August 11, 2024 • 44 mins
Labs and Tom break down the first preseason game from the Steelers and hear from Mike Tomlin and Justin Fields.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
He's no training camp report with Tom Opferman and Bob
Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, the Steelers had their first experience going up against
a different team for the twenty twenty four season on
Friday night, But Labs, in a lot of ways, they
were still playing themselves because it was self inflicted wounds
and sloppy play from a professional football team, even if
it was your first time in a game setting.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I was thinking of that
as you were saying, you know, they were going against
a different team, and you know, that's the exact same
conclusion I kept coming to throughout the game. No, in fact,
they're not going against a different team. They're going against themselves,
and they're beating themselves. I mean, you know, Mike tomins line,
(00:52):
before you can start kicking butt, you got to not
kick your own butt. There you go, And I understand,
you know this is it was the first preseason game. Uh.
And what I did earlier today just to kind of
get ready for this kind of I don't get my
mind in a talking about the first preseason game.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Mode.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I went back and got the uh, the play by
play from last year's first preseason game where I'm sure
if you know, we could transport ourselves back in the
way back machine to the show that we did, this
show that we did right after the Steelers beat Tampa
(01:37):
Bay last August, you know, would be all gushing and
you know, my goodness of the offense looks so good
and Kenny Pickett was so great and then.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And I know I definitely saying that about Pickett.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, and and so that's you know, that's the other
end of it, or the other side of this, the
flip side of this. But you know that was that
turned out to be meaningless, that turned out to be
fools gold. So maybe this is you know, fools gloom
and doom. But it was just, I don't know, it
(02:14):
was disappointed, you know by the sloppiness. You know, two
botched snaps in the first six seven offensive plays. I mean,
you know, really, uh, I don't know whose fault they were.
You know, it's the center quarterback exchange. I mean, and
(02:36):
these guys Nate Herbig and Justin Fields. You try to
do some quick math, you think they maybe had a
thousand of these before the game between the two of them,
you know what I mean, every.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Don't go back to like OTA's mini camp. Yeah absolutely, so.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
You know, I just I don't know how that happens.
And they're they're professionals team. Yeah, that's what I mean.
And there was that, you know, and then the some
of the special teams. You know, God bless Quiz Watkins,
but I mean, he just looked totally out of sorts
(03:19):
as a punt returner. There were three of them. The
first one he made a fair catch where to me
looked like there was a lot of room for him
to try to return it. The next one it landed
in front of him by a lot, and then the
third one he muffed and they, you know, the Texans
(03:40):
recovered and turned that into a quick touchdown. So you
know that that just that's again, you know, that's catching
the punt is to punt return what snapping the football
is to the offense. You know, the punts in the air,
you gotta catch it. That's the first thing. And they
work on it, and they work on and they work
(04:01):
on and practice. I mean, and then to just look
so bad doing it in a game, I don't understand.
And so that's what I mean by disappointment. I don't
you know, you can't, can you blame the coaches for that.
I don't. I don't see how it's quarterback coach Tom
(04:24):
Arth's fault that Justin Field and Nate Herbig couldn't get
the snap executed. Is it Arthur Smith's fault that you
know some of these things were happening. I don't. I don't.
It doesn't seem to me to be that kind of
a problem. It was just I don't know stage fright.
I'm reaching here because I got nothing for you in
(04:47):
terms of specific answers or specific assignments or blame explanations
of why how you know all of these kinds of
questions that I'm sure we're in the minds of a
lot of fans, But I'm sorry, I don't know how
to explain it.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, I don't know how to explain it either. You
mentioned stage fright. That's a good theory, Labs, But it
wasn't really any other rookies. You know that we're showing
that much of these gaffes. It was guys like Fields,
Guys like Keus Watkins been around the block for a
couple of years at least now, so that shouldn't be
a thing for them. They're used to getting into NFL
stadiums in regular season games. This is this is a
(05:27):
preseason game, and you know, like Tomlin said in his
pressure and how we just spent the first five minutes
of our show here, it just overshadows some of the
positive that happened in the game, because there were some,
but you just can't get over the negative. And Tomlin
said it like three times in his presser. Well, we'll
play that for you in a little bit, but it's
very evident that that's weighing on him before he can
even look at some of the good stuff he did
on film. The negative is just it's a it's a
(05:49):
dark cloud over it all.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, and you know it's it's just so fundamental, you
know what I mean. And I thought it was kind
of revealing that because Mike Tomlin in the post game
he will you know, give an opening statement his you know,
general impression or something and then opening up for questions. Well,
in this particular instance, after Friday Night's game, I mean,
(06:15):
all of that assessment of the game, when he went
through the laundry list of you know, I don't know,
below the line or you know, kicking yourself in your
own butter as justin fields is shooting ourselves in the foot.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
He just he did all of that unprompted. I mean,
there weren't questions about that because so that must have
been in the forefront of his mind, a tip of
his tongue, however you want to kind of you know,
phrase it. Uh, And that to me just kind of
emphasized the Uh. I don't know, the disappointment, I guess
(06:52):
is a good word, the disappointment in the performance, especially
after what we had watched your training camp for the
first couple of weeks. You know, the rock them soccer robots,
big physical practices and the intensity and the competitiveness and
you know, a lot of that kind of stuff. I mean,
it just I don't know, it just kind of fell
flat for me.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah, and you know, even beyond the fundamental stuff, which
is it makes you want to pull your hair out.
Looking a little bit deeper, Toma mentioned that they were
jv on other facets of the game, on offense and
defense possession downs. He says that maybe they were one
for seven at one point on offense on possession downs,
which aren't good enough. He talked about the sacks that
they took the quarterbacks, the offensive line that they gave
(07:35):
up that not being good enough. So you know, it
went beyond just the fundamental stuff. There was sloppy play
within the game as well.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Yeah, and you know, I didn't think the offensive tackles
really any of them had much success with the Texans
edge rushers. Jerry Hughes in particular, seemed to me to be,
you know, enjoying himself, you know, getting around. You know,
the Steelers offensive tackles, you know, Roderick Jones, I didn't
(08:07):
think really played great in that respect. I don't think
Troy Filatano really was I don't know, one first round
pickI ish looking in his first time out. And again,
you know, it is the first preseason game, and it
is you're really your first go round, you know, against
(08:34):
an opponent, and that opponent had had a previous outing
in the preseason, and that's a significant difference. You know,
when you're in the preseason when it's a team that
has had a preseason game versus a team that has not,
usually you see a marked difference in the in the
(08:57):
performance of the two teams, because again it's only a
preseason game, but still preseason is a step up from
training camp practice or you know, any kind of practice.
So you know, again, as I said, it's it's disappointing,
but I don't know that it's a killer for the
season or some sort of ominous harbinger of what's to come,
(09:21):
or any of that kind of stuff. As I said,
I was just you know, I was looking kind of
I was kind of looking forward to it. I thought
that the team was starting to show some things up
here at Latrobe and coming together, and you know that
all that kind of stuff. The offense was physical and
(09:42):
all of these things that we have been talking about
for two weeks, and you just kind of want to
see it continue a little bit, maybe develop a little
bit more once the game starts. Games start, and it
didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Well, they got three more training camp practices this week,
plus a couple more joint practice with Buffalo before they
can get back into Akroscher Stadium. Try to show that
they've corrected these mistakes against the Bills on Saturday before
we play Tomlin. Though one last note I wanted to
get to. We did see the new kickoff rule in
effect with the Steelers involved, and you know, it was
a little intriguing to see John Rey's Plumbley back there, Labs,
(10:19):
I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Yeah, I mean, and we had seen him doing you know,
during practice, he has been back receiving kickoffs. I just
wonder now that Cordery Patterson has been brought off the
non football interest, you know, maybe that's just over. I
do think the Steelers are trying to do right by
(10:44):
John Reice Plumbley. You know, they signed him as an
undraft rookie. You know, he had some other opportunities to
go to some other teams. I think the Steelers kind
of sold him on the fact that you know, you'll
get some opportunities to show what you can do. And
(11:05):
maybe there is some belief by the player himself, the Steelers,
the scouting department that work in putting together his profile,
all of that kind of stuff, that this guy might
have some other skills available besides the traditional quarterback thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Well, you can see the athleticism, Labs. I mean you
see it in his college tape and even on those
short kick returns that he had. The guy can run.
He's athletic.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yes, So you know they're giving him giving him a
chance to show himself because you know, naturally, when you're
in training camp for a team. First team you're trying
to make is that one? But these videos that this
video goes all over the place, right, so maybe somebody
else sees it and sees something and plumb lege that
turns them a practice squad spot, or maybe it earns
(11:52):
of a Steelers practice squad spot, or you know, we'll
have to see. But it was, Yeah, it was a
little interesting to see that, and that's all so something
to keep an eye on moving forward.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Coach Tomin talked to the media following the game against
Houston on Friday. If you missed it, don't worry. We
got it for you right now.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
You know, really a sloppy performance, to be honest with you.
