August 15, 2023 • 45 mins
Labs and Tom break down Steelers practice from Sunday, the results of 7 shots and the 2 minute drill, and we hear from Damontae Kazee and Coach Tomlin.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is the Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
The Steelers have to show up for practice today, Labs.
They're only going to be there. They've had practice. They
haven't had practice in two of the last three days.
I can't talk to start the show today. This is
just where we're at right now. The energy that I'm
bringing to start the training camp report is lacking. With
the energy that the Steelers brought on Sunday during that
(00:33):
practice in the middle of two days off was not lacking,
and Coach Toman is really pleased with that. You know,
you talk about these little tests that coach gives these
guys throughout this camp process, and that's one of them.
You know, obviously you're recovering after the game on Friday,
you have your day off on Saturday, you have the
day off on Monday, but you gotta go to work
on that Sunday. And you can see some complacency sometimes
(00:54):
with people when you have that random day of practice
just dropped in the middle there.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
But that wasn't the case.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Tom and was very effusive in his praise of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and saying, you know they showed up ready
to play on this Sunday as if they had been
practicing for five straight days.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, it was a weird little quirk in the schedule.
You know, you're in Tampa on Friday night playing a game,
then you travel back and you have a day off,
then you practice for a day and then you're off again,
and now you know today you're kind of in the
home stretch of this training camp. And it was weird,
(01:31):
I'm sure for the players. I mean, I just because
a lot of times the level of weirdness for the
players kind of leaks through into you know, just everyday
people like me, for example, knowing what day it was
for the last three days, I mean was Seriously, it
was a challenge because you know, you're used to Monday's off,
(01:56):
and just as you're starting to get your head around,
you know, not thinking Monday is a Sunday then and
then thinking that, you know, the first day of work
back is a Tuesday, which it had been up here.
Now you're back to, you know, having Saturday off, so
(02:19):
you think that's Monday, and then you're working Sunday and
you're thinking that's Tuesday, and then you're off again. I mean,
it really kind of messes up your not so much
your body rhythms, but your brain weighs. I don't know,
so I can only imagine what it's like for guys
who have to not only know what day it is,
(02:42):
but then have to transfer that to physical activity like
football on a field. So yeah, kudos to the players
for not being as discombobulated as I felt. Uh And
it wasn't it Not only a practice that Mike Tomlin liked,
(03:02):
but it was enjoyable to watch. And let me tell
you that Sunday practice, it was packed here. I mean,
I get it that it was the last week weekend
day practice of this training camp. And so you know,
that was one of the ideas behind Mike Tomlin petitioning
(03:23):
the NFL to change the Steelers day off from Sunday,
which it had been last summer, to Monday, which he
wanted it to be this summer to accommodate the fans,
you know, give them the opportunity, you know, to come
out here on weekends because you know, most people are
off on weekends. But it was I mean, seriously, it
(03:45):
was just looking at the hillside the stands that caught
the line of cars looking to get getting to park. Uh,
it was. It was packed, and so yeah, it was.
It was. I think it was a raging success on
a lot of different levels, from a fan standpoint attendance
(04:08):
to a fan standpoint in terms of what they were
able to watch when once they got here, uh, you know,
and then from a football standpoint, as Mike Tomlin talked
about enjoying the how the players approached it and then
performed once it was actually time to start working on
the field.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, you mentioned how entertaining of a practice it was,
tom and put them in pads again, first practice after
a game, and you know, I know they had a
day off before and a day off after, so it's
not that big of a deal, but maybe a little
bit surprising.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I put it this way.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I don't think anybody would have batted an eye if
the sewers would have come out on that practice field
Sunday without pads on. But the intensity was there and
it warranted a padded practice, and Toman really has not
been messing around with the lack of padded practices once
that period started this camp.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, and you know, I just think that and I understand,
you know, when you listen to the you know old warriors,
you know, Craig Wolfley and to a lesser extent, Max
Starks because Wolfley worked under Chuck Noll where every day
was a scrimmage and two a days for most of it.
But as you mentioned this, this is not you know,
(05:17):
a country club atmosphere out here. Uh. It's certainly it's
not the eighties, you know, when it was a barbaric
war every day. But you know, this is we've seen
a lot of these kinds of situations, you know, in pads.
The afternoon after Friday night lights was another example of that. Uh.
(05:37):
And so a lot of perception of you know, Mike
Tomlin being a coach who goes easy on the players,
that's that's not accurate. I mean, it's certainly not with
accurate within the context of the current rules of the
collective bargaining agreement, what teams are allowed to do, you know,
(06:00):
in training camp, et cetera. So, yeah, it's not the eighties,
but I think if you look around the NFL and
compare to some of the other training camps, it's it's
a lot more difficult, a lot more physical than a
lot of the others.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, that's a sentiment that shared around the league. Mike
Tomlin hosts a very physical camp, and I have to
imagine that that helps prepare the team in the regular
season for things such as tackling. And I know Steelers
fans gets on the Steelers every time they see a
mistackle all this team can't tackle at all, But when.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
You actually look at it, labs.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
This has been one of.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
The more short tackling teams in the NFL of the
past couple of years. And I got to imagine that
these padded practices here in July, late July, early August
really build the foundation for that.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah, Mike Thomlan is fond of saying, you know, if
you want to be a boxer, you got a spa
And that's his comparison. And so that's a lot of
the genesis behind some of the things you know that
happen up the training ca The Steelers have a live
tackling period every practice, every practice that they're in pads,
(07:06):
they tackle, tackle to the ground. And I don't know
if there's another team in the NFL that does that,
certainly not every day. And I still remember, I still
remember the first day that that ever happened, standing down
on the sideline next to Kevin Colbert, who was the
general manager at the time, and it was, you know,
(07:30):
the Le'Veon bell was he was the running back on
the first live tackling play of a training camp practice.
And I remember the look on Kevin Colbert's face, and
then afterwards and talking to Mike Tomlin about it, he said, no,
I didn't tell anybody because I didn't want him to
try and talk me out of it. So yeah, it
(07:53):
was you know, the shock that registered on the faces
of people, you know, high up in the organization who
would know such things about how frequently or infrequently or
never things like that were done to me was eye opening.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
After practice ended on Sunday, Coach Tomlin stop by and
chatted with the media.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Let's hear what coach had to say.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
Man, it was a significant day for us. We had
an opportunity to review the tape and analyze our performance
in a professional way, allow that to set a trajectory
for this upcoming week's work individually and collectively, and then
we came out and worked on the grass. And so
it's a significant day, man. Just the process the cycle
of getting better of prep, play, analysis and then plan
(08:41):
and move forward and so we're very much in the
midst of that. Days like today are really significant. It
kind of sets the trajectory for the upcoming week, and
when we do a good job of it, we have
a chance to have consistent performance, and that's what we seek.
We're just trying to build not only skill, but just
that understanding of profession how we go about it. I
thought we had really good energy and compete today getting
(09:05):
back out here, but we were not afforded an opportunity
to warm up to it.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
You know.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
We we had an off day yesterday, We got an
off day tomorrow. We can't waste days like today in
the midst of that. Then there's a nugget that's called today.
And I just thought that they really got after it
and took advantage of it, and I'm appreciative. Nate Herbiet
went down with a shoulder in practice. He's gonna be evaluated. Obviously,
we had bumps, some bruises associated with play. Ken O
(09:29):
Benton went down in the game with an ankle that
could be described this day to day. We'll see how
that leads us. Some other guys obviously were limited or
did not participate. Cam Heyward's not here today. He's sick,
and so we thought we, you know, allow him to
get right and maybe protect some of the others in
the process. I'll pause and open up for questions.
Speaker 6 (09:52):
No one like when you were talking about moving guys
around the offensive line. If you have a position where
maybe you feel like you're back up at one spot
the strutting mother's pout, do you feel like you need
to see them or can you just transcript the body
of work?
Speaker 5 (10:05):
You know, I don't even begin to make those decisions
until the eleventh hour. The more we let it sort
itself out, we don't have to write the story. There's
usually great clarity. There's enough opportunities in this process. But
I'm not opposed to doing anything in an effort to
get the becks mixed on the grass under any circumstance.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
After if Milder knows thrown the those who thinks for
you and I didn't taking this camp.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
When you put this, you know, the skilled development relative
to the position to hand usage, the professional things coupled
with defensive line play. Obviously, he's an imposing figure and
strong young man, and that's always been a component of
this game. But I think he's continually grown and evolved
from a from a fine motor skill perspective in hand usage.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Very quick from coach Tomlin after practice on Sunday, in
and out, in and out. I guess there wasn't much
to ask him though. After you got a chance to
talk to him after the Buccaneers game, and you look
so good in that Buccaneers game. Not many questions to
be had of Mike. But he did mention the injury
report their labs and just to update it from what
happened on practice on Sunday. He mentioned Nate Herbig had
(11:08):
a shoulder injury in practice and he's being evaluated. Everything
else just bumps and bruises associated with play, as Tomlin
likes to say. But he did mention Keanu Benton going
down at the end of that Tampa game on Friday.
