the table. I'm fine if Cam Hayward doesn't
(19:22):
play a single preseason game, to be honest with you.
Keep him fresh, keep him healthy. But I want to
see what these three guys can do. I want to
see if any one of them can really step up
and kind of take the reins. Is that, you know
number two on that defensive line. The front runner's got
to be the first round pick, Derek Harmon. You know,
Benton had a lot of moments in his rookie season.
It's too early to just rule him out from being
(19:45):
a big time impact player. So interesting to see how
those three play. At the beginning of the game, I
didn't notice what Jackson's Jacksonville's plan is going to be.
It's a new coaching staff. Mike Tomlin said that he,
you know, doesn't have any film to go off of
from last year because of that, So not really sure yet.
If it's going to be Trevor Lawrence out there, what
(20:07):
they're gonna look like offensively, I'd have to imagine that
they won't play their quarterback, although I don't know he's
an offensive coach. Liam Cohen. Maybe he wants to start
getting a little bit of a sample of what he's
gotten quarterback Trevor Lawrence and what his offense looks like
being run by him. But defensive line and offensive line
(20:28):
is certainly areas of intrigue for the Steelers. And then
you're gonna see Jan Thornhill at safety play as kind
of that guy in the secondary. And I think that's
pretty interesting because all of the other running mates when
they go into Nickel, if he does win that safety spot,
Porter Junior, Sleigh Ramsey, the three corners and Deshaun Elliott,
his would be running made at safety. They ain't playing.
(20:49):
So Thornhill's gonna kind of have to be that lead
dog at the beginning of the game. And it's nothing
that he shouldn't be able to do. This man has
a lot of experience in the NFL, got two Super
Bowl rings, So you know that's definitely an area that
you look at this Steelers defense and you say, where
are potential weak spots, where are potential players that quarterbacks
might look at and say, let's try to expose that.
(21:12):
And it's no insult to one Thornhill. This is how
offenses approach every defense. You know, you can't be perfect,
all pro caliber at every single position. And there are
others that might be targeted on that defense by opposing teams.
But Thornhill's one that I think is something that sticks out.
And if he you know, he doesn't have to be
a a superstar, but if he can just be a
(21:33):
really solid safety and not allow an opposing team to
kind of pick on him exploit him when he's on
the field, then man, the talk that you're hearing out
of some of the Steelers, both on the offense and
the defensive side of the ball, about the expectations for
this defense, well those could really come to fruition. I mean,
(21:55):
one Thornhill said yesterday it might be the best defense ever.
I don't think that that's quite possible anymore, the way
that the league is shifted. I don't think anybody's going
to top some of the great defenses of yesteryear. But
all they have to be is one of the best
defenses of this year, and on paper, they absolutely should be.
(22:17):
Other things of note from coach Mike Tomlins press conference.
With the Will Howard injury, it looks like he's going
to be out for all of the preseason. That's a
tough blow because you had to think that this game
he was going to get a lot of reps, and
who knows, maybe down the road in that third preseason
game when you go to Carolina, that's just a Will
Howard game, right, Like maybe you just say, hey, Rook,
(22:38):
roll the ball out, play all four quarters. Let's see
what you do. Get an NFL game under your belt. Well,
now you can't do any of that. Steelers bring in
quarterback Logan Woodside to add to the quarterback room. Labs
and I were discussing that on yesterday's training camp report
if we thought the Steelers might do that, and we
kind of came to the conclusion that maybe not, because,
(22:59):
you know, is anybody going to be able to jump
in and pick up things adequately enough quickly enough to
help out in these training camp practices to come and
in the practices throughout the rest of the preseason period
of the schedule. Well, I guess if you've got a
quarterback out there like Logan Woodside who already has some
familiarity with Arthur Smith, as Mike Tomlin laid out in
(23:21):
his press conference, then it makes sense to bring him
in and have that extra arm I was wondering if
we were going to see Mason Rudolph first quarter, then
all Skyler Thompson. Now, I wonder if we'll see Mason
Rudolph for even less than that. Throw Skyler Thompson in
for most of the game, and if you're comfortable enough
(23:41):
over these next couple days, let Logan Woodside kind of
mop up in the fourth quarter late in the fourth quarter.
But it does suck that we were robbed of seeing
Will Howard play. Not that I am on the hype
train for him being the quarterback of the future, but
this was really going to be the only time, if
all things go well for the Steelers this year, that
(24:03):
you would see him on the field is in these
preseason games. So it sucks for that rookie to miss
that opportunity, And it kind of stinks for all of
us to not be able to at least have somewhat
of an entertaining angle to that quarterback position because we've
had that right for the past few preseasons. We've kind
of had that intrigue. No Russell Wilson last year, he's hurt.
