July 31, 2025 • 43 mins
Labs and Tom talk some Aaron Rodgers and hear from QB 1. Discuss the passing game more, hear from Freiermuth and edge rusher Nick Herbig, and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Iheartradios. Live coverage of twenty twenty five Steelers training camp
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(00:33):
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by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Steelers practice today has already wrapped up.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
It was moved to ten am because of weather in
the area for the usual afternoon practice, so they wanted
to make sure they got it in. Tom Offerman and
Bob Labriola back with you on the Training camp report. Here, Labs,
let's talk about Aaron Rodgers. You know, we really pride
ourselves in talking about the quarterback way too much on
our usual podcast, Asked and answered. In fact, we like
(01:03):
to lead off every podcast with a question having to
do with quarterback or quarterbacks around the league. So let's
get into number eight right now. Just what are your
impressions so far? Now you've seen him for about six
or seven practices, You've seen him in a real football environment,
now with the pads on, just kind of the aura
that he brings to the table, the leadership, and just
(01:24):
the talent that he still has.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean it's you know, I say this a
lot of I say this often. I say this to
a lot of people. I'm not a scout or a coach.
So my ability to you know, break down these practices
or drills and provide professional caliber analysis or insight into
(01:50):
footwork and hand placement and you know a lot of
those things. You know, for the most part, I was
just doing what guys like tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley
would tell me, you know. So there's that, but to
me that it's there are certain things that are just obvious.
You know, when you watch the Steelers quarterbacks do things,
(02:13):
the four that they have here in training camp, Aaron Rodgers,
Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Skyler Thompson. When you watch
them do things, there's one guy who is clearly better
than everybody else. That's Aaron Rodgers. I mean just that
I understand he is old in his forties, you know,
(02:36):
I understand all of these things, but he still has
that quick release. The balls he throws are accurate, they're
placed so often perfectly, and you know, he has been
popular with his teammates everywhere he has played. And here's
(02:57):
the other thing, though, he is very much a stickler
for receivers doing the right thing if they're expected to
run a route a certain way. You know, we were
talking about this before the break. He expects them to
be there. He expects them to make the correct adjustments,
make the correct cuts at the right depth at the
(03:21):
right timing. So and again, as I said before the break,
I like that there needs to be accountability, and I
think that that's you know, one of the reasons why
the Steelers wanted to add guys like DK Metcalf and
john Us Smith to the core of eligibles because these
are veteran guys who have proved they're proven commodities in
(03:45):
this league. And there are people that a quarterback will
be able to trust in terms of what route is called,
are they going to be there at the proper time
and if it's not there, because there's also things in
the NFL these days where the quarterback and the receiver
are both reading the defense at the same time, and
(04:07):
then they can a lot of times it's silent, you know,
nobody's yelling any kind of adjustments made. But the quarterback
sees it based on the coverage. The receiver sees it
based on the coverage, and they both know instantly what
should be done, and there's no chance, there's no opportunity
(04:29):
to either communicate or if you're the quarterback, you can't
wait to see if the receiver reads it the same
way you do, and it's going to you know, make
the adjustment that you are because then it's too late.
So you know, there's that. I mean, there was a
little patch of plays here in today's practice. One play
(04:54):
was supposed to be a sideline throw or a back
shoulder throw. Excuse me. The receiver didn't do that, and
the ball was thrown. You know, they bounced on the turf.
Nobody was around. It looks bad, right, it looks bad.
It looks bad for the quarterback. And as I mentioned,
Zach Hazani, the Steelers wide receivers coach, was on the
(05:16):
receiver right away talking to him. I mean, it wasn't
any it wasn't berating him or anything, but you know,
you got the message that you know, the the adjustment made,
the correction that needed to be made was with the receiver,
and there was another route where it was a flag
pattern kind of thing, and he broke it off a
little too soon, and so the ball was thrown. It
(05:39):
looked like it was badly overthrown. Well, he was supposed to,
you know, cut the route at the angle he was
supposed to take. To take was supposed to be deeper
down the sideline. Again, it looked bad. The receivers coach
corrected that as well. Then a couple of plays later,
Ben Scernik, who was a guy who there are a
(06:02):
lot of things he is not in terms of an
NFL receiver, but one of the things that he is
is a guy who is always supposed to be where
he's supposed to be. He's always being where he's supposed
to be. And he ran his route he was supposed
to be where he's supposed to be, and the ball
hit him right in the chest. As he turned around,
(06:23):
the ball was right there pile. It was a complete pass.
So this is kind of an unspoken lesson. Maybe I'm
sure it'll be brought up in the receiver's room when
they're watching video of this practice. Seefellas if you do
what you're supposed to do, you're going to get the ball.
If you don't do what you're supposed to do, it's
(06:43):
going to look bad for everybody. So that's Aaron Rodgers
to me. And as I said, if he's a little
prickly about that at times with his teammates, good good.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I agree completely. It's what quarterbacks are supposed to be
when they're at that level. And you know one thing
you mentioned. You know he's throwing the ball to Scornic
because he's in the right place where he's supposed to be,
right on time and he converts for a catch. So hey,
a little bit of trust built in for mister Scaronic
with Rogers there. But you know he's not going to
discriminate when it comes to his receivers. You know, if
you're open, like you mentioned, he's throwing you the football,
(07:17):
and quarterbacks at that level are like that. You know,
it doesn't have to be DK Metcalf having the big game.
If Kornic for some reason is open all the time,
I'm going to keep drilling him the ball until they adjust, and.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
He's definitely going to be willing to do that.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
The arm talent, too, I just think has always been
so impressive with Aaron Rodgers, and that seems like he
still has that in his bag. And you know, probably
why he still wants to play football is because when
he spins that thing, he's like, I still feel like
I can throw this better than most. You've mentioned a
couple of times labs. You know, on some screen passes,
he does a really good job still changing the arm
angle to get creative to get the ball out there
(07:52):
with some zip on it instead of lobbing it up
over people. I'm not going to say it's the same
as the four time MVP, but that right arm is
still pretty golden to me.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
It still shines.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know I've said this a bunch
of times and I don't think that my opinion is
going to change. This is the best quarterback play that
the Steelers will have since probably pre elbow surgery. Ben.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So there's that no, and I think that's an accurate statement.
Aaron Rodgers caught up with the media before practice yesterday.
Let's take a listen to what the QB one had
to say.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
How does a guy be doing.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
This as well as you've been doing it to still
have funny camp?
Speaker 7 (08:33):
I mean, once it stops being funny, you should probably
hang it up. So I love that we're out here
in the troupe. But I love the opportunity for true
camaraderie at nighttime after meetings you're done, guys hang out,
you know, guys coming to my room. Last night, I
was in Heighsmith's room. So that's it's pretty cool to
see everybody hanging out the way they are and it's
a lot of fun.
Speaker 8 (08:53):
A lot of really great offenses over the years.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
What do you like about this offense and Arthur Smiths?