The good news is on Sunday labs he was out
there on the field without a wrap on. Didn't seem like,
you know, he was too injured. And you heard a
(11:30):
little rumor about today's practice regarding mister Benton.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Yeah, I mean he's Keanu Benton is telling people that
he's going to practice today. Now, whether that actually happens
or not, you know, we'll see. I mean, we very
very often hear players pronouncing themselves ready for things or
promising that they're going to be ready for something, and
(11:53):
then you know, it doesn't happen, not so much because
you know, just because a lot of times the trainings
aff the medical people they just decided that, you know,
pushing it is not the way to go. Sometimes it
can lead to, you know, a more serious situation in
a longer absence, you know, on the other end. But
you know, I was, you know, as someone who lives
(12:16):
in my fears, I noticed, you know that on the
watching the game Keanu Bent limping off the field, and
you know, hey, you that could be anything, you know
what I mean, or something because I remember very clearly
(12:36):
the opener of the nineteen ninety five season UH at
three River Stadium against the Detroit Lions. The Lions first
third down play, Barry Sanders put a move on Rod
Woodson in the flat and Woodson went down and Woodson
limped by himself to the locker room, and I'm thinking, boy,
(12:57):
this isn't going to be too bad, yeah, torn, So
you know, sometimes it doesn't look bad early and it
turns out to be bad. Other times you think it's
bad early and it turns out not to be so bad,
you know, thankfully for the Steelers. It was the reverse
of the Woodson thing for Keanu Benton because I noticed
(13:21):
him right away when the players started filing out from
the locker room onto the field. You know, he had
his jersey on, no pads though, which indicates, you know,
a guy's not going to practice, and he had you know,
long sweatpants on, but there was nothing on his foot,
there was no boot, it didn't it wasn't visibly wrapped,
(13:43):
and he participated in the warm ups with the rest
of the defensive linemen. And I'm thinking, what's going on here?
And then not only did he do that, which was
an incredibly good sign in my non medical opinion, but
then he's good on the sideline among the defensive linemen
(14:04):
throughout practice. Yeah. Right, So I'm thinking, you know, because
even if he was out there for a little bit,
you know, to sit down, you know, those kinds of things,
nothing right, nothing, So you know, I'm thinking, wow, this
is this is really good news. And then you know,
(14:26):
he started telling people that you know, he was going
to practice. He was only missing the one day. Now
we'll see what happens today whether he's out there or not,
or or to what degree if he is out there
he participates. But I mean, I was I had envisioned,
you know, a couple of weeks in my head, I'm
immediately going to a bad place. And after we saw
(14:48):
the way he played in that game against the Buccaneers,
the guy was extremely disruptive, showing some of the things
that you know, the reason that he was drafted forty
ninth overall, the things that he might be able to
provide from a nose tackle position that you know are
(15:08):
not common, because he was very good against a run
or a couple of fourth down plays. The one you know,
Isaiah Laudermilk got credit for the tackle, and he did
make the tackle, but it was Benton who made the
play by firing across the line of scrimmage and penetrating
into the backfield because when the running back got the ball,
(15:30):
Benton was right at his feet and so then he
had to readjust his route and Loudermilk came in and
made the play. Another running play, Benton dumped the running
back for a three yard loss. So there's that he's
already showing that he is going to be a pain
in the neck for offenses that are trying to run
(15:50):
the ball. And you know, he also comes to the
NFL with a reputation, you know, of having some quicks
and some athletic ability and some pass rush skills, so
that he's going to hopefully develop into the kind of
defensive lineman that you don't have to take off the
field in passing situation in passing situations. So, yeah, I
(16:15):
had high hopes for him, and the way he was playing,
I thought, Wow, this guy's really coming along nicely, and
then there was the injury. But it doesn't seem like
it's going to derail him as much as I originally feared.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, and that is great news because I'm not going
to say he's going to be a starter come opening
weekend of the NFL season, but he's going to be
a contributor, I think, as long as he continues on
this trajectory that we've seen through camp so far and
after his first preseason game, so.
Speaker 7 (16:39):
Good to hear.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
At least, the speculation is that the injury isn't that
serious and we'll see if he is back at practice
today for the Steelers. Again, I'm sure he wants to be,
but it's up to the medical staff. And you know,
it's got to be encouraging for a coaching staff to
see such a young guy exhibit this kind of hunger,
you know, have that ankle injury happen and then just
immediately shaken out.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Oh no, I'm good.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Crutches, I don't need it wrapped, I don't need a boot.
I'll just stand here on the sidelines, and I'm just
chomping at the bid to get back out there. In fact,
let me do some individual you know, stretching and warm
up stuff with this team so I don't miss a
complete day of practice. I mean, that kind of mindset
and drive from a rookie is what you need if
you want to start in the NFL at such a
young age.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, and I mean that's again, I think that that
likely showed through during the pre draft process. You know,
I'm sure that that had something to do with him
being the forty ninth overall pick. You know, he's going
to be and I don't know that this is necessarily
a bad designation, but he's going to be known for
(17:37):
at least for a while as the Steelers other second
round draft pick right twenty three and you know, Joey
Porter Junior is you know, not exactly chop livery either.
So you know, when you're kind of getting grouped with
a player of that ability, you know, that's a compliment
as well.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Seven Shots and two minute Drill were featured as part
of training camp practice on Sunday. We'll talk about how
the offense and the defense fared in both of those drills.
We come back on the Training Camp Report on Steelers
Nation Radio.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
This season Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and Bob
Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
The competition periods during training camp are most often the
most enjoyable for the fans and the media covering things,
and that wasn't the exception on Sunday with seven shots
and the two minute drill. Labs, let's start with seven shots.
You know, the offense has struggled in this drill throughout
training camp. They have been kind of picking up the
slack a little bit lately, being a little bit more
(18:45):
competitive and in fact picking up a win or two
along the way. But Sunday kind of saw that pendulum
swing back in the direction of the defense in seven shots.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Yeah, and you know, for anyone who was expecting like
me that to what we saw in Tampa from the
first string offense, that maybe you know that that was
a turning point and it would carry over right away
into the you know, into into training camp practices. But
you know that's not the case. And you know, I
don't think that that that's in no small part, I
(19:15):
believe that the Steelers defense is significantly better than Tampa
Bay's you know, no offense, no offense, you know, really,
and I'm not ripping the Buccaneers or anything. I just
don't think that, you know, they're going to be and
there were a lot of Buccaneers regulars who did not
play in that game, first of all. But I also
(19:39):
don't see the Buccaneers as an NFC contender this season.
So you know, you play who you play, and it
is what it is. But the Steelers offense did not
execute in or perform or enjoy the level of success.
Let me put it that way. In seven show against
(20:01):
the Steelers defense on Sunday that it enjoyed against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night in the preseason opener,
you know, and here the first play, you know exactly
kind of really illustrates my point. First snap of the drill.
(20:21):
You know, Picket takes the snap, he immediately identifies Deontay
Johnson is where he's going to go with the ball.
And Deontay Johnson was like a slant route into the
middle of the end zone, and he had a he
had his body in between where the ball was going
to be delivered and the defender. So you know, it's
(20:42):
perfect positioning. Pickett throws the balls right on target. Minka
Fitzpatrick flashes over from the middle and knocks it down.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Damn all pro safe. What a past yep.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
But I mean that's that's the difference. Uh. And you know,
Minca is getting back to you know, I don't know,
full speed, full strength, whatever it is, since you know
his absence from camp from personal reasons, for personal reasons.
But that's a Menca play, you know, right there and
then so it's one nothing defense. Then it's two nothing defense.
(21:20):
On the second play, pick went back to Johnston and
Joey Porter Jr. Was right there, but the ball was
run way over his head. A third the third pass,
the third play, another incomplete pass. The defense is up
three nothing. The offense finally got the ball into the
end zone on the four snap. It was a running
(21:42):
play Anthony McFarland kind of right up the middle of
knife into the end zone through a nice little gap.
And you know, maybe that's an example of the offense
taking advantage of the expectation from the opponent, in this
case the Steelers d defense. There was going to be
another pass. You run it, and you know, as I
(22:04):
like to say, it is legal to run the ball
into the end zone from the two yard line. I
looked it up.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
It's not even frond of I don't think encouraged it.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
And it comes with the same number of points too.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
People don't know that.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
So Mitch Trubisky comes in and gets the offense on
the board again. Uh, nice throw to Calvin Austin h
Kenny Robinson was in coverage. On the sixth snap, the
defense clinched the win. Cornerback Luke Barku again he's flashing
(22:41):
a lot lately, in my opinion, broke up a pass
intended for Des Fitzpatrick. So now it's already four to two.
And then on the last play, Trubisky went back to
Fitzpatrick was wide open, and that made the final score
a four to three win for the defense. But so
(23:03):
you know the way that the drills were aligned on
the day's schedule practice schedule, seven shots is always right
at the beginning, and then two minutes is right at
the end. And I really like the way that this
evolved in the sense that after watching the offense, I
(23:24):
won't say, get it's lunch handed to it, because that's
really overstating it, but not be successful and then to
come back and win both repetitions of the two minute
was really encouraging to me, not so much for any
other reason that I am a big fan of what
(23:47):
they refer to as EBB and flow in a practice.