What's justin Field's looked like running this offense. Kenny Pickett
(24:26):
obviously lit up that preseason a couple of years ago
and everybody thought that the Steelers were going to the
super Bowl. You had the Mitch Trubisky when he first
took the reins as the quarterback, and Kenny Pickett's rookie
year and that kind of preseason to keep an eye on.
You're looking at your first round pick, Kenny Pickett when
he comes into the game this year. There's no real
intrigue at that position because of Rogers obviously being QB one,
(24:50):
and if you see him at all in this preseason,
I bet it's just for a few snaps at Akroscher
Stadium against Tampa Bay, not this Saturday, but the following one.
But Will Howard was gonna have a little bit of
that intrigue for you at the QB position. Now it
will just be Rudolph and Skyler Thompson and maybe a
little bit of Logan Woodside as well. I'm excited to see,
(25:14):
you know, Derek Harmon, Caleb Johnson, Jack Sawyer, the rookies
from this class get their first taste to the NFL.
Real high on this rookie class. Labs and I were
talking about that yesterday and let's see them make a
splash an early impression here in their first quote unquote
NFL game action. Tom off from an in solo today.
(25:36):
But let's have Labs join in spirit. Let's go over
his practice report and kind of update you what happened
yesterday in practice. The Steelers put the pads on the
shelves yesterday. They will be back in pads today. Now,
I'm not trusted like Bob Labriolaz, so I don't get
handed the practice script, so I can't tell you exactly
what they're gonna do. But I will tell you they
(25:56):
will be in pads. I am almost certain of that,
after not having them on yesterday and just having a
walk through tomorrow and travel to Jacksonville. They did go
through seven shots as always, this one was a four
to three win to the offense. It went like this.
Rogers found dk Metcalf running across the back of the
(26:17):
end zone on the first snap of the drill for
a touchdown. Then on his next two attempts, Rogers was incomplete,
first to Darnell Washington and then the second was batted
at the line of scrimmage by Ya Black, who is
really impressing. And I didn't include him in this rookie
class when I said him, excited to watch a few
of these guys, and I need to because man, he's
(26:37):
coming that first man off the bench when it comes
to all Steelers participating in that defensive line. So excited
to see the rookie out of Iowa maybe make a splash,
maybe bad a pass down like he has been starting
to kind of be known to do up a training
camp in this game against Jacksonville. But that was it
for Rogers. He had three reps there. Then Mason Rudolph
checked in. His first pass to Robert Woods was incomplete
(27:00):
back on his next snap to hit Robert Woods for
a touchdown. So the defense was up three to two
at that point. Skyler Thompson then checked in, handed the
ball off to Lou Nichols who ran up the middle
into a massive players no pads though, so no one
was tackling. They ruled it a touchdown. Maybe a little
bit of massaging there from Mike Tomlin, but that set
up the three to three tie, and that brought the
first team back onto the field and they did that
(27:22):
alignment that Labs was talking about where they put three
receivers on the left side and Metcalf as a single
on the right and kind of just io him up.
You saw Ab do that all the time when he
was here. You just get a matchup one on one
if you can. And that's exactly what the Steelers worked
here in their Game seven. The bunch that was on
the left side all ran to the left corner of
the end zone and Metcalf cut toward the center of
(27:44):
the field. Rogers hit him and stride for the touchdown
his second to Metcalf of that drill and it gave
the offense that four to three win that game seven
walkoff win, and love seeing the Rogers to Metcalf connection
really start to blossom. Had a quarterback wide receiver tandem
like that since Ben and Ab and I'm not saying
(28:06):
that they're going to be able to mind meld like
they did. They had years and years of experience together
to build a rapport Ben and Ab did. But just
talent wise, DK's not as good as Ab, Rogers isn't
as good as Ben was in his prime currently, but
just that ceiling as far as their talent is concerned, still,
(28:30):
that tandem is something that could do a lot of
damage in the NFL and something that the Steelers have
been missing a lot in years past. Other observations that
labs made from practice. You know, it had to do
with why You're Black. He got a little, a little reckless,
if you will, in the padless practice when Caleb Johnson
took a hand off, ran through the line of scrimmage
and why you Black blasted him to the ground. And
(28:52):
Pat Fryarmouth had to, you know, let black know, Hey,
this is a padless practice. Let's not be doing that
here at the professional level. And Mike Tomlin said that
he's a high energy, big and for an enormous man,
he hustles and he finishes, and man, he's making a
lot of impact and making people notice him. And he's
a big guy who's really athletic. It's hard not to
(29:12):
notice him. But turning some heads at camp so far
for these Steelers. Pick out of Iowa, y you Black.