Speaker 7 (08:59):
I like the flex ability. You know, Arthur is not
rigid and what he's doing. He wants to tailor the
scheme to the personnel that you got. And when you
bring in a kenn and Gainwell, bringing a Jonauan Smith,
bringing DK Metcalf and myself with some of the stuff
I've done over the years, you know, we're trying to
find out what guys do best and implement that in
the offense.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
So I love that about Arthur to word and keep
doing that.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
Today. What are you looking forward to you for?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Not listen?
Speaker 7 (09:26):
I mean I love throwing run solutions, you know, and
the boxes loaded, uh and you got one on ones outside.
But today, I'm gonna kind of let it go. I
haven't been a part of a true tackling period in
a long time, so there might be some times in
a game I might want to spit it out the
DK or Calvin, But today I might just hand it
off to Jail and see what happens.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
You were in a.
Speaker 7 (09:47):
Packing I was trying to rack my brain and sit
next to a j over there. But it's been a
long time. It's uh, it's got to be you know,
over a decade.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Do you think people were overlooking Jalen Warren with the
with the rookie in the PA build Taylor Conte.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
I mean, I don't know what the what the narratives
are out there, but Jail then super smart. Uh, just
from playing against him, I know he was a great
change up back. He was great in protection, great on
third downs. But I think he can be a free
down back. And that's the biggest compliment you can give
a running back.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
To wait for protection.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Well, we haven't had pads on yet, but I like
what I've seen on some old clips. Yeah, how how
how does the defense helped you?
Speaker 7 (10:24):
Guys have really seeming to have given you guys a
lot of looks and you're doing that back.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
How have you seen you guys just chemistry and prove
against them?
Speaker 7 (10:30):
Yeah, I mean they played pretty soft for the first four days,
so you know there's a lot of a lot of
checkdowns and different things. But they got a lot of
players on outside of the ball. You know, obviously brought
in Jalen, got multiple guys that can rush, got a
good interior rush, got great linebackers who are multiple, can
cover and pressure and fill holes. So you know it's
gonna be a good test for us. I think for
(10:51):
any offense that's kind of trying to find our footing
as we are. Uh, it's not a bad thing to
get beat up a little bit. So if if we
were out there today and then to get after us
a little bit, that'll.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Be the best thing for us.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
So you're not hoping for that because you want to
have great practices, but you know, sometimes you can learn
more from from the failures in training camp than getting
after him every single day.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
With Zach and the offensive line, how do you feel
that special well sours with Zach?
Speaker 7 (11:17):
I mean, Zach is a highly intelligent player, and it
helps because as much as I have a good feel
for the offense. I'm not what I would call an
expert of the offense yet, Uh, you become an expert,
wh I become an expert when you break the huddle
and you can see the picture in your.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Mind, and every now and then the picture is a
little fuzzy still. So I'm still working some things out.
But Zach is so freaking smart. He's making some calls
for me. I told me, Yeah, I don't get used
to that. I said, at some point, I'm gonna I'm
gonna be making the calls for you.
Speaker 7 (11:47):
But but he's got a really good disposition for a center.
He's obviously a talented player, and I think his leadership
is what I'd like to see most continue to grow
because the leadership often grows at the same rate as
a performance, and everybody knows what kind of player he is,
so he's gonna have more opportunities.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
To lead well.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Was her first hike for a fight today during pass.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
Because if you watch the first four days, there was
two matchups that they brought out a little bit angst,
shall we say, And when he gets those big West
Virginia paus On, somebody that could definitely start something.
Speaker 8 (12:26):
Or in the offense.
Speaker 9 (12:28):
How long does that process take where you start seeing.
Speaker 8 (12:30):
The picture come in a little bit more clearly at
this time.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
I mean, I want to have it down by in
this week, but we'll see. You're getting to know Jalen
Ramsey at all. How's he as a teammate.
Speaker 7 (12:41):
He's a tempo violator in the walkthroughs, no no, I
like Jayleen. I have a ton of respect for him
what he's accomplished in his career. He's a very versatile guy.
I was telling him we were walking to the CAF
one of these days, and I was reminded him how
Charles Woodson late.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
In his career moved to safety.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
And there's you know, truly only a few elite guys
who've done everything that he's done. If you think about it,
you can play outside corner and dominate, you can play
nickel and dominate, and go to safety to be a
dominant player.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
And I think he can do all three of those things.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Stee's quarterback Aaron Rodgerson labs a couple of things from
that interview before we get to break. I mean, he
is not shy to throw some shots around at his teammates.
That's very clear, but all in good fun. And I
really love what he said about Zach Fraser and how
he's helping him along the way right now as Rogers
kind of tries to clear up that picture as he
put it, once he breaks the huddle and making some
(13:34):
calls to help Rogers out and him quipping back and
him like, hey, don't get used to this, Like in
a couple of weeks here, I'm going to be making
the calls for you.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yeah, And I mean I think that kind of back
and forth rep Parte is goes over well in the
locker room. You know, teammates, that's what teammates are. That's
what locker rooms are. And you know, Aaron, he's got
a little bit of a needle that he uses sometimes
(14:05):
and you know he takes it too though. I mean,
if guys come back at him, he doesn't get upset.
He doesn't, you know what I mean. He's one of
the guys. And that's kind of what I was meaning
a segment or two ago, and I mentioned that he
has been popular everywhere he has been with his teammates,
you know, beyond the certainly, you know, if you're gonna
(14:26):
be a funny guy with giving people the needle and stuff.
You better be able to back it up on the
field with production or you know, that'll grow old really fast.
But you know, a guy like Aaron Rodgers, we've talked
about his his throwing ability, his arm talent is still there.
And guys see that. You know what I mean, The
(14:46):
players know, they know what real NFL quarterbacking is. They
know both if if you're an offensive player in the
NFL or if you're a defensive player in the NFL,
you know what good NFL how caliber quarterback plays. And
I believe that Aaron Rodgers has been providing some of
that understanding that it's still early in training camp, and
(15:10):
you know there are things that have to be worked
out certainly, but you know, if you know anything about
it in terms of that being your profession or you know,
living it for years as all of these players have,
you know what it looks like and they're seeing it.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And the other thing I really liked that he said,
and he was I think kind of joking here.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
We're talking about him pads coming on for that practice
that he was headed out to when he talked to
the media beforehand, and how you know, I'm just going
to be you know, maybe today it'd be more willing
to just hand that thing off to Jalen and let
him have it again. Kind of a joke, but I
think in reality that's going to be the case a
lot through this regular season. Is you're just going to
be able to put that ball in the gut of
Caleb Johnson, of Jalen Warren and hopefully if that offensive
(15:52):
line is clearing the road, life's going to be pretty
easy for Aaron Rodgers and he's only going to have
to tap into that golden arm of his twenty twenty
five times a game.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, that's and I mean that has to be the recipe,
the formula. I mean, you do not want, and I
don't care if you know what Aaron Rodgers is forty
one or thirty one. You don't want to have an
offense where you have to throw the ball forty fifty
times a game. You just don't being predictable a lot
(16:21):
of times. You know, fans see it as you know,
running the ball on first down, that's predictable.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Throwing the ball fifty times a game is predictable too,
it's just different. So you need to be able. You
need to have some balance. You need to be able
to force the defense to respect more than one thing,
more than one phase of your offense. And so yes,
running the ball is going to be important. And I
think that kind of the point that he was also
(16:50):
making maybe between the lines, was Okay, we're in pads
out here now for the first time. These are the
kinds of things that we need to work on today.