It's capable of happening obviously in the first preseason game,
but not that we find comfort in that. We worked
too hard to have the results we had tonight. So
it's disappointing. How we work off of it, obviously will
define us and we'll have a good rep at responding
to negativity as we push into our next opportunity. We
(12:31):
need to be significantly better. Taking nothing away from the
Houston Texans, it's not about what they did. It was
about the things that we didn't do, or the wounds
we inflicted to ourselves. Just looking at it from a
special team's perspective, the field position and points standpoint was JV.
You know, we had a block of the back on
(12:52):
a kickoff return. From a field position perspective, we ran
out of bounds without being forced on a punt that
had an awesome field position for them. We had a
bad snap on an extra point. We muffed the punt
that produced seven points. And so you can't play football
like that and think you're gonna be in games. Really,
it's amazing we had the ball in a one score
(13:13):
game at the end.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
When you consider those things.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
On offense and defense, I thought we were JV on
possession down football maybe one of seven at one point.
On offense not good enough. A couple of those were sacks.
We had them in third and long several times. On defense,
man we lost we lost those downs. We gave up
a touchdown on a third and long into safety rotation,
and so, you know, it's some things that we got
(13:37):
to do better, some things that we got to tighten up.
We went for it fourth and two and the tight red.
We spent a lot of time in that area of
the field. From a team development standpoint, we feel really
comfortable being aggressive under those circumstances. We had a guy open,
we didn't finish it, and so those are just some
of the examples of the self inflicted wounds that kind
of characterize our night. We'll assess it, learn from it,
(14:00):
and roll our sleeves up and get back to work
next week. Bumps and bruises associated with play. Was still
assessing some of that. Kenu Benton got poked in the
eye and wasn't able to return. We'll have more information
about him and maybe some of the others next time
we come together. Our pause and open up for questions
(14:22):
like how do.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
You evaluate justin Field's three series?
Speaker 5 (14:25):
You know, I thought he did some nice things, but
obviously he was a component of the CQ exchange, and
from my perspective, that's dual responsibility on the center and
the quarterback in negated a lot of good things going
on in those first couple of drives. I think one
definitively got stopped by it went to second and fourteen.
You get behind the change, particularly at the early stages
before you gain real cohesion and have enough of a
(14:48):
menu to get you out of them circumstances, you're dead group,
and so the SEQ exchanges were an issue.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Did anybody separate themselves from anybody else in jurnals of
the wide Receiver twos?
Speaker 5 (15:00):
You know, I thought we had some good work done
by by a lot of people, Van Uh, Calvin Uh, Scottie,
you know, we we had good contributions really kind of
in all phases, but as I mentioned in the opening,
they were dulled or or or minimized by by some
some costly errors that were.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Self inflicted steps performance.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
You know, I thought he did some really good things.
I saw he made a tackle on on punt there early,
he was active on defense. But I think it's kind
of reflective of the production that we seen from him
uh in the tropes. I don't know that any of
us are surprised by it. I thought it was a
a good start individually for.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Him and d Does it solidify your confidence? It does not.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
I thought he did some good things tonight, but we
got a lot of work in front of us, and
opportunities for a young guy like him to really, you know,
round out his game, and from a detailed per perspective,
field seemed to get the ball out of his hands
quickly going to say who that Fields?
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Were you pleased with the way that he was moving
getting the ball out of his hands for Texican?
Speaker 4 (16:07):
The honest, no question.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I thought, you know, he and we did some good things,
but it was just dull by some of the negativity.
But from a rhythm passing standpoint distributing the ball to people,
I thought he and Kyle did.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
A nice job.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
I don't like the sacks in the one dimensional possession
down moments. We got to analyze that. But from a
rhythm passing standpoint, certainly, how.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Do you think your young deligneman looked?
Speaker 3 (16:31):
You know?
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Again, I thought it was some good moments. But we'll
analyze it and comb through it over the next twenty
four hours and I'll provide better analysis for you after that.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Specifically with Zach Frasier, was he a difference there on
that third drive in his relationship with Field? On those
CQ exchanges they looked a little bit cleaner.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
Again, I don't know what happened. I hadn't talked to
any of the parties involved in terms of assessing blame
or assessing or ramifications of the Center exchange. Just rest
assured it's a fundamental component of the ball. We work
it every day, we start our practices with it, and
so it's unacceptable.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Like le All had a couple of big plays, w
you think of his and a.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
Lot most performance uh le al And and mount Adams
I thought had some splash plays. But again, much like
Peyton Wilson, I think it's reflective of their play in Latrobe,
and so I don't think any of us are surprised
by the by the positive contributions of some of the
people that you mentioned, Like I'm sorry, somebody.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
A veteran's the fourth or fifteen, but he gets in there.
Just what you thought about getting out there and seen
him play.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
He looked like a guy who's played some ball, and
that's what you expect from from veteran backups. They had
one in case Keenum. You know, those guys get in
the game late and their experience usually carries units, and
so I'm not surprised by the positive things that he
did in play.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Do you anticipate Russ being available next time you're under
the lights?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
I do.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Like your first time see it in the game live,
what did you think of it?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
You kickoff rules?
Speaker 5 (18:00):
It was about what I expected. I didn't like the
penalty obviously that we picked up the block in the back,
but we dipped our toe in the water. We got
some first hand exposure to it, and so we'll build
upon it.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Anyone else do you think Aton Wilson might have gotten
whole player towards the end of the third quarter there
it seemed like you missed a few tackles.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
I'm sure everyone did.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Were you surprised with what happened with Robert Goldon in
terms of his retirement from the NFL marg.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
That was a blast from the past. No, I got
nothing to add there. You know, football is a challenging job.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Man.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
You got to be all in on it. If you're not,
he probably made the best decision is the first time we.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Saw her for Smith's run game with Pittsburgh. Any ideas
and thoughts on how Nasee you did warned it, how
they're adapting to.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
It, you know, it's that component of our of our
development has been really good. I'm comfortable with the trajectory
of it, not only in La Troll but tonight. But again,
some of the positive things that we had going on
got minimized by self inflicted wounds. You know, you're fumbly
seek you exchanges, putting you behind the change. You're gonna
get somewhat one dimensional and you're not gonna get that
(19:09):
run game rhythm that you want. In our first two
series were you know, we're affected by by those things,
and so it might not be reflected in the stats
or or what have you. But I liked the overall
to ejected a run game. I have a better perspective
once I look at the totality of the place.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Coach Tomlin falling. The Steelers lost to the Houston Texans
in their preseason opener, So a lot more to get
to from Labs and myself when we come back. We'll
talk more about Justin Fields and Kyle Allen's performance that
first glance of the Arthur Smith offense, and we will
hear from Justin Fields himself and his post game remarks
to the media. That's on the way next on the
Training Camp Report on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
He's no Training Camp report with Tom Opperman and Bob
Labriola on Steeler's Nation.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Radio meteorologist Labs is just putting the finishing touches on
his weather report for today, So before we get to him,
I do want to make a note. Practice time a
little bit different for you up at Saint Vincent College today.
Two fifty five is the start time for today's Steelers practice,
two fifty five in the afternoon. So if you're headed
up to Saint Vincent College and you didn't know that already,
(20:28):
make sure you make a mental note of it. All right, Labs,
you've taken a look at the radar, tell me that
these fans are gonna be nice and dry and hopefully
maybe a little cool while they're up there at two
fifty five today.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Yeah, I mean the weather is really gonna be nice
for this last leg of training camp out here at
Saint Vincent College. I mean it's right now, it's sixty
four degrees and I know that there's a weather geek
listening somewhere. The barometric pressure is thirty point one three inches.
The two point is fifty seven degrees. Visibility is at
(21:01):
ten miles, So Tom, if you're flying up in your
private plane, you should.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Be good, good, perfect.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
We'll make sure they get it then, yes, being clear, really,
excuse me. Throughout the entire week, the only things you
can see on the long range forecast is, you know,
in the middle of the night or very early in
the morning, there's going to be some fog. You know,
you got the mountains and stuff, and cool nights, warm
(21:29):
days but not too hot. High seventies, low eighties should
be beautiful. So anyone who's thinking about coming out for these,
as I said, this last leg of training camp, don't
let the weather stop you, because the weather is going
to be great.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, and today is the last weekend practice of training camp.