You know, one unit wins one thing, one unit wins
the other thing, and you kind of go back and
forth because I really think that that's the way the
entire team gets It's better, no question, right. You don't
want one unit to be constantly dominating the other, you know,
(24:08):
not only for the what it kind of indicates from
a physical element of it, but psychologically too, you know,
I don't think that that can be very good. So anyway,
the rules for two minute ball was on the fifty
yard line, one thirty eight on the clock. The offense
had one time out of its in its hip pocket
(24:31):
and needed a touchdown to win. So the first team
offense is out there, and you know, can you pickt
to him right down the field a five yard run.
Then he converted that for a first down at the
thirty eight yard line within an eleven yard completion to
Alan Robinson. Then he threw a six yard quick pass
(24:51):
the Nauseie Harris, and then another incomplete pass, and so
the clock stops the offense as a third and four
from the thirty two yard line. Now again no surprise here.
Pickett goes to George Pickens. What do you know about that?
(25:12):
A nice, nice play, eighteen yard play past the Pickens
and he also got himself out of bonds and stops
the clock.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
How about that, labs, not just converting a third and format,
having a chunk play to boot on top of that.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Right, and got out of bonds too to stop the
claw perfect everything perfect well yeah, And then the next play,
Pickett goes over the middle and into the end zone,
Alan Robinson makes a diving catch for a touchdown. I
mean and on the play, Robinson was horizontal to the ground,
caught the ball about a foot off the grass. Very
(25:46):
nice play by the receiver. Good throw by the quarterback,
and it was you know, into the end zone, something
that you like, over the middle, something that you like.
And it was in a situation where it had to
be the final play of the allotted time period for
the drill or anything like that. It was nicely done,
(26:09):
scored a touchdown what you needed, had plenty of time,
didn't have to use the time out, you know, all
good things. So then the second unit comes out and
Mitch Trubisky has you know, had a good training camp.
You know, his performance in the game against Tampa Bay.
I don't think is illustrative at all of the kind
(26:32):
of summer this guy's been having. And you know, let
me just say, hey, fans out there who think that
that there stood there should be a change in the
order and the depth charted quarterback, uh you you couldn't
be more wrong. So anyway, Trubisky starts out, dumps a
quick pass to Darnel Washington. Then he throws it, completes
(26:56):
an eighteen yard pass the gun Royal Chefski for first
on a twenty seven yard line h the offense rushes
to the line, they run another play incomplete pass stops
the clock. Okay, so then U Trubisky and Olschewsky really
seemed to be having something good going between them. In
this particular drill, Trubisky completed a three yard pass to him,
(27:20):
rushed through the line of scrimmage through another pass. It
ended up being a twenty one yard game first and
goal at the three. The offense uses their only time out.
So you know, what do you do down at the
goal line when you're throwing the ball. Gee, I don't know,
look for the big guys, you yeah, yep. So Trubisky
(27:43):
goes to Darnell Washington, who was about five yards deep
in the end zone and he was stationary. The ball
was thrown, you know, a little bit, it wasn't right
in his chest. You know, he had to turn his
body a little bit, but he went up in the
air to catch with his hands. So again it was
a good enough throw away from the defense, away from
(28:07):
the coverage, and Darneld Washington continues to show that he
has the athletic ability, the body control, and the good
hands to make these kinds of catches. You know, a
lot of times with tight ends, you have to hit them,
you know, right in the framework of their chest for
it to be a complete pass. But Darnel Washington is
(28:29):
proving time and time again during this training camp process
that that is not necessary with him. So another touchdown
for the offense, a two to zero win in the drill,
and I would say, in my opinion as someone who
watched that entire session, it more than made up for
what happened in seven shots.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Well, when the Steelers fans aren't banging the table for
Mason Rudolph to jump up to number two on the
depth chart in front of Mitch Trubisky, they are banging
the table for using the middle of the field more.
That's really been the cry of the fan base ever
since the season ended last year. And I think it's
safe to say Labs that based on what we've seen
in these practices, based on what we saw in the
game against Tampa Bay, the Steelers themselves agree with that sentiment.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
We want to use the middle of the field a
little bit more.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yeah, I think as an offense, you don't ever want
to be so predictable, either with what you do or
what you won't do or don't do. You know that
it becomes a characteristic and so yeah, using all areas
of the field I think is important. Again, not only
(29:38):
because you know, good things can happen over the middle,
but you also don't want the defense to get the
idea that you're not going there because then they can
ignore it. So, Yeah, there have been a lot of
situations both up here and I think we saw it
in Tampa too, that the Steelers offense will go over
(29:59):
the you know, the touchdown pass the George Pickens in
the game against the Buccaneers was over the middle. And
the way that Kenny Pickett delivered that, you know, on time,
with velocity on target. Uh, he got pick Pickens the
ball at a time and in a place where then
(30:20):
he could do something with it, right, and you know,
completion turned into a touchdown because you know Pickens had
room to do you know, those things that he does
after he makes the catch and got the ball into
the end zone.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, and had a big conversion as well on that
drive before the Pickens played by hitting firemouth in the
middle of the field. You know, Pat went to that
dirty area posted up and pick it through a strike
towards him.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
It makes life a.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Lot easier when you utilize all areas of the field,
and like you said, it makes life a lot harder
on the defense, which is the name of the game.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Right and you know you don't want to for whatever
reason last year, and you know I can I'm going
to speculate a lot of times with rookie quarterbacks, you
don't want them throwing the ball over the middle because
a lot of times bad things can happen. You know,
that's where the defense is. That's where the defense can
get too quickly. If there are zone coverages or combination
(31:15):
coverage coverages or those kinds of things. A lot of
times in the middle of the field, it might look
like one thing and be something else, and you know
that can lead to turnovers. And with last year, with
Kenny Pickett as a rookie, turnovers we're a little bit
of an issue with him in his early playing time,
his early starts, and so you know, I can understand,
(31:36):
you know, a reluctance to continue to try and force
feed that stuff over the middle to the rookie. But
now he's not a rookie, and you know, I do
believe one of the things that Kenny Pickett is showing
this summer as an improvement over his last year's performance
is that his arm is stronger. And I think we're
(31:58):
seeing that in some of these throw us over in
the middle.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Well, the Steelers secondary and secondaries around the NFL are
tasked with stopping teams from utilizing the middle of the field,
and we mentioned Mika Fitzpatrick had a very nice pass
breakup during the seven shots period. He is back in
the fold from his excused absence. He's been back for
about a couple of practices now, and his running mate
in the secondary, demonte Casey, return to practice on Sunday.
(32:23):
He was nice enough to stop by and chat with
Mike Perzuda and Craig Willfully following Sunday's practice.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Let's take a listen to what Casey had to say.
Speaker 7 (32:31):
Welcome back, not just to the show, but welcome back
to practice.
Speaker 8 (32:34):
How much did you enjoy that, given it you'd missed
a minute or two.
Speaker 7 (32:39):
Ah, I enjoyed it all, man.
Speaker 9 (32:40):
I'm just so happy to be back on a field,
you know, when my brother's out there fighting, So it
was loving to be back.
Speaker 10 (32:45):
Demante, I gotta ask you the question I asked you before.
Like I said, you seem to have that knack of
the ball finding you or you finding the ball, you know.
I mean, it's a great thing for a safety to have.
Is that something you've always had, but it just certainly
seems to be something that happens when you're around in
a black and gold jersey.
Speaker 9 (33:02):
That's what I always had, man from high school to
college having a record into the NFL, So you know,
I always been a BALLHOWK type guy.
Speaker 7 (33:10):
Demante we mentioned you returned.
Speaker 8 (33:12):
I think I also saw Keanu O'Neil in the two
minute stuff at the end of practice. Mika Fitzpatrick came
back a while ago. Some of you guys have missed
some time, particularly at the safety position, but it looks
like things are are starting to fall back into place.
Does it feel like you guys are getting healthy again
with plenty of time before that opener against the forty
(33:33):
nine ers.
Speaker 9 (33:33):
Yeah, I think everybody's back healthy, man, And at the
end of the day, it's not up to us to
get back on the football field. So early, you know,
coaches were involved in this, telling us our people they
came practice and stuff, so we got to do it.
What's ben too, and you know we're back all the
back out there working with you have to sew we're
gonna enjoy it.
Speaker 10 (33:49):
Demonte, how's the communication aspect going because one of the
most important things from the back end is being able
to communicate forward and backwards and so forth. One of them,
I was down there by, Uh was it makea when
make was yelling at he had Levi Wallas to one
side Mark Robinson. He was saying, Okay, don't tell me
what you're doing. Tell each other and the importance of
communicating and making sure others around you are communicating.
Speaker 7 (34:10):
How big is that?
Speaker 4 (34:11):
It's big?
Speaker 9 (34:11):
You know the most shouty is defense be the best defense.
So being out there talking to each other, you know,
running full of speed, and it tells you you know
your job if you're talking.
Speaker 7 (34:20):
So dobote we some of us.
Speaker 8 (34:24):
Such a chance to talk with Matt Canada, the offensive
coordinator today before practice, and he mentioned as a lot
of the offensive players have the quality of looks they're
getting going against the Steelers defense in practice out here.