You know, it's not going to be about can I
trick them with play action because there will be time
for that other times. You know. I remember the two
thousand and four training camp Bill Cower named it the
(17:12):
re Establishing the Mindset training camp, and they used to
do goal line and Ken wizen Hunt, the offensive coordinator,
it was he ran the ball fourteen straight times against
a great defense. They got stuffed every time. And I
(17:33):
asked him about it. He said, yeah, you know, I could.
We're in August, he said, I could call some play
action pass or something and score a touchdown in a
training camp drill in August, he said, But it's more
important to me to establish with these players on offense
that when we are down at this part of the field,
we will be physical. And so that's what I think
(17:55):
kind of Aaron Rodgers meant too. Yeah, instead of you know,
calling some kind of check off or something, I think
I might just turn around and hand it to Jalen. Right,
let the offensive line do its thing, excuse me, let
the running back do his thing and establish that mindset,
because that's that's critical as well.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
No, I think that's well said, and I think that's
definitely something that he was kind of looking to do
for this team and trying to find that physicality for them.
And I like that you referenced what wizen Hunt did,
and you know it wasn't Hunt was doing that in August.
The offense wasn't having to go up against one of
the historically great defenses of all time. They did that
all throughout training camp, so it must have felt like
(18:34):
them swinging a baseball bat without the donut on it.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
But one more thing about Aaron Rodgers. You mentioned how you.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Know, now you have a guy or excuse me, you
have a mindset with your offense where you only want
him to throw the ball, you know, twenty twenty five times,
you really want to establish that run. That's the key
to success. And I completely agree. You know that's how
you're going to consistently have success. But kind of back
to your point at the beginning of this segment, where
you believe this might be the best quarterback play we
have since pre elbow injury. Ben not that this can
(19:04):
become a habit, but there might be a time where
you have to throw the ball forty times forty five
times a game gets out of hand, and I think
Aaron Rodgers still at once in a blue moon, can
do that for you.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Sure absolutely. And when I say, you know, just because
you want to be able to run the ball, ideally
you only want to pass it twenty twenty five times
a game because that indicates that the running game is
working and you're kind of in control of things. But
that's I'm not saying that that's all they want to
do every time. If it's not working, you can turn
(19:37):
to Aaron Rodgers and do some things with the passing attack.
I mean, you know, a very possible game plan, so
to speak, would be throw early, run late, because you know,
you kind of want to do what the defense isn't expecting. Yes,
(19:58):
you want to establish the run game and be physical,
but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to open the
game that way. It just you know. I mean you can.
You can do it the other way. Throw the ball,
make the defense respect that it loosens them up, and
then pound them. So yeah, you know they're when I
say you attempt twenty to twenty five passes a game, Yeah,
(20:23):
you know that would be ideal if you're able to
do that based on the score and the other situations
in the game. But if not, maybe you have to
open it up a little bit. Maybe you have to
throw the ball twenty times in the first half to
get to where you want to be in terms of
have the defense where you want it in terms of
(20:45):
what they're expecting and how they're playing it. So, yes,
he gives you all of that stuff, I think, no
matter how you want to approach it. But what I'm
saying is, I don't care if it's Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen.
If you're throwing the ball fifty times a game, that's
not the rest of it. You're not gonna win a
championship that way. You're just not. It just has never happened.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Labs and I will keep talking about the passing game
when we get back, talk about the weapons that Aaron
Rodgers has, and we'll hear a little bit from Pat
Friarmouth as well. It's the Training Camp Report on Fox
Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Network Iheartradios Live Cover Jolt twenty twenty five. Steelers Training
Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next and
(21:40):
also brought to you by Cger Wholesale Roofing and Siding
Supply Center, by Tom's Appliances, by Always Safe Flagging and
Traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, by Schneider Downs,
by Hassa's Steak and Seahouse, by your Neighborhood Forward Store,
by Castle Rock, by clear View, Bedrooll Credit Union, and
(22:02):
by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Tom off from An and Bob Labriola.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
On the Training Camp Report, Steelers practice today already done.
It was a ten am practice because of weather expected
to be in the area in the afternoon, so they moved.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Things up and labs.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I understand that somebody that really made a splash in
today's pad less practice was wide receiver Roman Wilson. I've
seen some people describe this as perhaps the play of
Training Camp on Twitter.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Well, it was certainly a very nice play, you know.
I don't I don't know about the play of training camp.
I mean it was very nice. I give Roman Wilson
his props. I'll by all means he's this is a
big year for him, in my opinion, his second season,
his second laperon the track, the NFL track, and he
(22:51):
has shown when he showed up for OTAs he looked different, better,
And when I say different, I mean better, more developed.
You know, we see this a lot of times with
young players their second season in the NFL, once they
have a full off season to prepare their bodies, knowing
(23:16):
more of what their bodies need to endure the rigors
of what's to come, you know, they they look a
lot different. You know, Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown. These are
just guys who took advantage of that first off season
after their rookie seasons too, you know, really developed themselves.
(23:38):
So Roman Wilson checked that box today.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Excuse me.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
It was a one on one drill, one receiver against
one defensive back. It was Joey Porter Junior was matched
up across from Roman Wilson. He did a nice it
was a nice route. Uh, he got a little bit
behind behind him behind Joey Porter Junior but the coverage
(24:03):
was still close. The ball was delivered over thirty five
yards down the field. Roman Wilson made the play a
contested catch in the end zone over one of the Steelers'
best cover corners on the roster. So good play by
Roman Wilson. It's to kind of play the Steelers are
(24:24):
going to need from him, and you know, he still
has an opportunity, I think very much so to win
a spot that would make him one of the primary
wide receivers for every regular season game. You know, whether
(24:45):
he becomes Aaron Rodgers' favorite receiver or you know, all
of that stuff is it will be determined in time.
But right now, I think the hope would be that
the Steelers top three wide receivers wide receivers now not
eligibles wide receivers would be DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin, and
(25:07):
Roman Wilson. We've seen some good things from Calvin Austin.