So if you're sitting at home right now and debating
on whether you should or shouldn't, let me be the
one that maybe tips you in the right direction, head
on out there for a two point fifty five practice
in some great weather and you'll get to see the
Steelers get the first crack at correcting a lot of
those mistakes that were made in the game. And we
talked about justin fields in the center quarterback exchange in
(22:06):
the first segment of the episode Labs. Let's try to
get some positivity going if we can. Was there anything
about fields this couple of series that you did like.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Well, yeah, I mean I thought that, you know, it's
it was somewhat interesting to me that the one position
group that seemed to be in the spotlight the most
through the first phase of training camp. You know, is
it going to be good enough? Does it need an
addition from outside the team, free agency, a trade, something
(22:39):
like that. Was the wide receivers. Yeah, you know, and
I thought for the most part, those guys did what
they needed to do. Uh, they were open, they caught
the ball. There was no there were no drops or
any kind of bad mistakes like that. So and in
a lot of those instances, you know, the throws had
(23:01):
to be on time and accurate, and they were. You know, again,
the justin fields situation. You know, as Mike Tollman explained
that at the end of that, our first segment had
to do with, you know, some of the negativity created
by you know, the bought snaps and then you're you're
in a situation where you're one dimensional. And again, it
(23:24):
was the first preseason game against a team that had
already played a game, you know, second and fourteen, those
kind of down in distance situations where really running the
football isn't an option yet because you know, you haven't
been able to establish that you can pick up eight
(23:46):
yards on a running play on second and fourteen, because
really that's what you're looking for you know, you want
to make it third and manageable. You don't want to
call a running play on second and well, first on,
you know there's a exchange, you lose four yards. Okay,
now you gotta try try to get something on second
down that's you know, put you in position for a
(24:08):
makeable third down. You know, Mike Toman talked about the
bad outcome on early possession downs one for seven, and
that is a that is exactly accurate. He said in
his remarks, I think it was one for seven. Well, yes,
it was, excuse me, one for seven, and you know
that's clearly below the line. And some of that had
to do with finding yourself and you know, third and
(24:33):
one dimensional situations, you had to throw the ball. And
I don't think that helped the young offensive tackles any
and it certainly didn't do much for the offense being
able to maintain possession and maybe get into some kind
of rhythm. So a lot of these things going piggyback
on one another, and one bad thing leads to another
situation that is another bad thing, and you know, so
(24:55):
it's it's not so much that there was one thing
that went wrong, it's how the interrelated nature of football
can sometimes conspire to make a team look bad, or
on a flip side, it can make a team look good.
So again, as I said, it was not a particularly
(25:21):
flawless opening performance by the Steelers, and you know, a
lot of the problems I think, you know, it's like
the snowball running down the mountain. Once it gets going,
it's hard to stop. And I think that that's some
of what we saw against the Texans. Now, I don't
(25:43):
think it means Justin Fields is a bust or he
can't play in the league, or you know, there's a
lot of tendency in some circles to go a little
overboard with conclusions, and I don't know canceling people right away.
I don't think that that's necessary or warranted here in
(26:06):
this case. I do believe that Russell Wilson is going
to start the opener in Atlanta. I also do believe that,
you know, having a veteran like that can be a
calming influence on some players in some situations. Once games
(26:27):
get underway. We'll have to see how that works out.
Because we did hear Mike Tomlin say that he said
Russell Wilson will play the next time the Steelers are
I think the question went under the lights, so you know,
we can see how that works as well. You know,
it's not all gloom and doom. I'm sorry if I'm
(26:51):
coming across that way. I'm really trying to just kind
of put it in perspective. But again, I keep using
the same word disappoint. That's the that's the overwhelming emotion
or feeling that I have, the primary, not overwhelming, primary
emotional emotion or feeling I have in light of this
(27:13):
preseason opener.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, and you know, kind of going off of what
you're saying with that, you know that veteran when you
were talking about Russell Wilson, he can be kind of
a calming influence. Kind of saw that in the second
half with Kyle Allen's performance of this game. He looked
like a veteran quarterback in the NFL going up against
second and third stringers, a guy who has had starting
(27:35):
experience before. And you know, I know he wasn't perfect either,
but you have to at least say, hey, if we
have to go to our emergency third string quarterback again
this year, we probably have a better chance with him
than most teams do with the.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Hers, Well, yeah, that's you know, that's also kind of
a hallmark of preseason games, especially early preseason games, is
once the you know, the first string players are removed,
and then you also in the early preseason games you
also have a list of top players, usually from both teams,
who don't play at all. So once you get into
(28:10):
the you know, the middle to bottom portions of your
depth chart, having a quarterback with the NFL regular season
game experience is huge. You know, he can do so
many things not only for your team, but also create
situations for the coaching staff that allows them to be
(28:30):
able to evaluate some of these guys on the lower
runs of the depth chart because you know it's hard
to For example, wide receivers are tight ends or eligibles.
You know, how can you evaluate them if the quarterback
who is playing at the time is inexperienced and making
(28:53):
a lot of basic rudimentary mistakes. You know, you need
you need if it's offense we're talking about, and it
is what you are talking about right now. If it's
offense and you want to see how maybe some of
the offensive younger offensive linemen are doing or any of
that stuff, you need a quarterback who's doing his job
(29:16):
to an NFL acceptable level. And that's what Kyle Allen did,
and that's what he is. You know, it's great having
a third string quarterback on your depth chart with his
kind of starting experience. You know, I'm certainly hoping that
Kyle Allen is inactive for every game this year. Nothing
(29:39):
against him truly, but that's what you want from your
third quarterback if you're an NFL team. That's why he's third.
As you mentioned, you use the word emergency. You hope
you don't get into that, but if you do, I
think I think that there is a certain level of
confidence you can have a guy with Kyle Allen's resume,
(30:03):
and he showed in his first outing that that that
that resume is real. It's not fool's gold, to use
a previous phrase I used earlier.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, and the guys like that, a guy like that
has just got to be a positive addition to the
quarterback room in general. You know, in the weeks, in
the week of practice, in preparation of games, it's better
than having to maybe a rookie no offense to John
Reice Pumley, who is kind of, you know, still getting
his feet wet getting his NFL sea legs under him.
That that's not a thing with Kyle Allen. He knows
how to be a pro.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Yeah. And the other thing about, you know, having a
guy like Kyle Allen in the on the lower runs
of your depth charter quarterback can help with the scout team. Yes,
but if if Kyle Allen is running the Atlanta offense prior,
(30:54):
you know, during the preparation for the regular season opener,
he's giving the defense a legitimate look at how that offense,
you know, might be executed. He's going to know who
to get the ball to. You know, he looks at
the cards, sees what the play is, you know, can
make the progressions and and give defense a good look
at what they're probably going to be facing come a
(31:17):
game time.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Justin Field spoke with the media following his first game
in a Steelers uniform. Let's hear what the quarterback had
to say.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
First game and do describe what happened on the two fumbles?
Speaker 6 (31:30):
Chames, Yeah, I think overall, I think we ran the
ball well, moved the ball well, and I think, you know,
just the summer of the game, we were just shooting
ourselves in the foot uh, fumble snaps, I think all
three phases, so we can definitely be better in that part.
And you know, I think the snapping part, we just
got to be in the same page, you know, just
so I would put that on me to just be
(31:51):
on the same page and you know, know who's in
that center, know how to adjust and what I need
to do when you know nation in the game.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
So did you get the chance to look at incompletion
of Van Jefferson?
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Yeah, I thought he was in bounds. I'm not gonna lie,
but yeah, so did you was open over the building?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Yah?
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Nah?
Speaker 6 (32:09):
I I think the UH defender did a good job
undercutting him, so, I mean it would have been a
perfect place ball. But yeah, no, it looks like I
think band was in.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Yeah, started out five or five. How did you feel
about your rhythm.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Just coming out?
Speaker 6 (32:24):
Feel like, uh, I was in a good rhythm, And
like I said, I think we were moving the ball. Well,
I think you know, just those but f the the
fumble snaps, you know, s things like that, Uh, they
can kill a whole drive. But I think, uh, the
overall rhythm of things, I think we were in and
out of the whole huddle fast and felt felt good.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Overall, what you've learned.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
About this offense having last few weeks practice, Ota is
now in the game, how do you feel like it
helps you and can support you as you know a quarterback.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
I mean, I feel like, you know, Arthur is good
at game planning to uh every players on offense our strengths.
So you know, as long as we're you know, playing
towards strains, doing what everybody does well and getting them
the ball on certain concepts, certain routes, and of course
you know, running the ball is always gonna be a
big part of who we are. As long as we
do that and you know, execute like we know how
to execute, I think would be great.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
What do you think.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Worked out better on that third drive, especially when Zach
Fraser went at the center.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
I just don't think, uh, there wasn't there wasn't any
fumble snaps. Like I said, it's it's it's hard to
uh put a drive together when you're you know, have
a fumble snap and you're second to thirteen and you're
behind the sticks. So like I said, just the self
inflicted wounds are the only things that you know hurt us,
especially when I was in the game, so yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Do you feel like you learn anything about this offense getting.
Speaker 6 (33:36):
Some some Uh yeah, I mean you you you can
kind of get a feel on, you know, what Arthur's thinking,
how we goes about the game, you know, how we
uh just communicates with you on the sideline and stuff
like that. So that was, you know, good, just you know,
being with them and kind of having a real end
game experience with them. And of course you know all
the coaches stuff like that, uh like Tom and stuff
(33:57):
like that. So just the whole process of everything kind
of getting used to everything. But I think the overall
process went well and just the uhligists of everything went well.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
You were saying, as apply to be understood, Arthur's a
little fire around the sideline.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Is he different today than he has been in training camp? Uh?