Speaker 7 (34:37):
Turn that around for me, if you would.
Speaker 8 (34:38):
What are you guys seeing from the Steelers offense and
what's getting your attention?
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Uh?
Speaker 9 (34:44):
What's the going to my attention is how the office
is moving his ball Now, they're spacing it out, they're
playing couch catch out there gp making good plays tay
making good play. So I think it's it's it's runs
after catches for me. So they're very explosive.
Speaker 10 (35:00):
And demonte talk about if you would your views on
Darnel mount Washington as a great late Myron Cope would
have called him because he is such a huge, a
huge and unique animal out there. What's it like on
from your perspective.
Speaker 9 (35:15):
So he's in, he's in the locker room. I mean
we share lockers. You know, I'm always getting on him
every day. I don't care how big he is. I'm
so old, so right right, so, but having him out there,
you know from pass the block and everything, you know
he's very good and doing jump balls with him, he
still win. It was every time.
Speaker 8 (35:32):
Yeah, there was a there was a play today. Uh,
not to Darnel Washington, but to GP. You mentioned him
a second ago, George Pickens, and it looked like you
did everything but break it up. I mean you had
to coverage, You're diving around him, you're reaching, and somehow
he held on to the ball.
Speaker 7 (35:47):
Where do you see his development from last year to
this year.
Speaker 9 (35:51):
It ain't no difference. He's been a freak since I
met him. So he's been doing this as day once,
so ain't nothing wrong with him. But yeah, on that
plate too, I thought I had a broke up head,
but he had two hands on only had one.
Speaker 7 (36:04):
Say last thing we got for you.
Speaker 8 (36:06):
The defense won seven shots four to three, but the
offense got it into the end zone a couple of
times on the two to two minute tries. Who's getting
the stakes and lobsters tonight and who's settling for hot dogs?
Speaker 4 (36:17):
Now?
Speaker 9 (36:18):
Personally we all gonna get steak today because it wasn't
a competition today.
Speaker 8 (36:22):
Oh well, hey, we really appreciate you taking a few
minutes again. Welcome back, and we'll look forward to talking
to you again soon.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Yes, sir, thank you, labs.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
The one thing he talked about there that was demonte
case Steelers safety was communication in that secondary. And I
love the line where he said, the chattiest defenses be
the best defenses. And are you a little concerned at
all that there's been some injury problems in that secondary
this year? And now it looks like they're all back
in the fold, you know. Joey Porter Junior returns the
practice on Sunday. Casey's back to practice. Mink has been
(36:55):
back for a couple of practices. You know, they're veterans
outside of Joey Junior. But is there maybe a little
bit of a learning curve that has to come with
these new pieces communication wise that makes you hold your
breath for the start of the season.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Well, yes, there is a learning curve, but I think
there's plenty of time between now and the start of
the regular season. And you know what you have are
you know, a lot of the key components in terms
of the communication chain are veterans. You know, Minka Fitzpatrick
(37:29):
is a big part of that, Demonte Casey is a
big part of that, and those these guys have been
through this you know, with this particular team at least once,
So there's that now. Yes, you have Joey Porter Jr.
He's a young player, you know, Patrick Peterson isn't a
young player, but he's a new player to the Steelers.
(37:50):
But he's a guy who you know, multiple time All
Pro guy. You know, he understands the importance of this communication.
I don't think that they are going to bemmunication breakdowns,
you know as they passed through you know, Patrick Peterson's area.
So uh, yes, there are some new thing, new elements
to this. But you know, with the exception of you know,
(38:14):
Joey Porter Junior and whoever ends up being the slot cornerback,
those guys seem that the candidates at this point for
that job, you know, seem to be either on the
young end or new to the Steelers uh level. Uh.
You know, I think it's a fairly decent enough uh
(38:35):
veteran group. You know, Levi Wallace is another returning element
of the secondary. So you know the importance of the
communication and how it needs to be communicated. I think,
you know, the foundation is there. Now. I'm not going
to predict that there's not going to be any mistakes
or misunderstandings because you know, the offenses they're getting paid too,
(39:00):
and there's a lot of things that offenses do now
to confuse you. You know, like we talk about defenses,
and especially the Steelers defense, we are told that disguise,
you know, is an important element of the success of
that unit. Well, you know, it works for the offense too.
You know, you try and you know, either create formations
(39:23):
in or personnel groupings that might make you think one
thing and then they do something else. Another thing with
the offense is you know, dummy calls, dummy hand signals,
you know, those kinds of things that are often used
again to lead the defense to thinking that a certain
(39:44):
thing is happening and then it's then it doesn't. So
you know, again, I think there's a difference between you know,
communication breakdowns or just mistakes. I think those are two
different categories. And and you know, I feel better about
(40:05):
there's going to be a low number of communication breakdowns now.
Mistakes they happen.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, yeah, no question. You can't be perfect on the
defensive end of the football. Hey, when Labs and I
come back, we're going to break down the week ahead,
the final week of Steelers' training camp practice, and we'll
talk about what you can't expect, including a bit of
a change to the last practice open to the public
on Thursday. That's on the way next in the Training
Camp Report on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
This SE's no Training Camp Report with Tom Opferman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Just three more practices open to the public for your
Pittsburgh Steelers today, tomorrow and Thursday. And Labs, maybe this
is another one of those little tests from Mike Tomlin
to the players. You know that Carrott is dangling out
in front of you.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
This is almost over.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
You almost get to go home and sleep in your
own comfy beds instead of slumming it in these dorm rooms.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
But you got to finish strong first.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
And you know that can parallel so much to the
regular season. You know, when you win in December, in
early January, it translates into wins in the playoffs. You know,
finish this camp period strong. Don't get complacent with just
these three practices left, you.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
Know, and what I understand, it's a challenge to you too.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Well, you've heard this show today.
Speaker 4 (41:25):
I mean the way three more more, three more mornings.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
That's about three too many for me, honestly.
Speaker 4 (41:33):
But anyway, yes, the uh, the Thursday practice on the
original schedule was a schedule was ten thirty on the field,
and I don't know that that didn't make whole lot
of sense to me, certainly, you know, viewing it from afar.
But hey, you know there's a lot of weird things
about a training camp schedule that you know, don't make
(41:54):
any sense to me. So I just kind of filed
it away. But you know that's been changed now. So
the Thursday practices is it's more like a regular day
out here. You know, practice will be a one fifty
five on the field. So now today and tomorrow I
fully expect pads practicing pads. The players were off yesterday.
(42:18):
I would think Tuesday and Wednesday will be in pads,
you know, Thursday, you know, I could see that going
either way. I'm going to be leaning towards pads in
that practice only too, because of the way training camp
has been going so far. I think that, you know,
the the idea that Mike Tomlin would want to finish,
(42:38):
you know, the time out here with you know, some
banging on the field wouldn't shock me at all. So yeah,
that would be my prediction. But you know, we'll have
to see how it works out. But for the fans,
you know, I think Thursday at one fifty five is
much more reasonable situation in terms of wanting to attend
(43:02):
because you know, you think I start thinking about, you know,
the campus opens I think at eleven thirty or noon
when practice is at one fifty five. So when you
open campus when practice is at ten thirty. So but anyway,
I don't think that that was why it was changed.
I really don't change back. I don't know why it was,
why it was changed, but then you know the players,
(43:26):
really camp doesn't break until Friday, because I don't believe
that because what ends up happening. It's a home preseason game,
and so the Steelers will be staying in a hotel.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Right Buffalo Saturday and.
Speaker 4 (43:42):
Friday, right Friday night. If you if you broke camp
on Thursday, that's two nights in a hotel in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
And they the budget, of course.
Speaker 4 (43:57):
No, But I was more referring to you know, there's
a lot of veteran players that families here. Yeah, true,
you know, why would you why would you have them
in a hotel when they could be at home. Cam
Heyward is an example. So that's the way I think
it's going to be again. You know, light on your feet,
(44:18):
you know, is one of the mottos around up here.
So things could change, but you know, we're talking about
it as we sit here right now. That's how I
how I envision these last few days unfolding and.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
As far as moving practice on Thursday. From the player perspective,
you know, you like to keep things a little bit random.
Throw a curve ball every once in a while at
the players but having practice on Wednesday, most likely, I
pads end around four four thirty, then have a quick
turnaround to have practice at ten thirty in the morning.
That's asking even maybe a little too much of the players.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Yeah, and you know a lot of times the time
of practice has changed to mimic the regular season schedule.
And I don't know if the NFL. I understand the
NFL will do things for TV, but if they start
doing ten thirty am games, I might have to, you know,
call Roger Goodell and just put my foot down.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
You have a direct line to Roger Goodell. Right, like
the red phone in the White House to Russia.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
You have the office on.
Speaker 4 (45:15):
The speed dial. Just hit the button. It's the red,
white and blue button. You know, it looks a whole
lot like the logo.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Very nice.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
That'll do it for today's training camp report Labs and
I will be back again tomorrow at eight am. Steelers
practice today at one fifty five at Saint Vincent. Wolf
and Stark's are up next. We're going in the locker
room on Steelers Nation Radio.