Aaron Rodgers has said some good things about him. If
Roman Wilson can continue down this path that he has
been on since the start of his training camp, really
since the start of this offseason, it's going to be
a good thing both for him individually and for the
(25:28):
Steelers as a team.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
And people out there may be flinching when you hear
that breakdown on the top three receivers. You know, yeah,
DK Metcalf's some monster, but that's not that much size. Well,
when you factor in the other eligibles, that's where the
size starts to get infused into this passing game. And
you know, let's talk a little bit about those tight
ends and we'll get to firemouth in a second here
and what he had to say. But I've seen some
video of John new Smith Labs and he just looks
(25:50):
very impressive, very athletic for a tight end.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Very much so. And I don't know that opposing defenses
are going to be able to treat him like a
tight end in terms of the people they assigned to
cover him or the kind of coverages they try to
devise to control him. And let me say this, this
is a guy I don't think, I don't believe I've
(26:13):
talked about enough, certainly Darnell Washington. This guy he is
a massive human being. He is now. You know, I
was watching him the last couple of days, even in
the individual drills and stuff, and he has really developed
(26:34):
into a guy who can you know, before I thought
as a rookie, he was a guy. You know, he'd
go out for a pass, turn around, you threw it
to him and he could catch it. Now he's more
of a excuse me, more of a receiver receiving tight
end who can catch the ball away from his body
(26:54):
with his hands, you know, like a real or a
real receiver does. He can run routes and you can
lead him and he can put up his hands away
from his body and catch the ball cleanly. And I'm
here to tell you once that happens, you don't want
to be.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
In his way.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
You just don't, because I don't think it's going to
end well for many of those guys.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Who are We've seen it, you know, when he does
get the ball in his hands, it takes a couple
of guys to bring him down. And then there's the
guy that you didn't mention, who we're going to hear
from in just a second here in him of his
comments to the media. But Pat Fryarmouth who earned a
second contract from the Steelers, So obviously there's a lot
of faith from the organization. They believe in him, even
though the numbers might not be where you'd want them
to be for a second round pick, high hopes for
(27:40):
him coming out of Penn State. But Labs, You've said
this several times when we've been evaluating receivers in the
passing game. You know, it's really tough to get that
read on these guys who have been here, like a
Friarmuth because of the quarterback play that the Steelers have
had over the past couple of years, and Pat Fryarmouth
has had a different quarterback throwing him the football since
his season that was with Ben Roethlisberger and then it's
(28:02):
just been a revolving door ever since.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Yeah, And you know, one of the things I think
that is not going to be the case is there's
not going to be any trepidation about using the middle
of the field. You know, with Justin Fields when he
had to start the games early in the season, there
(28:25):
was some concern, you know, because his the book on
Justin Fields as an NFL player was he wasn't really
an anticipatory thrower. He needed to see it before he
threw it. And in the middle of the field in
the NFL, especially during regular season games, that's too late.
(28:47):
There's too many people in there reading the quarterback reading
the route, knowing what's coming, knowing what your tendencies are.
And if you're not anticipating where that receiver is going
to be and throwing him the ball before he is open,
it's too late and turnovers often result the situation with
(29:09):
Russell Wilson. Then later in the season, he was short,
and he wasn't as young and nimble as he had
been early in his career with the Seattle Seahawks, where
his height wasn't as much of a disadvantage.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Right, he could find those cracks in the line.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Yes, he could create them for himself too, which was
very much a big time skill and one it was
critical to him his development. The kind of play he
gave the Seahawks in those seasons where you know, they
won a Super Bowl, they were they played in another
Super Bowl. You know, they were one of the top
(29:48):
teams to the playoffs, right, Yes, And then so this
year though with Aaron Rodgers, you don't have any of that.
I mean, he knows it, he might see it before
where the offense line, you know, as soon as they
break the huddle. So I think that Pat Fryarmuf now
is going to be even more of a dangerous weapon
(30:11):
more of a prolific part of the pass offense because
of the quarterback play you have in Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Pat Fryarms spoke with the media following yesterday's practice. Let's
hear how Pat think padded practice went.
Speaker 9 (30:27):
You know, some good, some bad, but that's the whole
part of training campus to you know, get those you know,
get the the blood flown again, hit the pads and
getting ready for the season.
Speaker 10 (30:36):
Aaron talked this morning about him and in his process
of learning this offense into getting stronger day by day.
What's some of the things, like you guys in the
tight end room, some of the receivers can do to
kind of hate him along in that process, and if
you guys have done it so far, like what goes.
Speaker 9 (30:48):
Into yeah, you know, just the extra meetings, you know,
getting on the same pitch as him. You know, he's
played for in the NFL for what twenty years now,
and so he has a way of he likes to
do things and he's doing a great job of implementing
that with Arthur's system. And so I think there's a
lot of a lot of possibilities on our offense. And
I think he's doing a great job, and I think
everyone is is attentive and he demands a lot of
(31:08):
detail out of everyone in receivers and stuff. So it's
been great for everyone. Just the accountability of detail, it's
been great.
Speaker 10 (31:14):
He's been talking about that too, the possibility, especially with
you guys in the tight end room. Have you guys
have been working through things, do you guys get more
excited about what you guys can accomplish out there?
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (31:22):
For sure.
Speaker 9 (31:22):
I mean obviously, you know, we show up every single
day trying to get better, and he's done a great
job of challenging us in certain concepts and certain routes.
And he's done a great job of especially with me,
just figure out different ways to run the same route,
but showed something else.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
So it's been great.
Speaker 7 (31:37):
Like you and Calvin and the other returning guys should
have that process pretty well, doubt Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
there's some hornbacks.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (31:43):
Different though when it's a guy like Aaron, it's a
multiple tea time MVP kind.
Speaker 10 (31:47):
Of kind of guys.
Speaker 9 (31:48):
Yeah, I mean, regardless of his you know, success in
the NFL. It's it's different for every quarterback. You know,
it's different from from Russ from Aaron to you know,
Kenny to Mitch to Ben and Mason and a couple
of others. But it's been Uh, it's it's it's fun
because you see the game in a different light with
each quarterback and so it challenges to me the receivers
(32:10):
to get on the same page. But it's definitely a challenge,
but it's it's fun because you learn the game of
football in so many different ways.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
I'm a rocape show meaning it to you guys, is
that is there anything net to that?
Speaker 9 (32:21):
When it yeah, like that's yeah, it's cool man, just
seeing you know, he's obviously from Plumb and the Pittsburgh
region and just you know, seeing the support of his
show and him I was a big night live or whatever,
and it was just cool to see everyone from this
area support him and and he's been great to everyone here.
And I'm very thankful for him to have me on
and to allow me to clear up that bile biol
(32:43):
clip or whatever, and so I I was very excited
for that. And he looks out for everyone on the
team and he's a great guy.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
He come to that here and he said he makes
a lot of fun with Knox throws.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
This time.
Speaker 6 (32:54):
He said that, Yeah, yeah, kind of like test.
Speaker 5 (32:59):
Gas. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:00):
I mean it shows us just like the type of
throws he can truly make. You know, he's obviously trying
to get adjusted to us. It reminds me of Ben
when I was working in OTA's. He was like throwing
a high throwing it behind me and stuff like that,
and I was kind of like, am I do I suck?