Speaker 6 (34:14):
I mean, you know, I think he's a I think
he's in a different role now. So of course he's
not gonna you know, step on anybody's soldes. But again,
this is the this, this is the preseason. You never know,
you know what can happen as the season uh moves along.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
But yeah, what was what was.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
The feedback that he did you got from him and
maybe the coach Arthur anyone else, uh about your rhythm,
especially early on when you were able to connect on.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
Several other early throws. I mean, nothing crazy. I think
that's what exp is expected at the end of the day.
Speaker 6 (34:43):
So you know, just moving the ball, getting completions and
you know, not uh making any dumb decisions or uh
Aaron throws and just being smart with it.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
So he does a feedback.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
How about what you wouldn't Russ talked about on the sideline?
Speaker 6 (34:57):
I mean, yeah, he was just there, uh encouraging me
and we were just kind of looking at the iPads
yuh after every drive and you know, he was being
a great.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Teammate to day.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
So just to one are your tableways, like I said,
just can't shoot ourselves in the foot, have to uh
do the routine things routinely QC exchange and like I said,
I think you know that's the thing that stopped us,
uh when there when we were driving the ball. Well,
it's it's it's not a good feeling when you're second
(35:25):
to thirteen second or fourteen, it's it's it's it's hard
to score like that. So what kind of maors or
more comfortable with certain routes in terms.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Of uh, did you feel more comfortable?
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Maybe something else is certainly.
Speaker 6 (35:38):
Ss uh most definitely. I do think our receivering group
is uh versatile. I think a lot of people can
do a lot of things. So, you know, it's great
for our offense. It makes our offense more complex when
we were able to put guys in different spots and
you know they can run it's the same concepts or
different routes stuff like that. So it's just great having
a uh, a versatile group of receivers who can do
(36:00):
a lot of things. What's the focus moving forward, just
specifically with one more week left in the trip, I
think just uh, you know, tightening up the details. Like
I said, I think we're you know, focusing on just
control them what we control and not shoot ourselves in
the foot like you know, it's just it's just a
repetitive thing. As long as we do that, put ourselves
(36:20):
in a great field position and you know, do the
routine things routinely, I think will be great. Because other
than that, I think we you know, like I said before,
we just moved the ball well. I think we executed well,
ran the ball well, and you know we were when
we were doing the routine things routinely. Of course, the
ball was moving downfield, so just doing that.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Was that run in twos and QB Center exchanged?
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Was there something the same thing after different?
Speaker 6 (36:40):
It was the same thing that happened. So, like I said,
we're gonna, you know, get some extra work at that
this week and uh, make sure it doesn't happen again.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I know that it was just a preseason game, but
what did it feel like being announced as a starter,
new crowd, new uniform, all of those things.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Did it feel surreal at all?
Speaker 6 (36:56):
Yeah, I mean it was cool. It was cool. I
think our uniforms are really cool. I like the black
and yellow, black and golds. So it was awesome to
you know, put the new threads on and kind of
getting a new stadium, getting get a new feeling.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
It was. It was. It was awesome.
Speaker 6 (37:10):
Rookie alignment in front of you, shooting up for their
first NFL game.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I'm sorry. Any impressions of those rookie line the first time?
Speaker 6 (37:17):
Yeah, I mean the biggest thing is with these younger
guys is you know, it's their first NFL game, So
you just try to talk to them before the game,
try to get a sense of how they're feeling, and
you know.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
Just try to comfort them.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
Troy actually asked me a couple of days ago if
I was nervous my first NFL game, and I said,
of course, But you know, if you're not nervous, and
I mean I think nerves come. You know, you can
be uh two three years in the league and first
game still comes and you still might have a little
nerves in you. But you know, like I like, I
think after a few plays, first first few players, you're
in there. I mean, it just goes back to playing football.
(37:48):
So you know, I think those guys are just doing
a great job growing and learning, and of course they're
just gonna get better as as as time goes along.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
You had a couple of completions to George tonight. What
has you obviously had a connection with him in Latrow?
Speaker 2 (38:01):
What has led to you to developing that chemistry.
Speaker 6 (38:04):
I think just Rex, like I said, I've got an
opportunity to run with the ones, So just me and
him gaining that connection back and you know, just getting
on the same page. But of course, you know, uh,
he's a great receiver, especially with the ball ball.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
In his hands.
Speaker 6 (38:20):
You just want to get in the ball and uh,
he'll make sure you gets some yardfley catch.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
So he did.
Speaker 6 (38:24):
He showed that today and I'm excited to see, you
know what he does next week.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Steelers quarterback Justin Field's following their loss to the Houston
Texans on Friday when we come back, got a couple
of defensive players that I want to throw past labs
see what he thought about their first uh preseason game
experience and talk about them before we get in the
locker room with wolf In Stark. So that's on the way.
Next on the training camp report on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
DC started Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and Bob
black Riola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Lab's two guys on the defensive side of the ball
that have been having good camps the Marvin lel and
Peyton Wilson that carried over into the first game on
Friday against Houston. Peyton Wilson barely left the field it seemed,
and Marvin Leal with some splashy plays as well. So
a good in stadium performance for a couple of guys
(39:24):
having good camps.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
Yeah. The Marvin Leal too, to me, is now even
a more interesting kind of player than he was. Showing
himself to be the first portion of training camp. I mean,
the guy you know, he's playing some defensive line. He
also was someone one of the bigger in terms of
weight people working on the kickoff teams because you know,
(39:50):
the new rules are kind of making people believe that,
you know, you need to be more mobile for you know,
to throw that in that role. But now, you know,
with the game surprise game day retirement of Marcus Golden, UH,
you know I was, I was shocked. I you know,
(40:12):
we had heard from him, uh a couple of days
before the preseason opener, and you know, he was talking about,
you know, he didn't want to be retired, and he
was really thankful to be back with the Steelers, and
you know all of those kinds of things. I mean,
and I don't really know anything specifically about what precipitated,
(40:33):
you know, his decision. I can only surmise that, you know,
maybe his body wasn't responding the way he thought it
needed to or the way he hoped it was going to, uh,
and he just couldn't realize he couldn't do it anymore.
So you know, if that's the case, you know, I
(40:56):
think that that's you know, kudos to him for, you know,
not trying to drag it out. You don't want to
screw over the team or you know, put yourself in
a bad situation where you might even be in danger
being on an NFL field if you're not able to
completely defend yourself the way you need to. But anyway,
(41:17):
so Marvin Leale now to me becomes a little bit
more of an interesting kind of guy because it's going
to be I don't know how they're going to use him.
You know, he has some athletic ability to go along
with his size. I'm not saying that you can put
him an outside linebacker and expect him to do the
things Nick Herbie could do. But you know, maybe there's
(41:39):
some sort of role or scheme fit or assignments within
the scheme when he's on the field that he might
be able to provide some snaps at a outside linebacker
like position, edge rusher edge rusher like position that might
be able to alleviate some depth concerns if those developed
(42:04):
or not. You know, to Marvin Leale, he had he
played thirty three defensive snaps against the Texans. That was
fifty three percent. It was one of the higher totals
of on the on the team, certainly he was. He
played the most defensive snaps of anyone listed, you know,
(42:26):
as a traditional defensive lineman. You know, the Marvin Leale
had thirty three, Isaiah Laudermilk had twenty nine. Those were
the two guys you know, leading the way there. So yeah,
I think the Marvin Leal is a guy worth keeping
an eye on through the rest of this preseason, maybe
even more so because of the Marcus Golden retirement.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
Yeah, and quickly, just a thought on Peyton Wilson. You know,
with Patrick Queen not playing at all, it was an
opportunity for tell them to throw the rookie right into
the fire, and I think he responded pretty well, a
little too aggressive at some points, honestly.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
Yeah, I mean he was around the ball a lot.
I mean, that's his mo that's his history. He certainly
was that against the Texans. Another thing to throw out there.
He did play thirteen special team snaps as wells in
addition to the forty right, in addition to the forty
four defensive snaps. Pretty big load for a young player
(43:22):
in his first outing, and I think he acquitted himself well,
I don't know that he's ready to start over Patrick
Queen and or Land and Roberts. But I mean, this
guy could play in the league, and I think that
the Steelers got themselves a good one.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
All right, let's go do it for us today. We'll
be back again tomorrow at nine am for another edition
of the Training Camp Report. Steelers practice, as a reminder,
is at two point fifty five this afternoon, and it's
going to be great weather. So if you're headed up
to Saint Vincent College, don't have any doubts about it.
You'll have a blast on this last weekend practice of
twenty twenty four training camp. We're going to go in
the locker room next with Wolf and Starks for labs.