This is the Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
The Steelers have to show up for practice today, Labs.
They're only going to be there. They've had practice. They
haven't had practice in two of the last three days.
I can't talk to start the show today. This is
just where we're at right now. The energy that I'm
bringing to start the training camp report is lacking. With
the energy that the Steelers brought on Sunday during that
(00:33):
practice in the middle of two days off was not lacking,
and Coach Toman is really pleased with that. You know,
you talk about these little tests that coach gives these
guys throughout this camp process, and that's one of them.
You know, obviously you're recovering after the game on Friday,
you have your day off on Saturday, you have the
day off on Monday, but you gotta go to work
on that Sunday. And you can see some complacency sometimes
(00:54):
with people when you have that random day of practice
just dropped in the middle there.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
But that wasn't the case.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Tom and was very effusive in his praise of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and saying, you know they showed up ready
to play on this Sunday as if they had been
practicing for five straight days.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, it was a weird little quirk in the schedule.
You know, you're in Tampa on Friday night playing a game,
then you travel back and you have a day off,
then you practice for a day and then you're off again,
and now you know today you're kind of in the
home stretch of this training camp. And it was weird,
(01:31):
I'm sure for the players. I mean, I just because
a lot of times the level of weirdness for the
players kind of leaks through into you know, just everyday
people like me, for example, knowing what day it was
for the last three days, I mean was Seriously, it
was a challenge because you know, you're used to Monday's off,
(01:56):
and just as you're starting to get your head around,
you know, not thinking Monday is a Sunday then and
then thinking that, you know, the first day of work
back is a Tuesday, which it had been up here.
Now you're back to, you know, having Saturday off, so
(02:19):
you think that's Monday, and then you're working Sunday and
you're thinking that's Tuesday, and then you're off again. I mean,
it really kind of messes up your not so much
your body rhythms, but your brain weighs. I don't know,
so I can only imagine what it's like for guys
who have to not only know what day it is,
(02:42):
but then have to transfer that to physical activity like
football on a field. So yeah, kudos to the players
for not being as discombobulated as I felt. Uh And
it wasn't it Not only a practice that Mike Tomlin liked,
(03:02):
but it was enjoyable to watch. And let me tell
you that Sunday practice, it was packed here. I mean,
I get it that it was the last week weekend
day practice of this training camp. And so you know,
that was one of the ideas behind Mike Tomlin petitioning
(03:23):
the NFL to change the Steelers day off from Sunday,
which it had been last summer, to Monday, which he
wanted it to be this summer to accommodate the fans,
you know, give them the opportunity, you know, to come
out here on weekends because you know, most people are
off on weekends. But it was I mean, seriously, it
(03:45):
was just looking at the hillside the stands that caught
the line of cars looking to get getting to park. Uh,
it was. It was packed, and so yeah, it was.
It was. I think it was a raging success on
a lot of different levels, from a fan standpoint attendance
(04:08):
to a fan standpoint in terms of what they were
able to watch when once they got here, uh, you know,
and then from a football standpoint, as Mike Tomlin talked
about enjoying the how the players approached it and then
performed once it was actually time to start working on
the field.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, you mentioned how entertaining of a practice it was,
tom and put them in pads again, first practice after
a game, and you know, I know they had a
day off before and a day off after, so it's
not that big of a deal, but maybe a little
bit surprising.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I put it this way.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I don't think anybody would have batted an eye if
the sewers would have come out on that practice field
Sunday without pads on. But the intensity was there and
it warranted a padded practice, and Toman really has not
been messing around with the lack of padded practices once
that period started this camp.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah, and you know, I just think that and I understand,
you know, when you listen to the you know old warriors,
you know, Craig Wolfley and to a lesser extent, Max
Starks because Wolfley worked under Chuck Noll where every day
was a scrimmage and two a days for most of it.
But as you mentioned this, this is not you know,
(05:17):
a country club atmosphere out here. Uh. It's certainly it's
not the eighties, you know, when it was a barbaric
war every day. But you know, this is we've seen
a lot of these kinds of situations, you know, in pads.
The afternoon after Friday night lights was another example of that. Uh.
(05:37):
And so a lot of perception of you know, Mike
Tomlin being a coach who goes easy on the players,
that's that's not accurate. I mean, it's certainly not with
accurate within the context of the current rules of the
collective bargaining agreement, what teams are allowed to do, you know,
(06:00):
in training camp, et cetera. So, yeah, it's not the eighties,
but I think if you look around the NFL and
compare to some of the other training camps, it's it's
a lot more difficult, a lot more physical than a
lot of the others.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, that's a sentiment that shared around the league. Mike
Tomlin hosts a very physical camp, and I have to
imagine that that helps prepare the team in the regular
season for things such as tackling. And I know Steelers
fans gets on the Steelers every time they see a
mistackle all this team can't tackle at all, But when.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
You actually look at it, labs.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
This has been one of.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
The more short tackling teams in the NFL of the
past couple of years. And I got to imagine that
these padded practices here in July, late July, early August
really build the foundation for that.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Yeah, Mike Thomlan is fond of saying, you know, if
you want to be a boxer, you got a spa
And that's his comparison. And so that's a lot of
the genesis behind some of the things you know that
happen up the training ca The Steelers have a live
tackling period every practice, every practice that they're in pads,
(07:06):
they tackle, tackle to the ground. And I don't know
if there's another team in the NFL that does that,
certainly not every day. And I still remember, I still
remember the first day that that ever happened, standing down
on the sideline next to Kevin Colbert, who was the
general manager at the time, and it was, you know,
(07:30):
the Le'Veon bell was he was the running back on
the first live tackling play of a training camp practice.
And I remember the look on Kevin Colbert's face, and
then afterwards and talking to Mike Tomlin about it, he said, no,
I didn't tell anybody because I didn't want him to
try and talk me out of it. So yeah, it
(07:53):
was you know, the shock that registered on the faces
of people, you know, high up in the organization who
would know such things about how frequently or infrequently or
never things like that were done to me was eye opening.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
After practice ended on Sunday, Coach Tomlin stop by and
chatted with the media.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Let's hear what coach had to say.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
Man, it was a significant day for us. We had
an opportunity to review the tape and analyze our performance
in a professional way, allow that to set a trajectory
for this upcoming week's work individually and collectively, and then
we came out and worked on the grass. And so
it's a significant day, man. Just the process the cycle
of getting better of prep, play, analysis and then plan
(08:41):
and move forward and so we're very much in the
midst of that. Days like today are really significant. It
kind of sets the trajectory for the upcoming week, and
when we do a good job of it, we have
a chance to have consistent performance, and that's what we seek.
We're just trying to build not only skill, but just
that understanding of profession how we go about it. I
thought we had really good energy and compete today getting
(09:05):
back out here, but we were not afforded an opportunity
to warm up to it.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
You know.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
We we had an off day yesterday, We got an
off day tomorrow. We can't waste days like today in
the midst of that. Then there's a nugget that's called today.
And I just thought that they really got after it
and took advantage of it, and I'm appreciative. Nate Herbiet
went down with a shoulder in practice. He's gonna be evaluated. Obviously,
we had bumps, some bruises associated with play. Ken O
(09:29):
Benton went down in the game with an ankle that
could be described this day to day. We'll see how
that leads us. Some other guys obviously were limited or
did not participate. Cam Heyward's not here today. He's sick,
and so we thought we, you know, allow him to
get right and maybe protect some of the others in
the process. I'll pause and open up for questions.
Speaker 6 (09:52):
No one like when you were talking about moving guys
around the offensive line. If you have a position where
maybe you feel like you're back up at one spot
the strutting mother's pout, do you feel like you need
to see them or can you just transcript the body
of work?
Speaker 5 (10:05):
You know, I don't even begin to make those decisions
until the eleventh hour. The more we let it sort
itself out, we don't have to write the story. There's
usually great clarity. There's enough opportunities in this process. But
I'm not opposed to doing anything in an effort to
get the becks mixed on the grass under any circumstance.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
After if Milder knows thrown the those who thinks for
you and I didn't taking this camp.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
When you put this, you know, the skilled development relative
to the position to hand usage, the professional things coupled
with defensive line play. Obviously, he's an imposing figure and
strong young man, and that's always been a component of
this game. But I think he's continually grown and evolved
from a from a fine motor skill perspective in hand usage.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Very quick from coach Tomlin after practice on Sunday, in
and out, in and out. I guess there wasn't much
to ask him though. After you got a chance to
talk to him after the Buccaneers game, and you look
so good in that Buccaneers game. Not many questions to
be had of Mike. But he did mention the injury
report their labs and just to update it from what
happened on practice on Sunday. He mentioned Nate Herbig had
(11:08):
a shoulder injury in practice and he's being evaluated. Everything
else just bumps and bruises associated with play, as Tomlin
likes to say. But he did mention Keanu Benton going
down at the end of that Tampa game on Friday.