But it was just more so him seeing my catch
radius and seeing where what you can get away with
and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (33:20):
So it's very similar to that, and so it's been great.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Steelers tight end.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Pat fryarmanth following Wednesday's practice, the first padded practice, first
and only padded practice for your Steelers so far at
training camp. When Labs and I come back, it's a
big day on the NFL calendar, so we'll get into
that and we'll hear from Nick Herbig as well. It's
Tom Opferman and Bob Labriol on the Training Camp report
on Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy am and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Network Iheartradios live coverage job about twenty twenty five Steelers
training camp. He's presented by Padex. Where now meets Next
and also brought to you by CGR Wholesale Roofing and
(34:06):
Sighting Supply Center, by Tons Appliances, by Always Safe Flagging
and Traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, by
Schneider Downs, by Has's Steak and Seahouse, by your Neighborhood
Forward Store, by Castle Rock, by Clearview Federal Credit Union,
and by US Steel.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Labs.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Tonight, technically football is going to be played the Hall
of Fame game. Yeah, Chargers and the Lions going head
to head, third strings, second strings. Definitely not any starters,
though I know you're very excited to watch.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Yeah. No, I mean seriously, I wouldn't watch if it
was the Bengals against the Ravens because this is not
you know, I mean, it's it's an extra preseason game.
I understand the point of it and all of that stuff,
but I mean, in terms of it having any really
(35:03):
relevance to the twenty twenty five regular season, I would
be hard pressed to come up with anything about what's
going to happen tonight having any realistic impact on that.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
I just like to see the helmets again, you know,
see the uniforms. Feel the broadcast come into my living room.
It just makes you feel comfortable a little bit sure.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
You know, and it's it's okay. For example, for me
if it was on its kind of like background because
listening to it or you know, it's just out of
the question in my opinion, but you know, kind of
just I don't know something. Well, let's let's put it
(35:48):
this way. It beats having that on the on TV
instead of Big Brother exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
I'd much rather watch third stringers, guys who aren't going
to be in the league soon playing for Paul against
each other than really anything else because I'm addicted to
this sport. Hall of Fame game is tonight Lions versus Chargers.
It'll be on NBC if you want to view it.
Nick Herbick talked to the media yesterday. He's a great interview,
lots of personality. Let's play what he had to say
(36:15):
and then Labs and I will discuss a little bit
about that edge rushing room before we get out of here.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Today.
Speaker 6 (36:20):
First day of Pat's feel out. The found amazing. You know,
it's real football now.
Speaker 8 (36:24):
Felt good to be out there with the guys, especially
after yesterday with the little weather delay.
Speaker 6 (36:28):
But you know, we just adjusted and keep moving forward.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Allow how much you.
Speaker 8 (36:31):
Guys welcomed the shipping us A lot of the guys
that we've just talked to and basically kind of said,
you know, we've been.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
Dying, we've been waiting. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (36:37):
I think that's part of the culture here. You know,
Mike t brings the best out of everybody. I mean, naturally,
you know we're we're competitors. We didn't get here not
being competitors. So went against the crack and everybody wants
a piece of it.
Speaker 6 (36:49):
It was your bet for first fight a camp.
Speaker 10 (36:53):
I can't say, did the excitement yesterday for Pats and
then obviously having the taken away to allowing them to
marinate overnight, did you feel a little bit more intensity
because it was kind of strict way from us yesterday.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
I may not be lying if I said no. You know,
you kind of you once you get up to putting
pads on, like, it's a different I mean, you're always
training to go, and whether it's helmets and T shirts
or whatever it is. But you know, Paz has got
that a little different feeling into it, and then you
know overnight, you know, now we're going.
Speaker 6 (37:20):
So it's a good feeling to be out there the first.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Back sound backers.
Speaker 6 (37:23):
Just who looked at the best out there?
Speaker 2 (37:25):
To you and how'd you feel?
Speaker 6 (37:27):
I felt good. I think everybody looked good.
Speaker 8 (37:30):
You know, first time you're really blocking and rushing since January,
so obviously there's gonna be a little rust.
Speaker 6 (37:36):
But we're there to just put iron on iron and
get each other better. We heard Peyton talking a little bit,
uh a snack?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
There is that something new to you.
Speaker 6 (37:44):
Guys at are or is that?
Speaker 8 (37:45):
I mean, if you want to do college highlights? He'd
been talking trash. But that's my nephews, you know. I
tell my nephew Will how much I.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
Guess how much fun for you?
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Is it?
Speaker 9 (37:54):
Kind of seeing at least Parker's I can feel like
his personality is emerging more and more.
Speaker 8 (37:57):
As he's now you can just see him. You can
tell he's not a rookie anymore. You know, he's coming
into his own role. He's figuring it out. He's taking
care of things off the field to help him play
better on the field, and he just feels more comfortable
out there.
Speaker 6 (38:10):
And he's gonna have a big.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
Year in that same light too.
Speaker 10 (38:12):
And me talked about some of the second year guys
in the offensive line you're going up against. You get
that sense from guys like Zach and Troy, even though
he hasn't accepting field yet.
Speaker 8 (38:19):
Yeah, one hundred percent, you know, because I know for
myself going into year two was just he had a
different level of confidence out there and you know what's
expected of you, you know, being a Steeler and going
on here too, you know what that.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
Means and his high expectations.
Speaker 9 (38:33):
How about the swear today, I mean as a rookie
who actually did have his first time in that drill,
I know.
Speaker 8 (38:38):
Yeah, over the years, Tom was expected a lot out
of you, and that would you see from him. I
think he's gonna be a heck Coleos player. Man that
he's smart, He's got a knack for football. He's always
making plays. I mean you watch if you put his
film on, and he's always by the ball, he's always
shedding the block.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
I think he has a bright.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
Future the people. That's pretty much what he was drafted, right.
Speaker 6 (38:57):
He's a big dude. So he's gonna put that on tape.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
And upgraded di varsity works sometime soon.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
You think that that's beyond my pay grade? Many I
understand that is your brother going to make it out
here now that he's a retired man and all.
Speaker 8 (39:08):
For sure, for sure, you know that I want to
give shout out to him, especially man's a go.
Speaker 6 (39:12):
I want to be here without him for real.
Speaker 8 (39:14):
I'm super glessed to have somebody like that in my
life that you know, paved away for me and paved
the way for so many kids back from Holly. So
I'm super honored and to be his brother.
Speaker 6 (39:25):
I think you should do one more O line D
line one on one. He don't he don't want that.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Nick Herbig is always such a great interview in Labs.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Yeah, Nate Herbig, former Steeler, was at the Commander's camp,
got hurt again towards Rotator cuff last year here in
Pittsburgh and decided to hang him up. So all the
best to him, I see moves on to the next
part of his career, but the younger Herbig still trying
to carve out his NFL path and laps. He's really
made such a big splash since being here as a rookie.
(39:53):
The volume of production he puts out with the limited
snaps that he has is really impressive. And then when
you look at that edge rushing room as a whole.
I think it's safe to say that's really the strength
of the Steelers defense.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
That position group.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
It's headlined by maybe the best ed rusher in football.