Steelers also did a two minute drill in yesterday's padless practice.
There were two reps of it. Rogers took control of
the first rep, and just like yesterday, this ended with
another interception. One Thornhill made a diving interception. The pass
(29:33):
was intended for Pat Fryermuth down the middle of the field.
Some debate on whether Thornhill secured the ball before it
hit the ground as Labs put it in his practice report,
but they did finally rule it in interception. The second
rep included a one handed sideline catch by wide receiver
Brandon Johnson got the offense in position for a thirty
seven yard field goal for Ben SAAL's tom and called
(29:54):
a time Mike Toma called a time out to try
to ice him, but Saul's drilled the field goal through
the upright. So a win there, I'd say, for the
second rep of the two minute drill. But the Rogers
rep the first rep it ended again in an interception.
But the thing I like to hear from that they
were looking at the middle of the field, intended for
Pratt Fryarmouth down the middle. That's somewhere that the Steelers
(30:15):
have been a bit allergic to in years past. And
I don't blame them because you're kind of trying to
minimize the turnovers when it comes to your young quarterback.
Can you Pickett than justin fields. That's what you were
trying to detox out of his game, was the turnovers,
so you avoid the muddiness of the middle of the field.
Russell Wilson just does that on his own, especially at
this stage in his career. So utilizing the middle of
(30:36):
the field is something that I think has been sorely
missing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Very happy to see them
employ that in training camp and hopefully it's a sign
of things to come that Rogers will be willing to
attack that middle of the field, even though yeah, ball
will get tipped up sometimes and get picked off by safety.
Still a lot more to come here on the training
camp report. We're gonna hear from both quarterbacks a little
(30:58):
bit later on in the program. By both quarterbacks, I
mean Aaron Rodgers, the starter, and then Skyler Thompson, who
I think you'll see a lot of on Saturday Night.
We will be joined by Tim Whorley later on in
the last segment of the show, end of the one
o'clock hour. So excited for that. And I think, well,
let's go with PROGERC. Jones. Let's hear from progerck Jones
when we come back. It's a big game for him
(31:19):
on Saturday. It's a big year for him, so we'll
hear what he had to say. Following practice yesterday. It's
Tom Opperman on the Training Camp Report, Fox Sports Pittsburgh
nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 7 (31:29):
Network Iheartradios Live coverage job Dot twenty twenty five. Steelers
Training Camp is presented by Fatex where Now meets Next
and also brought to you by First National Bank, by Calucy, Chevrolet,
(31:50):
iron Workers Union Number three, by Easy Home Mixteriors by
SNT Bank, we Max Select Realty, by Tom's Appliances, Pittsburgh
Steelers Pro Shop, by Always Safe Flagging and Traffic Control,
and by US Steel.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Tom Opferman back on the Training Camp Report. Steeler is
going to be hitting the practice field at Saint Vincent
College in a little over an hour from now. This
will be their final practice of the week. They'll have
a walk through tomorrow, jump on a plane, go to
Jacksonville and play the Jags on Saturday night. So important
practice for a lot of people. Kind of last impressions,
(32:29):
I guess if you will for some the pads will beyond.
Maybe you can get yourself into the game a little
bit earlier than the coaches have planned for you already.
But we'll see what happens at practice. Today if you
missed coach Mike Tomlins press conference. A slew of players
will not be available. Aaron Rodgers, Dk Metcalf, John new Smith,
(32:49):
Pat Fryarmouth, Jalen Warren and Isaac Camali on the offensive
side of things, Porter Junior, Sleigh Ramsey, Elliott, Queen Hayward,
Watt her Big and then Boswell too won't be playing.
So no Isaac cmali on that offensive line, but it's
still a big game for the rest of that unit,
especially for Roderick Jones. Had a little bit of turbulence
(33:10):
at the beginning of this training camp with an injury,
but he seems to be able to bounce back from
that relatively smoothly. Now he's making the switch from right
tackle to left tackle. He was a left tackle at Georgia,
so this is the position that he was more naturally
comfortable at. But it's been two years now where he's
been a right tackle in the NFL. So how easy
(33:33):
is that switch going to be made?
Speaker 4 (33:35):
Well?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I think Isaac cmal is going to do his best
to make it as easy as possible. We won't see
him on Saturday, of course, but in the regular season.