(44:02):
I'm Tom. This has been the Training Camp Report on
the Steelers Audio Network.
He's no training camp report with Tom Opferman and Bob
Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, the Steelers had their first experience going up against
a different team for the twenty twenty four season on
Friday night, But Labs, in a lot of ways, they
were still playing themselves because it was self inflicted wounds
and sloppy play from a professional football team, even if
it was your first time in a game setting.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I was thinking of that
as you were saying, you know, they were going against
a different team, and you know, that's the exact same
conclusion I kept coming to throughout the game. No, in fact,
they're not going against a different team. They're going against themselves,
and they're beating themselves. I mean, you know, Mike tomins line,
(00:52):
before you can start kicking butt, you got to not
kick your own butt. There you go, And I understand,
you know this is it was the first preseason game. Uh.
And what I did earlier today just to kind of
get ready for this kind of I don't get my
mind in a talking about the first preseason game.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Mode.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I went back and got the uh, the play by
play from last year's first preseason game where I'm sure
if you know, we could transport ourselves back in the
way back machine to the show that we did, this
show that we did right after the Steelers beat Tampa
(01:37):
Bay last August, you know, would be all gushing and
you know, my goodness of the offense looks so good
and Kenny Pickett was so great and then.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And I know I definitely saying that about Pickett.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, and and so that's you know, that's the other
end of it, or the other side of this, the
flip side of this. But you know that was that
turned out to be meaningless, that turned out to be
fools gold. So maybe this is you know, fools gloom
and doom. But it was just, I don't know, it
(02:14):
was disappointed, you know by the sloppiness. You know, two
botched snaps in the first six seven offensive plays. I mean,
you know, really, uh, I don't know whose fault they were.
You know, it's the center quarterback exchange. I mean, and
(02:36):
these guys Nate Herbig and Justin Fields. You try to
do some quick math, you think they maybe had a
thousand of these before the game between the two of them,
you know what I mean, every.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Don't go back to like OTA's mini camp. Yeah absolutely, so.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
You know, I just I don't know how that happens.
And they're they're professionals team. Yeah, that's what I mean.
And there was that, you know, and then the some
of the special teams. You know, God bless Quiz Watkins,
but I mean, he just looked totally out of sorts
(03:19):
as a punt returner. There were three of them. The
first one he made a fair catch where to me
looked like there was a lot of room for him
to try to return it. The next one it landed
in front of him by a lot, and then the
third one he muffed and they, you know, the Texans
(03:40):
recovered and turned that into a quick touchdown. So you
know that that just that's again, you know, that's catching
the punt is to punt return what snapping the football
is to the offense. You know, the punts in the air,
you gotta catch it. That's the first thing. And they
work on it, and they work on and they work
(04:01):
on and practice. I mean, and then to just look
so bad doing it in a game, I don't understand.
And so that's what I mean by disappointment. I don't
you know, you can't, can you blame the coaches for that.
I don't. I don't see how it's quarterback coach Tom
(04:24):
Arth's fault that Justin Field and Nate Herbig couldn't get
the snap executed. Is it Arthur Smith's fault that you
know some of these things were happening. I don't. I don't.
It doesn't seem to me to be that kind of
a problem. It was just I don't know stage fright.
I'm reaching here because I got nothing for you in
(04:47):
terms of specific answers or specific assignments or blame explanations
of why how you know all of these kinds of
questions that I'm sure we're in the minds of a
lot of fans, But I'm sorry, I don't know how
to explain it.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, I don't know how to explain it either. You
mentioned stage fright. That's a good theory, Labs, But it
wasn't really any other rookies. You know that we're showing
that much of these gaffes. It was guys like Fields,
Guys like Keus Watkins been around the block for a
couple of years at least now, so that shouldn't be
a thing for them. They're used to getting into NFL
stadiums in regular season games. This is this is a
(05:27):
preseason game, and you know, like Tomlin said in his
pressure and how we just spent the first five minutes
of our show here, it just overshadows some of the
positive that happened in the game, because there were some,
but you just can't get over the negative. And Tomlin
said it like three times in his presser. Well, we'll
play that for you in a little bit, but it's
very evident that that's weighing on him before he can
even look at some of the good stuff he did
on film. The negative is just it's a it's a
(05:49):
dark cloud over it all.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, and you know it's it's just so fundamental, you
know what I mean. And I thought it was kind
of revealing that because Mike Tomlin in the post game
he will you know, give an opening statement his you know,
general impression or something and then opening up for questions. Well,
in this particular instance, after Friday Night's game, I mean,
(06:15):
all of that assessment of the game, when he went
through the laundry list of you know, I don't know,
below the line or you know, kicking yourself in your
own butter as justin fields is shooting ourselves in the foot.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
He just he did all of that unprompted. I mean,
there weren't questions about that because so that must have
been in the forefront of his mind, a tip of
his tongue, however you want to kind of you know,
phrase it. Uh, And that to me just kind of
emphasized the Uh. I don't know, the disappointment, I guess
(06:52):
is a good word, the disappointment in the performance, especially
after what we had watched your training camp for the
first couple of weeks. You know, the rock them soccer robots,
big physical practices and the intensity and the competitiveness and
you know, a lot of that kind of stuff. I mean,
it just I don't know, it just kind of fell
flat for me.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah, and you know, even beyond the fundamental stuff, which
is it makes you want to pull your hair out.
Looking a little bit deeper, Toma mentioned that they were
jv on other facets of the game, on offense and
defense possession downs. He says that maybe they were one
for seven at one point on offense on possession downs,
which aren't good enough. He talked about the sacks that
they took the quarterbacks, the offensive line that they gave
(07:35):
up that not being good enough. So you know, it
went beyond just the fundamental stuff. There was sloppy play
within the game as well.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Yeah, and you know, I didn't think the offensive tackles
really any of them had much success with the Texans
edge rushers. Jerry Hughes in particular, seemed to me to be,
you know, enjoying himself, you know, getting around. You know,
the Steelers offensive tackles, you know, Roderick Jones, I didn't
(08:07):
think really played great in that respect. I don't think
Troy Filatano really was I don't know, one first round
pickI ish looking in his first time out. And again,
you know, it is the first preseason game, and it
is you're really your first go round, you know, against
(08:34):
an opponent, and that opponent had had a previous outing
in the preseason, and that's a significant difference. You know,
when you're in the preseason when it's a team that
has had a preseason game versus a team that has not,
usually you see a marked difference in the in the
(08:57):
performance of the two teams, because again it's only a
preseason game, but still preseason is a step up from
training camp practice or you know, any kind of practice.
So you know, again, as I said, it's it's disappointing,
but I don't know that it's a killer for the
season or some sort of ominous harbinger of what's to come,
(09:21):
or any of that kind of stuff. As I said,
I was just you know, I was looking kind of
I was kind of looking forward to it. I thought
that the team was starting to show some things up
here at Latrobe and coming together, and you know that
all that kind of stuff. The offense was physical and
(09:42):
all of these things that we have been talking about
for two weeks, and you just kind of want to
see it continue a little bit, maybe develop a little
bit more once the game starts. Games start, and it
didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Well, they got three more training camp practices this week,
plus a couple more joint practice with Buffalo before they
can get back into Akroscher Stadium. Try to show that
they've corrected these mistakes against the Bills on Saturday before
we play Tomlin. Though one last note I wanted to
get to. We did see the new kickoff rule in
effect with the Steelers involved, and you know, it was
a little intriguing to see John Rey's Plumbley back there, Labs,
(10:19):
I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Yeah, I mean, and we had seen him doing you know,
during practice, he has been back receiving kickoffs. I just
wonder now that Cordery Patterson has been brought off the
non football interest, you know, maybe that's just over. I
do think the Steelers are trying to do right by
(10:44):
John Reice Plumbley. You know, they signed him as an
undraft rookie. You know, he had some other opportunities to
go to some other teams. I think the Steelers kind
of sold him on the fact that you know, you'll
get some opportunities to show what you can do. And
(11:05):
maybe there is some belief by the player himself, the Steelers,
the scouting department that work in putting together his profile,
all of that kind of stuff, that this guy might
have some other skills available besides the traditional quarterback thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Well, you can see the athleticism, Labs. I mean you
see it in his college tape and even on those
short kick returns that he had. The guy can run.
He's athletic.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yes, So you know they're giving him giving him a
chance to show himself because you know, naturally, when you're
in training camp for a team. First team you're trying
to make is that one? But these videos that this
video goes all over the place, right, so maybe somebody
else sees it and sees something and plumb lege that
turns them a practice squad spot, or maybe it earns
(11:52):
of a Steelers practice squad spot, or you know, we'll
have to see. But it was, Yeah, it was a
little interesting to see that, and that's all so something
to keep an eye on moving forward.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Coach Tomin talked to the media following the game against
Houston on Friday. If you missed it, don't worry. We
got it for you right now.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
You know, really a sloppy performance, to be honest with you.