Then you got high Smith herbing and Sawyer behind him.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
It's real strong.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
Yeah, And it's important for that unit to be or
the heart of the Pittsburgh defense. I mean, the way
the defense is kind of constructed, the way it wants
to play, those guys have to be very productive. And
I really like that. The top four players, I mean
(40:32):
all of them were mentioned either in the interview or
by you. Just now, and let me just throw out
another name for Steelers fans who either come to camp
or will be watching the early preseason games. Number fifty three.
Eku Liota, a third year pro from Auburn. This guy
(40:53):
has some burst off the line of scrimmage, and when
they're running eleven on eleven drills, usually isn't in until
you know the third teams are on the field. He
is a problem. Now, you're not allowed to hit the
quarterback or sack the quarterback out here, but he will
catch your eye if you're just watching the line of
(41:16):
scrimmage and what's going on there. He will catch your
eye because he flashes a lot. He has good get off.
It seems like he has some decent speed. And I'm
not predicting that somebody's getting cut for him or anything.
I'm just saying, yes, the Steelers have a very good
top four of outside linebackers TJ. Watt, Alex high Smith,
(41:37):
Nick Herbig, and Jack Sawyer. They need four. I believe
they need four on their fifty three meter roster. They
need four on their game day roster because they like
to rest those guys, rotate those guys so that for
the critical plays, critical downs, critical time of games, your
top two or three are fresh. So you know, it's
(42:02):
It's one of those positions where you may only start
too or play two at a time, but two isn't enough.
And I think the Steelers are starting to build a nice,
nice unit there, and they also have some competition nipping
at their heels on the bottom of the depth start
trying to climb up labs.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
Benefit of early practice means early appearance at Sharky's right.
Just got to finish up some writing and get down there.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Huh yeah, just just a couple of things too, Yeah,
it's easy take care right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Sure, Well, we'll be back again tomorrow. It'll be a
fun show tomorrow. We'll be hyping up Friday Night Lights.
There's no better person to talk to about that in
the history of that than my co host Bob Labriola.
So we'll have a lot of fun there. We'll talk
about some of the stuff that happened at practice today
as well, and hear from coach and some of the
players after today's practice. For Bob Labriela, I'm Tom Afreman.
(42:53):
Thanks for giving us a listen. The Drive is coming
up next with Wes Euler and Matt Williamson. This was
the training camp report on Fox Sports Pittsburg nine seventy
am in the Steelers Audio Network.
Iheartradios. Live coverage of twenty twenty five Steelers training camp
is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next, and also
brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System, by
Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente Pizza and
Drafthouse by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto, Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau,
(00:33):
we Max, Select Realty, the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Shop, and
by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Steelers practice today has already wrapped up.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
It was moved to ten am because of weather in
the area for the usual afternoon practice, so they wanted
to make sure they got it in. Tom Offerman and
Bob Labriola back with you on the Training camp report. Here, Labs,
let's talk about Aaron Rodgers. You know, we really pride
ourselves in talking about the quarterback way too much on
our usual podcast, Asked and answered. In fact, we like
(01:03):
to lead off every podcast with a question having to
do with quarterback or quarterbacks around the league. So let's
get into number eight right now. Just what are your
impressions so far? Now you've seen him for about six
or seven practices, You've seen him in a real football environment,
now with the pads on, just kind of the aura
that he brings to the table, the leadership, and just
(01:24):
the talent that he still has.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean it's you know, I say this a
lot of I say this often. I say this to
a lot of people. I'm not a scout or a coach.
So my ability to you know, break down these practices
or drills and provide professional caliber analysis or insight into
(01:50):
footwork and hand placement and you know a lot of
those things. You know, for the most part, I was
just doing what guys like tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley
would tell me, you know. So there's that, but to
me that it's there are certain things that are just obvious.
You know, when you watch the Steelers quarterbacks do things,
(02:13):
the four that they have here in training camp, Aaron Rodgers,
Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Skyler Thompson. When you watch
them do things, there's one guy who is clearly better
than everybody else. That's Aaron Rodgers. I mean just that
I understand he is old in his forties, you know,
(02:36):
I understand all of these things, but he still has
that quick release. The balls he throws are accurate, they're
placed so often perfectly, and you know, he has been
popular with his teammates everywhere he has played. And here's
(02:57):
the other thing, though, he is very much a stickler
for receivers doing the right thing if they're expected to
run a route a certain way. You know, we were
talking about this before the break. He expects them to
be there. He expects them to make the correct adjustments,
make the correct cuts at the right depth at the
(03:21):
right timing. So and again, as I said before the break,
I like that there needs to be accountability, and I
think that that's you know, one of the reasons why
the Steelers wanted to add guys like DK Metcalf and
john Us Smith to the core of eligibles because these
are veteran guys who have proved they're proven commodities in
(03:45):
this league. And there are people that a quarterback will
be able to trust in terms of what route is called,
are they going to be there at the proper time
and if it's not there, because there's also things in
the NFL these days where the quarterback and the receiver
are both reading the defense at the same time, and
(04:07):
then they can a lot of times it's silent, you know,
nobody's yelling any kind of adjustments made. But the quarterback
sees it based on the coverage. The receiver sees it
based on the coverage, and they both know instantly what
should be done, and there's no chance, there's no opportunity
(04:29):
to either communicate or if you're the quarterback, you can't
wait to see if the receiver reads it the same
way you do, and it's going to you know, make
the adjustment that you are because then it's too late.
So you know, there's that. I mean, there was a
little patch of plays here in today's practice. One play
(04:54):
was supposed to be a sideline throw or a back
shoulder throw. Excuse me. The receiver didn't do that, and
the ball was thrown. You know, they bounced on the turf.
Nobody was around. It looks bad, right, it looks bad.
It looks bad for the quarterback. And as I mentioned,
Zach Hazani, the Steelers wide receivers coach, was on the
(05:16):
receiver right away talking to him. I mean, it wasn't
any it wasn't berating him or anything, but you know,
you got the message that you know, the the adjustment made,
the correction that needed to be made was with the receiver,
and there was another route where it was a flag
pattern kind of thing, and he broke it off a
little too soon, and so the ball was thrown. It
(05:39):
looked like it was badly overthrown. Well, he was supposed to,
you know, cut the route at the angle he was
supposed to take. To take was supposed to be deeper
down the sideline. Again, it looked bad. The receivers coach
corrected that as well. Then a couple of plays later,
Ben Scernik, who was a guy who there are a
(06:02):
lot of things he is not in terms of an
NFL receiver, but one of the things that he is
is a guy who is always supposed to be where
he's supposed to be. He's always being where he's supposed
to be. And he ran his route he was supposed
to be where he's supposed to be, and the ball
hit him right in the chest. As he turned around,
(06:23):
the ball was right there pile. It was a complete pass.
So this is kind of an unspoken lesson. Maybe I'm
sure it'll be brought up in the receiver's room when
they're watching video of this practice. Seefellas if you do
what you're supposed to do, you're going to get the ball.