I think that that's something that the Steelers can really
lean on. Is that your veteran is that left guard,
and he'll be on Proderc's right hip. I think another
thing that you can do to kind of help him
out is put on his left hip big Darnell Washington,
(33:56):
who when the Steelers came out with their first iteration
of their depth chart, was listed as a starter. All
three tight ends were listed as starters. So I wonder
if there is maybe some inclination to pair him with
Jones a lot and provide some help, because if Roderick
Jones isn't capable, then the Steelers are going to be
(34:17):
in trouble. He doesn't have to be a superstar. You
want him to be. You train it up for him.
He's a first round pick, lots of talent in there,
big boy, you know, kind of checks all the prototypical boxes.
To be a left tackle in this league just hasn't
translated to the NFL yet at a consistent level. Doesn't
have to be that superstar. Just has to be capable.
(34:40):
Just be a little better than Dan Moore was and
you'll be fine. The Steelers should be able to survive that.
Rogers should be able to survive that. But the pressure
is most certainly on Broderick Jones. And I've said this
a lot throughout this training camp period. It's not just
pressure for or the team to have success and for
(35:02):
him to not be the reason why they don't for
him to let the team down, but individually, your first
round pick, you know, the team's gonna think about picking
up your fifth year option or not this offseason. That's
a huge raise, and that's guaranteed money, all of it.
And right now, I would be surprised if the Steelers
(35:23):
were confident enough to extend that to him. Now he's
got a season here in front of him to make
them feel very comfortable doing that. And trust me, the
Steelers would want to do that. You don't, you know,
have a goal of picking a player in the first
round and then not picking up their fifth year option.
Every first round pick. That's the goal, the pick up
the fifth year. So not just for the team's sake,
(35:46):
but for the individual. For Broderick Jones to establish himself
as an NFL player, to establish his bank account as
an NFL bank account, you know, this is a season
that he has to excel to the point of being
at least capable because look, even capable tackles get money.
(36:07):
Dan Moore got a ton of money in Tennessee, and
I think most of Steelers Nation was okay with watching
him move on. But that position just gets paid a premium.
And it's up to Proderick Jones to step up and
fill that left tackle position for the Steelers, protect Aaron
(36:31):
Rodgers's blindside, and keep this offense, you know, operating under
him for the entirety of the season so they can
hopefully achieve more than they have in years past. Broderick
Jones spoke to the media following yesterday's practice. Let's take
a listen to what the offensive lineman had to say.
Speaker 10 (36:52):
An Daron, Yeah, he's a great, great leader. He's very vocal.
So you know, we just got I can and make
sure everybody's on one page and you know, making sure
we're keeping on my brother.
Speaker 6 (37:04):
There's been a lot to talk to you about this
all line and how it's not the biggest all line
and you know, maybe.
Speaker 10 (37:10):
Doesn't have a whole lot of death.
Speaker 6 (37:11):
What do you want to say about that.
Speaker 10 (37:14):
It's never about the size, It's all about the fighting
adult and I feel like everybody on our old line
has that fight. They come in each and every day
ready to work on things that they need to work
on to get better. And you know, I feel like
as long as you have that mindset, nobody can.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Stop you from been go thring.
Speaker 10 (37:30):
Now to that'll most of you guys, I mean, are
are you dealing with the injuries that.
Speaker 4 (37:34):
You guys have?
Speaker 10 (37:35):
Yeah, it's tough always, you know, dealing with injuries. But
it's a physical game. It comes with it. So sometimes
you just gotta take the god with the bad and
just continue to play, you know, even if it's just
for a practice or a game. You know, you just
got to try and fight through and push through for
your team.
Speaker 8 (37:53):
Like there's the other teams, you guys picking up different
funs to flip the defenses.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
That's throwing at you guys, but they throw a lot
at you guys.
Speaker 8 (37:59):
What you say about the improvement that you guys have
had from the start a camp for now and doing those.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
Things, man, it's great.
Speaker 10 (38:07):
Our defense is top notch, man, our defense has always
been top notch. So just being able to go up
against them every day. Coach Ta he dials it up
every day. It's something new every day with him, so
you know, it keeps us on our toes, and you know,
I feel like that's a good thing for us too,
because with us being able to see a lot of
things when the game is slowed down for us.
Speaker 8 (38:25):
So I sat back and forth, I go back and
forth with you. A Pat seemed like like that pass
play to him, like, oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:32):
We was just here.
Speaker 10 (38:36):
And me and Patt are always joking. We're always busting
each other's shops, just trying to get the best out
of each other. It's never nothing personal. I know that
he knows that, so you know, we just continue to
do it.
Speaker 8 (38:46):
How do you feel about the camaraderie in this office though,
to be able to call each other out when there
is a real mistake and it's.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Like hey, and people take it like professionals and.