The good news is on Sunday labs he was out
there on the field without a wrap on. Didn't seem like,
you know, he was too injured. And you heard a
(11:30):
little rumor about today's practice regarding mister Benton.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Yeah, I mean he's Keanu Benton is telling people that
he's going to practice today. Now, whether that actually happens
or not, you know, we'll see. I mean, we very
very often hear players pronouncing themselves ready for things or
promising that they're going to be ready for something, and
(11:53):
then you know, it doesn't happen, not so much because
you know, just because a lot of times the trainings
aff the medical people they just decided that, you know,
pushing it is not the way to go. Sometimes it
can lead to, you know, a more serious situation in
a longer absence, you know, on the other end. But
you know, I was, you know, as someone who lives
(12:16):
in my fears, I noticed, you know that on the
watching the game Keanu Bent limping off the field, and
you know, hey, you that could be anything, you know
what I mean, or something because I remember very clearly
(12:36):
the opener of the nineteen ninety five season UH at
three River Stadium against the Detroit Lions. The Lions first
third down play, Barry Sanders put a move on Rod
Woodson in the flat and Woodson went down and Woodson
limped by himself to the locker room, and I'm thinking, boy,
(12:57):
this isn't going to be too bad, yeah, torn, So
you know, sometimes it doesn't look bad early and it
turns out to be bad. Other times you think it's
bad early and it turns out not to be so bad,
you know, thankfully for the Steelers. It was the reverse
of the Woodson thing for Keanu Benton because I noticed
(13:21):
him right away when the players started filing out from
the locker room onto the field. You know, he had
his jersey on, no pads though, which indicates, you know,
a guy's not going to practice, and he had you know,
long sweatpants on, but there was nothing on his foot,
there was no boot, it didn't it wasn't visibly wrapped,
(13:43):
and he participated in the warm ups with the rest
of the defensive linemen. And I'm thinking, what's going on here?
And then not only did he do that, which was
an incredibly good sign in my non medical opinion, but
then he's good on the sideline among the defensive linemen
(14:04):
throughout practice. Yeah. Right, So I'm thinking, you know, because
even if he was out there for a little bit,
you know, to sit down, you know, those kinds of things,
nothing right, nothing, So you know, I'm thinking, wow, this
is this is really good news. And then you know,
(14:26):
he started telling people that you know, he was going
to practice. He was only missing the one day. Now
we'll see what happens today whether he's out there or not,
or or to what degree if he is out there
he participates. But I mean, I was I had envisioned,
you know, a couple of weeks in my head, I'm
immediately going to a bad place. And after we saw
(14:48):
the way he played in that game against the Buccaneers,
the guy was extremely disruptive, showing some of the things
that you know, the reason that he was drafted forty
ninth overall, the things that he might be able to
provide from a nose tackle position that you know are
(15:08):
not common, because he was very good against a run
or a couple of fourth down plays. The one you know,
Isaiah Laudermilk got credit for the tackle, and he did
make the tackle, but it was Benton who made the
play by firing across the line of scrimmage and penetrating
into the backfield because when the running back got the ball,
(15:30):
Benton was right at his feet and so then he
had to readjust his route and Loudermilk came in and
made the play. Another running play, Benton dumped the running
back for a three yard loss. So there's that he's
already showing that he is going to be a pain
in the neck for offenses that are trying to run
(15:50):
the ball. And you know, he also comes to the
NFL with a reputation, you know, of having some quicks
and some athletic ability and some pass rush skills, so
that he's going to hopefully develop into the kind of
defensive lineman that you don't have to take off the
field in passing situation in passing situations. So, yeah, I
(16:15):
had high hopes for him, and the way he was playing,
I thought, Wow, this guy's really coming along nicely, and
then there was the injury. But it doesn't seem like
it's going to derail him as much as I originally feared.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, and that is great news because I'm not going
to say he's going to be a starter come opening
weekend of the NFL season, but he's going to be
a contributor, I think, as long as he continues on
this trajectory that we've seen through camp so far and
after his first preseason game, so.
Speaker 7 (16:39):
Good to hear.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
At least, the speculation is that the injury isn't that
serious and we'll see if he is back at practice
today for the Steelers. Again, I'm sure he wants to be,
but it's up to the medical staff. And you know,
it's got to be encouraging for a coaching staff to
see such a young guy exhibit this kind of hunger,
you know, have that ankle injury happen and then just
immediately shaken out.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Oh no, I'm good.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Crutches, I don't need it wrapped, I don't need a boot.
I'll just stand here on the sidelines, and I'm just
chomping at the bid to get back out there. In fact,
let me do some individual you know, stretching and warm
up stuff with this team so I don't miss a
complete day of practice. I mean, that kind of mindset
and drive from a rookie is what you need if
you want to start in the NFL at such a
young age.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, and I mean that's again, I think that that
likely showed through during the pre draft process. You know,
I'm sure that that had something to do with him
being the forty ninth overall pick. You know, he's going
to be and I don't know that this is necessarily
a bad designation, but he's going to be known for
(17:37):
at least for a while as the Steelers other second
round draft pick right twenty three and you know, Joey
Porter Junior is you know, not exactly chop livery either.
So you know, when you're kind of getting grouped with
a player of that ability, you know, that's a compliment
as well.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Seven Shots and two minute Drill were featured as part
of training camp practice on Sunday. We'll talk about how
the offense and the defense fared in both of those drills.
We come back on the Training Camp Report on Steelers
Nation Radio.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
This season Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and Bob
Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
The competition periods during training camp are most often the
most enjoyable for the fans and the media covering things,
and that wasn't the exception on Sunday with seven shots
and the two minute drill. Labs, let's start with seven shots.
You know, the offense has struggled in this drill throughout
training camp. They have been kind of picking up the
slack a little bit lately, being a little bit more
(18:45):
competitive and in fact picking up a win or two
along the way. But Sunday kind of saw that pendulum
swing back in the direction of the defense in seven shots.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Yeah, and you know, for anyone who was expecting like
me that to what we saw in Tampa from the
first string offense, that maybe you know that that was
a turning point and it would carry over right away
into the you know, into into training camp practices. But
you know that's not the case. And you know, I
don't think that that that's in no small part, I
(19:15):
believe that the Steelers defense is significantly better than Tampa
Bay's you know, no offense, no offense, you know, really,
and I'm not ripping the Buccaneers or anything. I just
don't think that, you know, they're going to be and
there were a lot of Buccaneers regulars who did not
play in that game, first of all. But I also
(19:39):
don't see the Buccaneers as an NFC contender this season.
So you know, you play who you play, and it
is what it is. But the Steelers offense did not
execute in or perform or enjoy the level of success.
Let me put it that way. In seven show against
(20:01):
the Steelers defense on Sunday that it enjoyed against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night in the preseason opener,
you know, and here the first play, you know exactly
kind of really illustrates my point. First snap of the drill.
(20:21):
You know, Picket takes the snap, he immediately identifies Deontay
Johnson is where he's going to go with the ball.
And Deontay Johnson was like a slant route into the
middle of the end zone, and he had a he
had his body in between where the ball was going
to be delivered and the defender. So you know, it's
(20:42):
perfect positioning. Pickett throws the balls right on target. Minka
Fitzpatrick flashes over from the middle and knocks it down.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Damn all pro safe. What a past yep.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
But I mean that's that's the difference. Uh. And you know,
Minca is getting back to you know, I don't know,
full speed, full strength, whatever it is, since you know
his absence from camp from personal reasons, for personal reasons.
But that's a Menca play, you know, right there and
then so it's one nothing defense. Then it's two nothing defense.
(21:20):
On the second play, pick went back to Johnston and
Joey Porter Jr. Was right there, but the ball was
run way over his head. A third the third pass,
the third play, another incomplete pass. The defense is up
three nothing. The offense finally got the ball into the
end zone on the four snap. It was a running
(21:42):
play Anthony McFarland kind of right up the middle of
knife into the end zone through a nice little gap.
And you know, maybe that's an example of the offense
taking advantage of the expectation from the opponent, in this
case the Steelers d defense. There was going to be
another pass. You run it, and you know, as I
(22:04):
like to say, it is legal to run the ball
into the end zone from the two yard line. I
looked it up.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
It's not even frond of I don't think encouraged it.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
And it comes with the same number of points too.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
People don't know that.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
So Mitch Trubisky comes in and gets the offense on
the board again. Uh, nice throw to Calvin Austin h
Kenny Robinson was in coverage. On the sixth snap, the
defense clinched the win. Cornerback Luke Barku again he's flashing
(22:41):
a lot lately, in my opinion, broke up a pass
intended for Des Fitzpatrick. So now it's already four to two.
And then on the last play, Trubisky went back to
Fitzpatrick was wide open, and that made the final score
a four to three win for the defense. But so
(23:03):
you know the way that the drills were aligned on
the day's schedule practice schedule, seven shots is always right
at the beginning, and then two minutes is right at
the end. And I really like the way that this
evolved in the sense that after watching the offense, I
(23:24):
won't say, get it's lunch handed to it, because that's
really overstating it, but not be successful and then to
come back and win both repetitions of the two minute
was really encouraging to me, not so much for any
other reason that I am a big fan of what
(23:47):
they refer to as EBB and flow in a practice.