If you don't do what you're supposed to do, it's
(06:43):
going to look bad for everybody. So that's Aaron Rodgers
to me. And as I said, if he's a little
prickly about that at times with his teammates, good good.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I agree completely. It's what quarterbacks are supposed to be
when they're at that level. And you know one thing
you mentioned. You know he's throwing the ball to Scornic
because he's in the right place where he's supposed to be,
right on time and he converts for a catch. So hey,
a little bit of trust built in for mister Scaronic
with Rogers there. But you know he's not going to
discriminate when it comes to his receivers. You know, if
you're open, like you mentioned, he's throwing you the football,
(07:17):
and quarterbacks at that level are like that. You know,
it doesn't have to be DK Metcalf having the big game.
If Kornic for some reason is open all the time,
I'm going to keep drilling him the ball until they adjust, and.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
He's definitely going to be willing to do that.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
The arm talent, too, I just think has always been
so impressive with Aaron Rodgers, and that seems like he
still has that in his bag. And you know, probably
why he still wants to play football is because when
he spins that thing, he's like, I still feel like
I can throw this better than most. You've mentioned a
couple of times labs. You know, on some screen passes,
he does a really good job still changing the arm
angle to get creative to get the ball out there
(07:52):
with some zip on it instead of lobbing it up
over people. I'm not going to say it's the same
as the four time MVP, but that right arm is
still pretty golden to me.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
It still shines.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know I've said this a bunch
of times and I don't think that my opinion is
going to change. This is the best quarterback play that
the Steelers will have since probably pre elbow surgery. Ben.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So there's that no, and I think that's an accurate statement.
Aaron Rodgers caught up with the media before practice yesterday.
Let's take a listen to what the QB one had
to say.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
How does a guy be doing.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
This as well as you've been doing it to still
have funny camp?
Speaker 7 (08:33):
I mean, once it stops being funny, you should probably
hang it up. So I love that we're out here
in the troupe. But I love the opportunity for true
camaraderie at nighttime after meetings you're done, guys hang out,
you know, guys coming to my room. Last night, I
was in Heighsmith's room. So that's it's pretty cool to
see everybody hanging out the way they are and it's
a lot of fun.
Speaker 8 (08:53):
A lot of really great offenses over the years.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
What do you like about this offense and Arthur Smiths?
Speaker 7 (08:59):
I like the flex ability. You know, Arthur is not
rigid and what he's doing. He wants to tailor the
scheme to the personnel that you got. And when you
bring in a kenn and Gainwell, bringing a Jonauan Smith,
bringing DK Metcalf and myself with some of the stuff
I've done over the years, you know, we're trying to
find out what guys do best and implement that in
the offense.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
So I love that about Arthur to word and keep
doing that.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
Today. What are you looking forward to you for?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Not listen?
Speaker 7 (09:26):
I mean I love throwing run solutions, you know, and
the boxes loaded, uh and you got one on ones outside.
But today, I'm gonna kind of let it go. I
haven't been a part of a true tackling period in
a long time, so there might be some times in
a game I might want to spit it out the
DK or Calvin, But today I might just hand it
off to Jail and see what happens.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
You were in a.
Speaker 7 (09:47):
Packing I was trying to rack my brain and sit
next to a j over there. But it's been a
long time. It's uh, it's got to be you know,
over a decade.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Do you think people were overlooking Jalen Warren with the
with the rookie in the PA build Taylor Conte.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
I mean, I don't know what the what the narratives
are out there, but Jail then super smart. Uh, just
from playing against him, I know he was a great
change up back. He was great in protection, great on
third downs. But I think he can be a free
down back. And that's the biggest compliment you can give
a running back.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
To wait for protection.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Well, we haven't had pads on yet, but I like
what I've seen on some old clips. Yeah, how how
how does the defense helped you?
Speaker 7 (10:24):
Guys have really seeming to have given you guys a
lot of looks and you're doing that back.
Speaker 5 (10:28):
How have you seen you guys just chemistry and prove
against them?
Speaker 7 (10:30):
Yeah, I mean they played pretty soft for the first four days,
so you know there's a lot of a lot of
checkdowns and different things. But they got a lot of
players on outside of the ball. You know, obviously brought
in Jalen, got multiple guys that can rush, got a
good interior rush, got great linebackers who are multiple, can
cover and pressure and fill holes. So you know it's
gonna be a good test for us. I think for
(10:51):
any offense that's kind of trying to find our footing
as we are. Uh, it's not a bad thing to
get beat up a little bit. So if if we
were out there today and then to get after us
a little bit, that'll.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Be the best thing for us.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
So you're not hoping for that because you want to
have great practices, but you know, sometimes you can learn
more from from the failures in training camp than getting
after him every single day.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
With Zach and the offensive line, how do you feel
that special well sours with Zach?
Speaker 7 (11:17):
I mean, Zach is a highly intelligent player, and it
helps because as much as I have a good feel
for the offense. I'm not what I would call an
expert of the offense yet, Uh, you become an expert,
wh I become an expert when you break the huddle
and you can see the picture in your.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Mind, and every now and then the picture is a
little fuzzy still. So I'm still working some things out.
But Zach is so freaking smart. He's making some calls
for me. I told me, Yeah, I don't get used
to that. I said, at some point, I'm gonna I'm
gonna be making the calls for you.
Speaker 7 (11:47):
But but he's got a really good disposition for a center.
He's obviously a talented player, and I think his leadership
is what I'd like to see most continue to grow
because the leadership often grows at the same rate as
a performance, and everybody knows what kind of player he is,
so he's gonna have more opportunities.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
To lead well.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Was her first hike for a fight today during pass.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
Because if you watch the first four days, there was
two matchups that they brought out a little bit angst,
shall we say, And when he gets those big West
Virginia paus On, somebody that could definitely start something.
Speaker 8 (12:26):
Or in the offense.
Speaker 9 (12:28):
How long does that process take where you start seeing.
Speaker 8 (12:30):
The picture come in a little bit more clearly at
this time.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
I mean, I want to have it down by in
this week, but we'll see. You're getting to know Jalen
Ramsey at all. How's he as a teammate.
Speaker 7 (12:41):
He's a tempo violator in the walkthroughs, no no, I
like Jayleen. I have a ton of respect for him
what he's accomplished in his career. He's a very versatile guy.
I was telling him we were walking to the CAF
one of these days, and I was reminded him how
Charles Woodson late.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
In his career moved to safety.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
And there's you know, truly only a few elite guys
who've done everything that he's done. If you think about it,
you can play outside corner and dominate, you can play
nickel and dominate, and go to safety to be a
dominant player.
Speaker 5 (13:11):
And I think he can do all three of those things.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Stee's quarterback Aaron Rodgerson labs a couple of things from
that interview before we get to break. I mean, he
is not shy to throw some shots around at his teammates.