It's capable of happening obviously in the first preseason game,
but not that we find comfort in that. We worked
too hard to have the results we had tonight. So
it's disappointing. How we work off of it, obviously will
define us and we'll have a good rep at responding
to negativity as we push into our next opportunity. We
(12:31):
need to be significantly better. Taking nothing away from the
Houston Texans, it's not about what they did. It was
about the things that we didn't do, or the wounds
we inflicted to ourselves. Just looking at it from a
special team's perspective, the field position and points standpoint was JV.
You know, we had a block of the back on
(12:52):
a kickoff return. From a field position perspective, we ran
out of bounds without being forced on a punt that
had an awesome field position for them. We had a
bad snap on an extra point. We muffed the punt
that produced seven points. And so you can't play football
like that and think you're gonna be in games. Really,
it's amazing we had the ball in a one score
(13:13):
game at the end.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
When you consider those things.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
On offense and defense, I thought we were JV on
possession down football maybe one of seven at one point.
On offense not good enough. A couple of those were sacks.
We had them in third and long several times. On defense,
man we lost we lost those downs. We gave up
a touchdown on a third and long into safety rotation,
and so, you know, it's some things that we got
(13:37):
to do better, some things that we got to tighten up.
We went for it fourth and two and the tight red.
We spent a lot of time in that area of
the field. From a team development standpoint, we feel really
comfortable being aggressive under those circumstances. We had a guy open,
we didn't finish it, and so those are just some
of the examples of the self inflicted wounds that kind
of characterize our night. We'll assess it, learn from it,
(14:00):
and roll our sleeves up and get back to work
next week. Bumps and bruises associated with play. Was still
assessing some of that. Kenu Benton got poked in the
eye and wasn't able to return. We'll have more information
about him and maybe some of the others next time
we come together. Our pause and open up for questions
(14:22):
like how do.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
You evaluate justin Field's three series?
Speaker 5 (14:25):
You know, I thought he did some nice things, but
obviously he was a component of the CQ exchange, and
from my perspective, that's dual responsibility on the center and
the quarterback in negated a lot of good things going
on in those first couple of drives. I think one
definitively got stopped by it went to second and fourteen.
You get behind the change, particularly at the early stages
before you gain real cohesion and have enough of a
(14:48):
menu to get you out of them circumstances, you're dead group,
and so the SEQ exchanges were an issue.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Did anybody separate themselves from anybody else in jurnals of
the wide Receiver twos?
Speaker 5 (15:00):
You know, I thought we had some good work done
by by a lot of people, Van Uh, Calvin Uh, Scottie,
you know, we we had good contributions really kind of
in all phases, but as I mentioned in the opening,
they were dulled or or or minimized by by some
some costly errors that were.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Self inflicted steps performance.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
You know, I thought he did some really good things.
I saw he made a tackle on on punt there early,
he was active on defense. But I think it's kind
of reflective of the production that we seen from him
uh in the tropes. I don't know that any of
us are surprised by it. I thought it was a
a good start individually for.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Him and d Does it solidify your confidence? It does not.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
I thought he did some good things tonight, but we
got a lot of work in front of us, and
opportunities for a young guy like him to really, you know,
round out his game, and from a detailed per perspective,
field seemed to get the ball out of his hands
quickly going to say who that Fields?
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Were you pleased with the way that he was moving
getting the ball out of his hands for Texican?
Speaker 4 (16:07):
The honest, no question.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
I thought, you know, he and we did some good things,
but it was just dull by some of the negativity.
But from a rhythm passing standpoint distributing the ball to people,
I thought he and Kyle did.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
A nice job.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
I don't like the sacks in the one dimensional possession
down moments. We got to analyze that. But from a
rhythm passing standpoint, certainly, how.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Do you think your young deligneman looked?
Speaker 3 (16:31):
You know?
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Again, I thought it was some good moments. But we'll
analyze it and comb through it over the next twenty
four hours and I'll provide better analysis for you after that.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Specifically with Zach Frasier, was he a difference there on
that third drive in his relationship with Field? On those
CQ exchanges they looked a little bit cleaner.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
Again, I don't know what happened. I hadn't talked to
any of the parties involved in terms of assessing blame
or assessing or ramifications of the Center exchange. Just rest
assured it's a fundamental component of the ball. We work
it every day, we start our practices with it, and
so it's unacceptable.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Like le All had a couple of big plays, w
you think of his and a.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
Lot most performance uh le al And and mount Adams
I thought had some splash plays. But again, much like
Peyton Wilson, I think it's reflective of their play in Latrobe,
and so I don't think any of us are surprised
by the by the positive contributions of some of the
people that you mentioned, Like I'm sorry, somebody.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
A veteran's the fourth or fifteen, but he gets in there.
Just what you thought about getting out there and seen
him play.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
He looked like a guy who's played some ball, and
that's what you expect from from veteran backups. They had
one in case Keenum. You know, those guys get in
the game late and their experience usually carries units, and
so I'm not surprised by the positive things that he
did in play.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Do you anticipate Russ being available next time you're under
the lights?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
I do.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Like your first time see it in the game live,
what did you think of it?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
You kickoff rules?
Speaker 5 (18:00):
It was about what I expected. I didn't like the
penalty obviously that we picked up the block in the back,
but we dipped our toe in the water. We got
some first hand exposure to it, and so we'll build
upon it.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Anyone else do you think Aton Wilson might have gotten
whole player towards the end of the third quarter there
it seemed like you missed a few tackles.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
I'm sure everyone did.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Were you surprised with what happened with Robert Goldon in
terms of his retirement from the NFL marg.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
That was a blast from the past. No, I got
nothing to add there. You know, football is a challenging job.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Man.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
You got to be all in on it. If you're not,
he probably made the best decision is the first time we.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Saw her for Smith's run game with Pittsburgh. Any ideas
and thoughts on how Nasee you did warned it, how
they're adapting to.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
It, you know, it's that component of our of our
development has been really good. I'm comfortable with the trajectory
of it, not only in La Troll but tonight. But again,
some of the positive things that we had going on
got minimized by self inflicted wounds. You know, you're fumbly
seek you exchanges, putting you behind the change. You're gonna
get somewhat one dimensional and you're not gonna get that
(19:09):
run game rhythm that you want. In our first two
series were you know, we're affected by by those things,
and so it might not be reflected in the stats
or or what have you. But I liked the overall
to ejected a run game. I have a better perspective
once I look at the totality of the place.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Coach Tomlin falling. The Steelers lost to the Houston Texans
in their preseason opener, So a lot more to get
to from Labs and myself when we come back. We'll
talk more about Justin Fields and Kyle Allen's performance that
first glance of the Arthur Smith offense, and we will
hear from Justin Fields himself and his post game remarks
to the media. That's on the way next on the
Training Camp Report on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
He's no Training Camp report with Tom Opperman and Bob
Labriola on Steeler's Nation.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Radio meteorologist Labs is just putting the finishing touches on
his weather report for today, So before we get to him,
I do want to make a note. Practice time a
little bit different for you up at Saint Vincent College today.
Two fifty five is the start time for today's Steelers practice,
two fifty five in the afternoon. So if you're headed
up to Saint Vincent College and you didn't know that already,
(20:28):
make sure you make a mental note of it. All right, Labs,
you've taken a look at the radar, tell me that
these fans are gonna be nice and dry and hopefully
maybe a little cool while they're up there at two
fifty five today.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Yeah, I mean the weather is really gonna be nice
for this last leg of training camp out here at
Saint Vincent College. I mean it's right now, it's sixty
four degrees and I know that there's a weather geek
listening somewhere. The barometric pressure is thirty point one three inches.
The two point is fifty seven degrees. Visibility is at
(21:01):
ten miles, So Tom, if you're flying up in your
private plane, you should.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Be good, good, perfect.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
We'll make sure they get it then, yes, being clear, really,
excuse me. Throughout the entire week, the only things you
can see on the long range forecast is, you know,
in the middle of the night or very early in
the morning, there's going to be some fog. You know,
you got the mountains and stuff, and cool nights, warm
(21:29):
days but not too hot. High seventies, low eighties should
be beautiful. So anyone who's thinking about coming out for these,
as I said, this last leg of training camp, don't
let the weather stop you, because the weather is going
to be great.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, and today is the last weekend practice of training camp.