You know, one unit wins one thing, one unit wins
the other thing, and you kind of go back and
forth because I really think that that's the way the
entire team gets It's better, no question, right. You don't
want one unit to be constantly dominating the other, you know,
(24:08):
not only for the what it kind of indicates from
a physical element of it, but psychologically too, you know,
I don't think that that can be very good. So anyway,
the rules for two minute ball was on the fifty
yard line, one thirty eight on the clock. The offense
had one time out of its in its hip pocket
(24:31):
and needed a touchdown to win. So the first team
offense is out there, and you know, can you pickt
to him right down the field a five yard run.
Then he converted that for a first down at the
thirty eight yard line within an eleven yard completion to
Alan Robinson. Then he threw a six yard quick pass
(24:51):
the Nauseie Harris, and then another incomplete pass, and so
the clock stops the offense as a third and four
from the thirty two yard line. Now again no surprise here.
Pickett goes to George Pickens. What do you know about that?
(25:12):
A nice, nice play, eighteen yard play past the Pickens
and he also got himself out of bonds and stops
the clock.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
How about that, labs, not just converting a third and format,
having a chunk play to boot on top of that.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Right, and got out of bonds too to stop the
claw perfect everything perfect well yeah, And then the next play,
Pickett goes over the middle and into the end zone,
Alan Robinson makes a diving catch for a touchdown. I
mean and on the play, Robinson was horizontal to the ground,
caught the ball about a foot off the grass. Very
(25:46):
nice play by the receiver. Good throw by the quarterback,
and it was you know, into the end zone, something
that you like, over the middle, something that you like.
And it was in a situation where it had to
be the final play of the allotted time period for
the drill or anything like that. It was nicely done,
(26:09):
scored a touchdown what you needed, had plenty of time,
didn't have to use the time out, you know, all
good things. So then the second unit comes out and
Mitch Trubisky has you know, had a good training camp.
You know, his performance in the game against Tampa Bay.
I don't think is illustrative at all of the kind
(26:32):
of summer this guy's been having. And you know, let
me just say, hey, fans out there who think that
that there stood there should be a change in the
order and the depth charted quarterback, uh you you couldn't
be more wrong. So anyway, Trubisky starts out, dumps a
quick pass to Darnel Washington. Then he throws it, completes
(26:56):
an eighteen yard pass the gun Royal Chefski for first
on a twenty seven yard line h the offense rushes
to the line, they run another play incomplete pass stops
the clock. Okay, so then U Trubisky and Olschewsky really
seemed to be having something good going between them. In
this particular drill, Trubisky completed a three yard pass to him,
(27:20):
rushed through the line of scrimmage through another pass. It
ended up being a twenty one yard game first and
goal at the three. The offense uses their only time out.
So you know, what do you do down at the
goal line when you're throwing the ball. Gee, I don't know,
look for the big guys, you yeah, yep. So Trubisky
(27:43):
goes to Darnell Washington, who was about five yards deep
in the end zone and he was stationary. The ball
was thrown, you know, a little bit, it wasn't right
in his chest. You know, he had to turn his
body a little bit, but he went up in the
air to catch with his hands. So again it was
a good enough throw away from the defense, away from
(28:07):
the coverage, and Darneld Washington continues to show that he
has the athletic ability, the body control, and the good
hands to make these kinds of catches. You know, a
lot of times with tight ends, you have to hit them,
you know, right in the framework of their chest for
it to be a complete pass. But Darnel Washington is
(28:29):
proving time and time again during this training camp process
that that is not necessary with him. So another touchdown
for the offense, a two to zero win in the drill,
and I would say, in my opinion as someone who
watched that entire session, it more than made up for
what happened in seven shots.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Well, when the Steelers fans aren't banging the table for
Mason Rudolph to jump up to number two on the
depth chart in front of Mitch Trubisky, they are banging
the table for using the middle of the field more.
That's really been the cry of the fan base ever
since the season ended last year. And I think it's
safe to say Labs that based on what we've seen
in these practices, based on what we saw in the
game against Tampa Bay, the Steelers themselves agree with that sentiment.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
We want to use the middle of the field a
little bit more.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yeah, I think as an offense, you don't ever want
to be so predictable, either with what you do or
what you won't do or don't do. You know that
it becomes a characteristic and so yeah, using all areas
of the field I think is important. Again, not only
(29:38):
because you know, good things can happen over the middle,
but you also don't want the defense to get the
idea that you're not going there because then they can
ignore it. So, Yeah, there have been a lot of
situations both up here and I think we saw it
in Tampa too, that the Steelers offense will go over
(29:59):
the you know, the touchdown pass the George Pickens in
the game against the Buccaneers was over the middle. And
the way that Kenny Pickett delivered that, you know, on time,
with velocity on target. Uh, he got pick Pickens the
ball at a time and in a place where then
(30:20):
he could do something with it, right, and you know,
completion turned into a touchdown because you know Pickens had
room to do you know, those things that he does
after he makes the catch and got the ball into
the end zone.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, and had a big conversion as well on that
drive before the Pickens played by hitting firemouth in the
middle of the field. You know, Pat went to that
dirty area posted up and pick it through a strike
towards him.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
It makes life a.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Lot easier when you utilize all areas of the field,
and like you said, it makes life a lot harder
on the defense, which is the name of the game.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
Right and you know you don't want to for whatever
reason last year, and you know I can I'm going
to speculate a lot of times with rookie quarterbacks, you
don't want them throwing the ball over the middle because
a lot of times bad things can happen. You know,
that's where the defense is. That's where the defense can
get too quickly. If there are zone coverages or combination
(31:15):
coverage coverages or those kinds of things. A lot of
times in the middle of the field, it might look
like one thing and be something else, and you know
that can lead to turnovers. And with last year, with
Kenny Pickett as a rookie, turnovers we're a little bit
of an issue with him in his early playing time,
his early starts, and so you know, I can understand,
(31:36):
you know, a reluctance to continue to try and force
feed that stuff over the middle to the rookie. But
now he's not a rookie, and you know, I do
believe one of the things that Kenny Pickett is showing
this summer as an improvement over his last year's performance
is that his arm is stronger. And I think we're
(31:58):
seeing that in some of these throw us over in
the middle.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Well, the Steelers secondary and secondaries around the NFL are
tasked with stopping teams from utilizing the middle of the field,
and we mentioned Mika Fitzpatrick had a very nice pass
breakup during the seven shots period. He is back in
the fold from his excused absence. He's been back for
about a couple of practices now, and his running mate
in the secondary, demonte Casey, return to practice on Sunday.
(32:23):
He was nice enough to stop by and chat with
Mike Perzuda and Craig Willfully following Sunday's practice.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Let's take a listen to what Casey had to say.
Speaker 7 (32:31):
Welcome back, not just to the show, but welcome back
to practice.
Speaker 8 (32:34):
How much did you enjoy that, given it you'd missed
a minute or two.
Speaker 7 (32:39):
Ah, I enjoyed it all, man.
Speaker 9 (32:40):
I'm just so happy to be back on a field,
you know, when my brother's out there fighting, So it
was loving to be back.
Speaker 10 (32:45):
Demante, I gotta ask you the question I asked you before.
Like I said, you seem to have that knack of
the ball finding you or you finding the ball, you know.
I mean, it's a great thing for a safety to have.
Is that something you've always had, but it just certainly
seems to be something that happens when you're around in
a black and gold jersey.
Speaker 9 (33:02):
That's what I always had, man from high school to
college having a record into the NFL, So you know,
I always been a BALLHOWK type guy.
Speaker 7 (33:10):
Demante we mentioned you returned.
Speaker 8 (33:12):
I think I also saw Keanu O'Neil in the two
minute stuff at the end of practice. Mika Fitzpatrick came
back a while ago. Some of you guys have missed
some time, particularly at the safety position, but it looks
like things are are starting to fall back into place.
Does it feel like you guys are getting healthy again
with plenty of time before that opener against the forty
(33:33):
nine ers.
Speaker 9 (33:33):
Yeah, I think everybody's back healthy, man, And at the
end of the day, it's not up to us to
get back on the football field. So early, you know,
coaches were involved in this, telling us our people they
came practice and stuff, so we got to do it.
What's ben too, and you know we're back all the
back out there working with you have to sew we're
gonna enjoy it.
Speaker 10 (33:49):
Demonte, how's the communication aspect going because one of the
most important things from the back end is being able
to communicate forward and backwards and so forth. One of them,
I was down there by, Uh was it makea when
make was yelling at he had Levi Wallas to one
side Mark Robinson. He was saying, Okay, don't tell me
what you're doing. Tell each other and the importance of
communicating and making sure others around you are communicating.
Speaker 7 (34:10):
How big is that?
Speaker 4 (34:11):
It's big?
Speaker 9 (34:11):
You know the most shouty is defense be the best defense.
So being out there talking to each other, you know,
running full of speed, and it tells you you know
your job if you're talking.
Speaker 7 (34:20):
So dobote we some of us.
Speaker 8 (34:24):
Such a chance to talk with Matt Canada, the offensive
coordinator today before practice, and he mentioned as a lot
of the offensive players have the quality of looks they're
getting going against the Steelers defense in practice out here.
Speaker 7 (34:37):
Turn that around for me, if you would.