Speaker 10 (38:54):
Move forward together. You don't have a choice, Buss, because
it doesn't just affect you, would affects the whole team.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 10 (39:02):
So you know, you just gotta take it away a
brain salt personally.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
For Yeah, you know your three Now, just what are
you hoping to see.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Out of yourself year?
Speaker 10 (39:10):
Just continue to grow each and every day. Really, no
set goal. I just want to be the best that
I can be each and every day, every game, and
like I said, just making sure I keep hearing up
all seasons.
Speaker 8 (39:21):
What's the part of your game that you feels has
proved the most from the end of last season to
right now. Whether it's footwork and placement or just like
overall knowing things.
Speaker 10 (39:32):
I would probably say probably not footwork and my hands,
just being able to quicken them up, being light on
my feet, you know, thinking thinking ahead of the playing
set of always trying to just have that process like
while we're going into the play, you know, which is
it caused you to slow down and not place as
(39:53):
fast as you want, and you know, all all sorts
of crazy things like that. So may I probably say,
you know.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Just being quicker with my and I see it.
Speaker 8 (40:01):
So you said experience and the loss of weight that
you took off to prepare for camp, all that's really
been helping you.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
Yes, all of it. Play the part and you're still.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Wrapped up from your whatever you can play. I've seen
you bring out some snaps and everything at that part.
Speaker 10 (40:12):
Is just getting back to I just do what they
tell me, you know, coach, I'll be trying to they
send them in to get me I'll be trying to
push them out, and they they don't.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
They always told me out.
Speaker 4 (40:21):
So you got to play Saturday or you think you're
you're playing.
Speaker 10 (40:24):
I'm pretty sure I the.
Speaker 4 (40:26):
Repsit left top, when game reps are left top. Is
that important to you to get some of the long runers? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (40:30):
Always, always, always.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
We've already out sorry.
Speaker 8 (40:33):
If you've already been asked this, but just how do
you feel as an offense, as an entire entire group.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
I guess that you guys have been coming together on
to the point we got around this morning, he said,
you know, the last three or four.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Practices, you guys kind of take it through the trying. Yeah,
you know, it's always just about the next day.
Speaker 10 (40:49):
You can't focus on what happened yesterday or what just
happened a partice today. It's all about going in.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
There watching film and you know, figuring.
Speaker 10 (40:55):
Out what we got to get better as a whole.
And you know, I feel like we do that every day.
You know, we come with an open mindset, and you
know when somebody like eight behind us, you know, it
just gives us a loucial confidence. So we just gotta
keep him a little project.
Speaker 8 (41:08):
Keep feeling like the offensive, skinning into a rhythm, like
you can kind of feel.
Speaker 10 (41:12):
Like bro this, you know, we just gotta continue to grow,
continue to jail together because we got a lot of
new moving pieces on.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
But at the end of the that, I think we'll
be all right.
Speaker 8 (41:23):
Brodaga, who's like ya black gone from a fifth round
rookie that was working his way up to being the
first guy that comes off the bench for them. You
guys have tussled a few times looking saying about him
and is avert and he comes with.
Speaker 10 (41:34):
A lot of grits, like comes, he comes with the fight,
he comes with the nastiness. He's a big, physical dude.
It's hard to move him. So you know, I feel
like he's gonna be a tough, a tough individual for us.
And you know, just for the rest of the camp and
for the season coming up. You know, we got a
(41:55):
lot of depth. And you know, it's good to have
depth in different positions because you never know how just
like camp people get all these little injuries and stuff
like that, so you never know. So it's just good
to be able to know you haven't as a you know,
backup all potential however, plays gout.
Speaker 8 (42:12):
I know, if when the practice is going practice is
going on, you're offen a guy, that's like making a
practiced code or hyper or like hyping someone up after that. Yeah,
like a conscious thing you do or letting that. You know,
I think it just comes natural.
Speaker 10 (42:26):
You know, it's always good to have fun and you know,
just not be so uptight with whatever you're doing. So
you know, we just hotch on whatever. I try and
keep that mindset, but you know, still having that mindset up, Okay,
you still have to work and do your job first
and then you know, so it's a it's a good
balance in there.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Steelers offensive lineman Broderck Jones speaking of the media following
practice yesterday, we'll get our first glimpse of Proderick Jones
at left tackle in a Steelers uniform on Saturday night
against Jacksonville. Tom off from an in solo today on
the Training Camp Report. When we come back, we'll hear
from Aaron Rodgers, We'll hear from Skyler Thompson. We'll do
a whole quarterback segment next. Labs would be proud. It's
(43:06):
the Training Camp Report on Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy
am and the Steelers Audio Network
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