So if you're sitting at home right now and debating
on whether you should or shouldn't, let me be the
one that maybe tips you in the right direction, head
on out there for a two point fifty five practice
in some great weather and you'll get to see the
Steelers get the first crack at correcting a lot of
those mistakes that were made in the game. And we
talked about justin fields in the center quarterback exchange in
(22:06):
the first segment of the episode Labs. Let's try to
get some positivity going if we can. Was there anything
about fields this couple of series that you did like.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Well, yeah, I mean I thought that, you know, it's
it was somewhat interesting to me that the one position
group that seemed to be in the spotlight the most
through the first phase of training camp. You know, is
it going to be good enough? Does it need an
addition from outside the team, free agency, a trade, something
(22:39):
like that. Was the wide receivers. Yeah, you know, and
I thought for the most part, those guys did what
they needed to do. Uh, they were open, they caught
the ball. There was no there were no drops or
any kind of bad mistakes like that. So and in
a lot of those instances, you know, the throws had
(23:01):
to be on time and accurate, and they were. You know, again,
the justin fields situation. You know, as Mike Tollman explained
that at the end of that, our first segment had
to do with, you know, some of the negativity created
by you know, the bought snaps and then you're you're
in a situation where you're one dimensional. And again, it
(23:24):
was the first preseason game against a team that had
already played a game, you know, second and fourteen, those
kind of down in distance situations where really running the
football isn't an option yet because you know, you haven't
been able to establish that you can pick up eight
(23:46):
yards on a running play on second and fourteen, because
really that's what you're looking for you know, you want
to make it third and manageable. You don't want to
call a running play on second and well, first on,
you know there's a exchange, you lose four yards. Okay,
now you gotta try try to get something on second
down that's you know, put you in position for a
(24:08):
makeable third down. You know, Mike Toman talked about the
bad outcome on early possession downs one for seven, and
that is a that is exactly accurate. He said in
his remarks, I think it was one for seven. Well, yes,
it was, excuse me, one for seven, and you know
that's clearly below the line. And some of that had
to do with finding yourself and you know, third and
(24:33):
one dimensional situations, you had to throw the ball. And
I don't think that helped the young offensive tackles any
and it certainly didn't do much for the offense being
able to maintain possession and maybe get into some kind
of rhythm. So a lot of these things going piggyback
on one another, and one bad thing leads to another
situation that is another bad thing, and you know, so
(24:55):
it's it's not so much that there was one thing
that went wrong, it's how the interrelated nature of football
can sometimes conspire to make a team look bad, or
on a flip side, it can make a team look good.
So again, as I said, it was not a particularly
(25:21):
flawless opening performance by the Steelers, and you know, a
lot of the problems I think, you know, it's like
the snowball running down the mountain. Once it gets going,
it's hard to stop. And I think that that's some
of what we saw against the Texans. Now, I don't
(25:43):
think it means Justin Fields is a bust or he
can't play in the league, or you know, there's a
lot of tendency in some circles to go a little
overboard with conclusions, and I don't know canceling people right away.
I don't think that that's necessary or warranted here in
(26:06):
this case. I do believe that Russell Wilson is going
to start the opener in Atlanta. I also do believe that,
you know, having a veteran like that can be a
calming influence on some players in some situations. Once games
(26:27):
get underway. We'll have to see how that works out.
Because we did hear Mike Tomlin say that he said
Russell Wilson will play the next time the Steelers are
I think the question went under the lights, so you know,
we can see how that works as well. You know,
it's not all gloom and doom. I'm sorry if I'm
(26:51):
coming across that way. I'm really trying to just kind
of put it in perspective. But again, I keep using
the same word disappoint. That's the that's the overwhelming emotion
or feeling that I have, the primary, not overwhelming, primary
emotional emotion or feeling I have in light of this
(27:13):
preseason opener.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Yeah, and you know, kind of going off of what
you're saying with that, you know that veteran when you
were talking about Russell Wilson, he can be kind of
a calming influence. Kind of saw that in the second
half with Kyle Allen's performance of this game. He looked
like a veteran quarterback in the NFL going up against
second and third stringers, a guy who has had starting
(27:35):
experience before. And you know, I know he wasn't perfect either,
but you have to at least say, hey, if we
have to go to our emergency third string quarterback again
this year, we probably have a better chance with him
than most teams do with the.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Hers, Well, yeah, that's you know, that's also kind of
a hallmark of preseason games, especially early preseason games, is
once the you know, the first string players are removed,
and then you also in the early preseason games you
also have a list of top players, usually from both teams,
who don't play at all. So once you get into
(28:10):
the you know, the middle to bottom portions of your
depth chart, having a quarterback with the NFL regular season
game experience is huge. You know, he can do so
many things not only for your team, but also create
situations for the coaching staff that allows them to be
(28:30):
able to evaluate some of these guys on the lower
runs of the depth chart because you know it's hard
to For example, wide receivers are tight ends or eligibles.
You know, how can you evaluate them if the quarterback
who is playing at the time is inexperienced and making
(28:53):
a lot of basic rudimentary mistakes. You know, you need
you need if it's offense we're talking about, and it
is what you are talking about right now. If it's
offense and you want to see how maybe some of
the offensive younger offensive linemen are doing or any of
that stuff, you need a quarterback who's doing his job
(29:16):
to an NFL acceptable level. And that's what Kyle Allen did,
and that's what he is. You know, it's great having
a third string quarterback on your depth chart with his
kind of starting experience. You know, I'm certainly hoping that
Kyle Allen is inactive for every game this year. Nothing
(29:39):
against him truly, but that's what you want from your
third quarterback if you're an NFL team. That's why he's third.
As you mentioned, you use the word emergency. You hope
you don't get into that, but if you do, I
think I think that there is a certain level of
confidence you can have a guy with Kyle Allen's resume,
(30:03):
and he showed in his first outing that that that
that resume is real. It's not fool's gold, to use
a previous phrase I used earlier.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, and the guys like that, a guy like that
has just got to be a positive addition to the
quarterback room in general. You know, in the weeks, in
the week of practice, in preparation of games, it's better
than having to maybe a rookie no offense to John
Reice Pumley, who is kind of, you know, still getting
his feet wet getting his NFL sea legs under him.
That that's not a thing with Kyle Allen. He knows
how to be a pro.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Yeah. And the other thing about, you know, having a
guy like Kyle Allen in the on the lower runs
of your depth charter quarterback can help with the scout team. Yes,
but if if Kyle Allen is running the Atlanta offense prior,
(30:54):
you know, during the preparation for the regular season opener,
he's giving the defense a legitimate look at how that offense,
you know, might be executed. He's going to know who
to get the ball to. You know, he looks at
the cards, sees what the play is, you know, can
make the progressions and and give defense a good look
at what they're probably going to be facing come a
(31:17):
game time.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Justin Field spoke with the media following his first game
in a Steelers uniform. Let's hear what the quarterback had
to say.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
First game and do describe what happened on the two fumbles?
Speaker 6 (31:30):
Chames, Yeah, I think overall, I think we ran the
ball well, moved the ball well, and I think, you know,
just the summer of the game, we were just shooting
ourselves in the foot uh, fumble snaps, I think all
three phases, so we can definitely be better in that part.
And you know, I think the snapping part, we just
got to be in the same page, you know, just
so I would put that on me to just be
(31:51):
on the same page and you know, know who's in
that center, know how to adjust and what I need
to do when you know nation in the game.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
So did you get the chance to look at incompletion
of Van Jefferson?
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Yeah, I thought he was in bounds. I'm not gonna lie,
but yeah, so did you was open over the building?
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Yah?
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Nah?
Speaker 6 (32:09):
I I think the UH defender did a good job
undercutting him, so, I mean it would have been a
perfect place ball. But yeah, no, it looks like I
think band was in.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Yeah, started out five or five. How did you feel
about your rhythm.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Just coming out?
Speaker 6 (32:24):
Feel like, uh, I was in a good rhythm, And
like I said, I think we were moving the ball. Well,
I think you know, just those but f the the
fumble snaps, you know, s things like that, Uh, they
can kill a whole drive. But I think, uh, the
overall rhythm of things, I think we were in and
out of the whole huddle fast and felt felt good.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Overall, what you've learned.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
About this offense having last few weeks practice, Ota is
now in the game, how do you feel like it
helps you and can support you as you know a quarterback.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
I mean, I feel like, you know, Arthur is good
at game planning to uh every players on offense our strengths.
So you know, as long as we're you know, playing
towards strains, doing what everybody does well and getting them
the ball on certain concepts, certain routes, and of course
you know, running the ball is always gonna be a
big part of who we are. As long as we
do that and you know, execute like we know how
to execute, I think would be great.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
What do you think.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Worked out better on that third drive, especially when Zach
Fraser went at the center.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
I just don't think, uh, there wasn't there wasn't any
fumble snaps. Like I said, it's it's it's hard to
uh put a drive together when you're you know, have
a fumble snap and you're second to thirteen and you're
behind the sticks. So like I said, just the self
inflicted wounds are the only things that you know hurt us,
especially when I was in the game, so yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Do you feel like you learn anything about this offense getting.
Speaker 6 (33:36):
Some some Uh yeah, I mean you you you can
kind of get a feel on, you know, what Arthur's thinking,
how we goes about the game, you know, how we
uh just communicates with you on the sideline and stuff
like that. So that was, you know, good, just you know,
being with them and kind of having a real end
game experience with them. And of course you know all
the coaches stuff like that, uh like Tom and stuff
(33:57):
like that. So just the whole process of everything kind
of getting used to everything. But I think the overall
process went well and just the uhligists of everything went well.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
You were saying, as apply to be understood, Arthur's a
little fire around the sideline.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Is he different today than he has been in training camp? Uh?