Speaker 8 (34:38):
What are you guys seeing from the Steelers offense and
what's getting your attention?
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Uh?
Speaker 9 (34:44):
What's the going to my attention is how the office
is moving his ball Now, they're spacing it out, they're
playing couch catch out there gp making good plays tay
making good play. So I think it's it's it's runs
after catches for me. So they're very explosive.
Speaker 10 (35:00):
And demonte talk about if you would your views on
Darnel mount Washington as a great late Myron Cope would
have called him because he is such a huge, a
huge and unique animal out there. What's it like on
from your perspective.
Speaker 9 (35:15):
So he's in, he's in the locker room. I mean
we share lockers. You know, I'm always getting on him
every day. I don't care how big he is. I'm
so old, so right right, so, but having him out there,
you know from pass the block and everything, you know
he's very good and doing jump balls with him, he
still win. It was every time.
Speaker 8 (35:32):
Yeah, there was a there was a play today. Uh,
not to Darnel Washington, but to GP. You mentioned him
a second ago, George Pickens, and it looked like you
did everything but break it up. I mean you had
to coverage, You're diving around him, you're reaching, and somehow
he held on to the ball.
Speaker 7 (35:47):
Where do you see his development from last year to
this year.
Speaker 9 (35:51):
It ain't no difference. He's been a freak since I
met him. So he's been doing this as day once,
so ain't nothing wrong with him. But yeah, on that
plate too, I thought I had a broke up head,
but he had two hands on only had one.
Speaker 7 (36:04):
Say last thing we got for you.
Speaker 8 (36:06):
The defense won seven shots four to three, but the
offense got it into the end zone a couple of
times on the two to two minute tries. Who's getting
the stakes and lobsters tonight and who's settling for hot dogs?
Speaker 4 (36:17):
Now?
Speaker 9 (36:18):
Personally we all gonna get steak today because it wasn't
a competition today.
Speaker 8 (36:22):
Oh well, hey, we really appreciate you taking a few
minutes again. Welcome back, and we'll look forward to talking
to you again soon.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Yes, sir, thank you, labs.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
The one thing he talked about there that was demonte
case Steelers safety was communication in that secondary. And I
love the line where he said, the chattiest defenses be
the best defenses. And are you a little concerned at
all that there's been some injury problems in that secondary
this year? And now it looks like they're all back
in the fold, you know. Joey Porter Junior returns the
practice on Sunday. Casey's back to practice. Mink has been
(36:55):
back for a couple of practices. You know, they're veterans
outside of Joey Junior. But is there maybe a little
bit of a learning curve that has to come with
these new pieces communication wise that makes you hold your
breath for the start of the season.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
Well, yes, there is a learning curve, but I think
there's plenty of time between now and the start of
the regular season. And you know what you have are
you know, a lot of the key components in terms
of the communication chain are veterans. You know, Minka Fitzpatrick
(37:29):
is a big part of that, Demonte Casey is a
big part of that, and those these guys have been
through this you know, with this particular team at least once,
So there's that now. Yes, you have Joey Porter Jr.
He's a young player, you know, Patrick Peterson isn't a
young player, but he's a new player to the Steelers.
(37:50):
But he's a guy who you know, multiple time All
Pro guy. You know, he understands the importance of this communication.
I don't think that they are going to bemmunication breakdowns,
you know as they passed through you know, Patrick Peterson's area.
So uh, yes, there are some new thing, new elements
to this. But you know, with the exception of you know,
(38:14):
Joey Porter Junior and whoever ends up being the slot cornerback,
those guys seem that the candidates at this point for
that job, you know, seem to be either on the
young end or new to the Steelers uh level. Uh.
You know, I think it's a fairly decent enough uh
(38:35):
veteran group. You know, Levi Wallace is another returning element
of the secondary. So you know the importance of the
communication and how it needs to be communicated. I think,
you know, the foundation is there. Now. I'm not going
to predict that there's not going to be any mistakes
or misunderstandings because you know, the offenses they're getting paid too,
(39:00):
and there's a lot of things that offenses do now
to confuse you. You know, like we talk about defenses,
and especially the Steelers defense, we are told that disguise,
you know, is an important element of the success of
that unit. Well, you know, it works for the offense too.
You know, you try and you know, either create formations
(39:23):
in or personnel groupings that might make you think one
thing and then they do something else. Another thing with
the offense is you know, dummy calls, dummy hand signals,
you know, those kinds of things that are often used
again to lead the defense to thinking that a certain
(39:44):
thing is happening and then it's then it doesn't. So
you know, again, I think there's a difference between you know,
communication breakdowns or just mistakes. I think those are two
different categories. And and you know, I feel better about
(40:05):
there's going to be a low number of communication breakdowns now.
Mistakes they happen.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, yeah, no question. You can't be perfect on the
defensive end of the football. Hey, when Labs and I
come back, we're going to break down the week ahead,
the final week of Steelers' training camp practice, and we'll
talk about what you can't expect, including a bit of
a change to the last practice open to the public
on Thursday. That's on the way next in the Training
Camp Report on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
This SE's no Training Camp Report with Tom Opferman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Just three more practices open to the public for your
Pittsburgh Steelers today, tomorrow and Thursday. And Labs, maybe this
is another one of those little tests from Mike Tomlin
to the players. You know that Carrott is dangling out
in front of you.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
This is almost over.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
You almost get to go home and sleep in your
own comfy beds instead of slumming it in these dorm rooms.
Speaker 3 (41:03):
But you got to finish strong first.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
And you know that can parallel so much to the
regular season. You know, when you win in December, in
early January, it translates into wins in the playoffs. You know,
finish this camp period strong. Don't get complacent with just
these three practices left, you.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
Know, and what I understand, it's a challenge to you too.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Well, you've heard this show today.
Speaker 4 (41:25):
I mean the way three more more, three more mornings.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
That's about three too many for me, honestly.
Speaker 4 (41:33):
But anyway, yes, the uh, the Thursday practice on the
original schedule was a schedule was ten thirty on the field,
and I don't know that that didn't make whole lot
of sense to me, certainly, you know, viewing it from afar.
But hey, you know there's a lot of weird things
about a training camp schedule that you know, don't make
(41:54):
any sense to me. So I just kind of filed
it away. But you know that's been changed now. So
the Thursday practices is it's more like a regular day
out here. You know, practice will be a one fifty
five on the field. So now today and tomorrow I
fully expect pads practicing pads. The players were off yesterday.
(42:18):
I would think Tuesday and Wednesday will be in pads,
you know, Thursday, you know, I could see that going
either way. I'm going to be leaning towards pads in
that practice only too, because of the way training camp
has been going so far. I think that, you know,
the the idea that Mike Tomlin would want to finish,
(42:38):
you know, the time out here with you know, some
banging on the field wouldn't shock me at all. So yeah,
that would be my prediction. But you know, we'll have
to see how it works out. But for the fans,
you know, I think Thursday at one fifty five is
much more reasonable situation in terms of wanting to attend
(43:02):
because you know, you think I start thinking about, you know,
the campus opens I think at eleven thirty or noon
when practice is at one fifty five. So when you
open campus when practice is at ten thirty. So but anyway,
I don't think that that was why it was changed.
I really don't change back. I don't know why it was,
why it was changed, but then you know the players,
(43:26):
really camp doesn't break until Friday, because I don't believe
that because what ends up happening. It's a home preseason game,
and so the Steelers will be staying in a hotel.
Speaker 3 (43:40):
Right Buffalo Saturday and.
Speaker 4 (43:42):
Friday, right Friday night. If you if you broke camp
on Thursday, that's two nights in a hotel in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
And they the budget, of course.
Speaker 4 (43:57):
No, But I was more referring to you know, there's
a lot of veteran players that families here. Yeah, true,
you know, why would you why would you have them
in a hotel when they could be at home. Cam
Heyward is an example. So that's the way I think
it's going to be again. You know, light on your feet,
(44:18):
you know, is one of the mottos around up here.
So things could change, but you know, we're talking about
it as we sit here right now. That's how I
how I envision these last few days unfolding and.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
As far as moving practice on Thursday. From the player perspective,
you know, you like to keep things a little bit random.
Throw a curve ball every once in a while at
the players but having practice on Wednesday, most likely, I
pads end around four four thirty, then have a quick
turnaround to have practice at ten thirty in the morning.
That's asking even maybe a little too much of the players.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Yeah, and you know a lot of times the time
of practice has changed to mimic the regular season schedule.
And I don't know if the NFL. I understand the
NFL will do things for TV, but if they start
doing ten thirty am games, I might have to, you know,
call Roger Goodell and just put my foot down.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
You have a direct line to Roger Goodell. Right, like
the red phone in the White House to Russia.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
You have the office on.
Speaker 4 (45:15):
The speed dial. Just hit the button. It's the red,
white and blue button. You know, it looks a whole
lot like the logo.
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Very nice.
Speaker 2 (45:23):
That'll do it for today's training camp report Labs and
I will be back again tomorrow at eight am. Steelers
practice today at one fifty five at Saint Vincent. Wolf
and Stark's are up next. We're going in the locker
room on Steelers Nation Radio.
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