Speaker 6 (34:14):
I mean, you know, I think he's a I think
he's in a different role now. So of course he's
not gonna you know, step on anybody's soldes. But again,
this is the this, this is the preseason. You never know,
you know what can happen as the season uh moves along.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
But yeah, what was what was.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
The feedback that he did you got from him and
maybe the coach Arthur anyone else, uh about your rhythm,
especially early on when you were able to connect on.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
Several other early throws. I mean, nothing crazy. I think
that's what exp is expected at the end of the day.
Speaker 6 (34:43):
So you know, just moving the ball, getting completions and
you know, not uh making any dumb decisions or uh
Aaron throws and just being smart with it.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
So he does a feedback.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
How about what you wouldn't Russ talked about on the sideline?
Speaker 6 (34:57):
I mean, yeah, he was just there, uh encouraging me
and we were just kind of looking at the iPads
yuh after every drive and you know, he was being
a great.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Teammate to day.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
So just to one are your tableways, like I said,
just can't shoot ourselves in the foot, have to uh
do the routine things routinely QC exchange and like I said,
I think you know that's the thing that stopped us,
uh when there when we were driving the ball. Well,
it's it's it's not a good feeling when you're second
(35:25):
to thirteen second or fourteen, it's it's it's it's hard
to score like that. So what kind of maors or
more comfortable with certain routes in terms.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Of uh, did you feel more comfortable?
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Maybe something else is certainly.
Speaker 6 (35:38):
Ss uh most definitely. I do think our receivering group
is uh versatile. I think a lot of people can
do a lot of things. So, you know, it's great
for our offense. It makes our offense more complex when
we were able to put guys in different spots and
you know they can run it's the same concepts or
different routes stuff like that. So it's just great having
a uh, a versatile group of receivers who can do
(36:00):
a lot of things. What's the focus moving forward, just
specifically with one more week left in the trip, I
think just uh, you know, tightening up the details. Like
I said, I think we're you know, focusing on just
control them what we control and not shoot ourselves in
the foot like you know, it's just it's just a
repetitive thing. As long as we do that, put ourselves
(36:20):
in a great field position and you know, do the
routine things routinely, I think will be great. Because other
than that, I think we you know, like I said before,
we just moved the ball well. I think we executed well,
ran the ball well, and you know we were when
we were doing the routine things routinely. Of course, the
ball was moving downfield, so just doing that.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
Was that run in twos and QB Center exchanged?
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Was there something the same thing after different?
Speaker 6 (36:40):
It was the same thing that happened. So, like I said,
we're gonna, you know, get some extra work at that
this week and uh, make sure it doesn't happen again.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I know that it was just a preseason game, but
what did it feel like being announced as a starter,
new crowd, new uniform, all of those things.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Did it feel surreal at all?
Speaker 6 (36:56):
Yeah, I mean it was cool. It was cool. I
think our uniforms are really cool. I like the black
and yellow, black and golds. So it was awesome to
you know, put the new threads on and kind of
getting a new stadium, getting get a new feeling.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
It was. It was. It was awesome.
Speaker 6 (37:10):
Rookie alignment in front of you, shooting up for their
first NFL game.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I'm sorry. Any impressions of those rookie line the first time?
Speaker 6 (37:17):
Yeah, I mean the biggest thing is with these younger
guys is you know, it's their first NFL game, So
you just try to talk to them before the game,
try to get a sense of how they're feeling, and
you know.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
Just try to comfort them.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
Troy actually asked me a couple of days ago if
I was nervous my first NFL game, and I said,
of course, But you know, if you're not nervous, and
I mean I think nerves come. You know, you can
be uh two three years in the league and first
game still comes and you still might have a little
nerves in you. But you know, like I like, I
think after a few plays, first first few players, you're
in there. I mean, it just goes back to playing football.
(37:48):
So you know, I think those guys are just doing
a great job growing and learning, and of course they're
just gonna get better as as as time goes along.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
You had a couple of completions to George tonight. What
has you obviously had a connection with him in Latrow?
Speaker 2 (38:01):
What has led to you to developing that chemistry.
Speaker 6 (38:04):
I think just Rex, like I said, I've got an
opportunity to run with the ones, So just me and
him gaining that connection back and you know, just getting
on the same page. But of course, you know, uh,
he's a great receiver, especially with the ball ball.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
In his hands.
Speaker 6 (38:20):
You just want to get in the ball and uh,
he'll make sure you gets some yardfley catch.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
So he did.
Speaker 6 (38:24):
He showed that today and I'm excited to see, you
know what he does next week.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Steelers quarterback Justin Field's following their loss to the Houston
Texans on Friday when we come back, got a couple
of defensive players that I want to throw past labs
see what he thought about their first uh preseason game
experience and talk about them before we get in the
locker room with wolf In Stark. So that's on the way.
Next on the training camp report on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
DC started Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and Bob
black Riola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Lab's two guys on the defensive side of the ball
that have been having good camps the Marvin lel and
Peyton Wilson that carried over into the first game on
Friday against Houston. Peyton Wilson barely left the field it seemed,
and Marvin Leal with some splashy plays as well. So
a good in stadium performance for a couple of guys
(39:24):
having good camps.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
Yeah. The Marvin Leal too, to me, is now even
a more interesting kind of player than he was. Showing
himself to be the first portion of training camp. I mean,
the guy you know, he's playing some defensive line. He
also was someone one of the bigger in terms of
weight people working on the kickoff teams because you know,
(39:50):
the new rules are kind of making people believe that,
you know, you need to be more mobile for you know,
to throw that in that role. But now, you know,
with the game surprise game day retirement of Marcus Golden, UH,
you know I was, I was shocked. I you know,
(40:12):
we had heard from him, uh a couple of days
before the preseason opener, and you know, he was talking about,
you know, he didn't want to be retired, and he
was really thankful to be back with the Steelers, and
you know all of those kinds of things. I mean,
and I don't really know anything specifically about what precipitated,
(40:33):
you know, his decision. I can only surmise that, you know,
maybe his body wasn't responding the way he thought it
needed to or the way he hoped it was going to, uh,
and he just couldn't realize he couldn't do it anymore.
So you know, if that's the case, you know, I
(40:56):
think that that's you know, kudos to him for, you know,
not trying to drag it out. You don't want to
screw over the team or you know, put yourself in
a bad situation where you might even be in danger
being on an NFL field if you're not able to
completely defend yourself the way you need to. But anyway,
(41:17):
so Marvin Leale now to me becomes a little bit
more of an interesting kind of guy because it's going
to be I don't know how they're going to use him.
You know, he has some athletic ability to go along
with his size. I'm not saying that you can put
him an outside linebacker and expect him to do the
things Nick Herbie could do. But you know, maybe there's
(41:39):
some sort of role or scheme fit or assignments within
the scheme when he's on the field that he might
be able to provide some snaps at a outside linebacker
like position, edge rusher edge rusher like position that might
be able to alleviate some depth concerns if those developed
(42:04):
or not. You know, to Marvin Leale, he had he
played thirty three defensive snaps against the Texans. That was
fifty three percent. It was one of the higher totals
of on the on the team, certainly he was. He
played the most defensive snaps of anyone listed, you know,
(42:26):
as a traditional defensive lineman. You know, the Marvin Leale
had thirty three, Isaiah Laudermilk had twenty nine. Those were
the two guys you know, leading the way there. So yeah,
I think the Marvin Leal is a guy worth keeping
an eye on through the rest of this preseason, maybe
even more so because of the Marcus Golden retirement.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
Yeah, and quickly, just a thought on Peyton Wilson. You know,
with Patrick Queen not playing at all, it was an
opportunity for tell them to throw the rookie right into
the fire, and I think he responded pretty well, a
little too aggressive at some points, honestly.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
Yeah, I mean he was around the ball a lot.
I mean, that's his mo that's his history. He certainly
was that against the Texans. Another thing to throw out there.
He did play thirteen special team snaps as wells in
addition to the forty right, in addition to the forty
four defensive snaps. Pretty big load for a young player
(43:22):
in his first outing, and I think he acquitted himself well,
I don't know that he's ready to start over Patrick
Queen and or Land and Roberts. But I mean, this
guy could play in the league, and I think that
the Steelers got themselves a good one.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
All right, let's go do it for us today. We'll
be back again tomorrow at nine am for another edition
of the Training Camp Report. Steelers practice, as a reminder,
is at two point fifty five this afternoon, and it's
going to be great weather. So if you're headed up
to Saint Vincent College, don't have any doubts about it.
You'll have a blast on this last weekend practice of
twenty twenty four training camp. We're going to go in
the locker room next with Wolf and Starks for labs.
(44:02):
I'm Tom. This has been the Training Camp Report on
the Steelers Audio Network.
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