That's very clear, but all in good fun. And I
really love what he said about Zach Fraser and how
he's helping him along the way right now as Rogers
kind of tries to clear up that picture as he
put it, once he breaks the huddle and making some
(13:34):
calls to help Rogers out and him quipping back and
him like, hey, don't get used to this, Like in
a couple of weeks here, I'm going to be making
the calls for you.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yeah, And I mean I think that kind of back
and forth rep Parte is goes over well in the
locker room. You know, teammates, that's what teammates are. That's
what locker rooms are. And you know, Aaron, he's got
a little bit of a needle that he uses sometimes
(14:05):
and you know he takes it too though. I mean,
if guys come back at him, he doesn't get upset.
He doesn't, you know what I mean. He's one of
the guys. And that's kind of what I was meaning
a segment or two ago, and I mentioned that he
has been popular everywhere he has been with his teammates,
you know, beyond the certainly, you know, if you're gonna
(14:26):
be a funny guy with giving people the needle and stuff.
You better be able to back it up on the
field with production or you know, that'll grow old really fast.
But you know, a guy like Aaron Rodgers, we've talked
about his his throwing ability, his arm talent is still there.
And guys see that. You know what I mean, The
(14:46):
players know, they know what real NFL quarterbacking is. They
know both if if you're an offensive player in the
NFL or if you're a defensive player in the NFL,
you know what good NFL how caliber quarterback plays. And
I believe that Aaron Rodgers has been providing some of
that understanding that it's still early in training camp, and
(15:10):
you know there are things that have to be worked
out certainly, but you know, if you know anything about
it in terms of that being your profession or you know,
living it for years as all of these players have,
you know what it looks like and they're seeing it.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
And the other thing I really liked that he said,
and he was I think kind of joking here.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
We're talking about him pads coming on for that practice
that he was headed out to when he talked to
the media beforehand, and how you know, I'm just going
to be you know, maybe today it'd be more willing
to just hand that thing off to Jalen and let
him have it again. Kind of a joke, but I
think in reality that's going to be the case a
lot through this regular season. Is you're just going to
be able to put that ball in the gut of
Caleb Johnson, of Jalen Warren and hopefully if that offensive
(15:52):
line is clearing the road, life's going to be pretty
easy for Aaron Rodgers and he's only going to have
to tap into that golden arm of his twenty twenty
five times a game.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, that's and I mean that has to be the recipe,
the formula. I mean, you do not want, and I
don't care if you know what Aaron Rodgers is forty
one or thirty one. You don't want to have an
offense where you have to throw the ball forty fifty
times a game. You just don't being predictable a lot
(16:21):
of times. You know, fans see it as you know,
running the ball on first down, that's predictable.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Throwing the ball fifty times a game is predictable too,
it's just different. So you need to be able. You
need to have some balance. You need to be able
to force the defense to respect more than one thing,
more than one phase of your offense. And so yes,
running the ball is going to be important. And I
think that kind of the point that he was also
(16:50):
making maybe between the lines, was Okay, we're in pads
out here now for the first time. These are the
kinds of things that we need to work on today.
You know, it's not going to be about can I
trick them with play action because there will be time
for that other times. You know. I remember the two
thousand and four training camp Bill Cower named it the
(17:12):
re Establishing the Mindset training camp, and they used to
do goal line and Ken wizen Hunt, the offensive coordinator,
it was he ran the ball fourteen straight times against
a great defense. They got stuffed every time. And I
(17:33):
asked him about it. He said, yeah, you know, I could.
We're in August, he said, I could call some play
action pass or something and score a touchdown in a
training camp drill in August, he said, But it's more
important to me to establish with these players on offense
that when we are down at this part of the field,
we will be physical. And so that's what I think
(17:55):
kind of Aaron Rodgers meant too. Yeah, instead of you know,
calling some kind of check off or something, I think
I might just turn around and hand it to Jalen. Right,
let the offensive line do its thing, excuse me, let
the running back do his thing and establish that mindset,
because that's that's critical as well.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
No, I think that's well said, and I think that's
definitely something that he was kind of looking to do
for this team and trying to find that physicality for them.
And I like that you referenced what wizen Hunt did,
and you know it wasn't Hunt was doing that in August.
The offense wasn't having to go up against one of
the historically great defenses of all time. They did that
all throughout training camp, so it must have felt like
(18:34):
them swinging a baseball bat without the donut on it.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
But one more thing about Aaron Rodgers. You mentioned how you.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Know, now you have a guy or excuse me, you
have a mindset with your offense where you only want
him to throw the ball, you know, twenty twenty five times,
you really want to establish that run. That's the key
to success. And I completely agree. You know that's how
you're going to consistently have success. But kind of back
to your point at the beginning of this segment, where
you believe this might be the best quarterback play we
have since pre elbow injury. Ben not that this can
(19:04):
become a habit, but there might be a time where
you have to throw the ball forty times forty five
times a game gets out of hand, and I think
Aaron Rodgers still at once in a blue moon, can
do that for you.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Sure absolutely. And when I say, you know, just because
you want to be able to run the ball, ideally
you only want to pass it twenty twenty five times
a game because that indicates that the running game is
working and you're kind of in control of things. But
that's I'm not saying that that's all they want to
do every time. If it's not working, you can turn
(19:37):
to Aaron Rodgers and do some things with the passing attack.
I mean, you know, a very possible game plan, so
to speak, would be throw early, run late, because you know,
you kind of want to do what the defense isn't expecting. Yes,
(19:58):
you want to establish the run game and be physical,
but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to open the
game that way. It just you know. I mean you can.
You can do it the other way. Throw the ball,
make the defense respect that it loosens them up, and
then pound them. So yeah, you know they're when I
say you attempt twenty to twenty five passes a game, Yeah,
(20:23):
you know that would be ideal if you're able to
do that based on the score and the other situations
in the game. But if not, maybe you have to
open it up a little bit. Maybe you have to
throw the ball twenty times in the first half to
get to where you want to be in terms of
have the defense where you want it in terms of
(20:45):
what they're expecting and how they're playing it. So, yes,
he gives you all of that stuff, I think, no
matter how you want to approach it. But what I'm
saying is, I don't care if it's Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen.
If you're throwing the ball fifty times a game, that's
not the rest of it. You're not gonna win a
championship that way. You're just not. It just has never happened.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Labs and I will keep talking about the passing game
when we get back, talk about the weapons that Aaron
Rodgers has, and we'll hear a little bit from Pat
Friarmouth as well. It's the Training Camp Report on Fox
Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy AM and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Network Iheartradios Live Cover Jolt twenty twenty five. Steelers Training
Camp is presented by Fadex where Now meets Next and
(21:40):
also brought to you by Cger Wholesale Roofing and Siding
Supply Center, by Tom's Appliances, by Always Safe Flagging and
Traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, by Schneider Downs,
by Hassa's Steak and Seahouse, by your Neighborhood Forward Store,
by Castle Rock, by clear View, Bedrooll Credit Union, and
(22:02):
by us Steel.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Tom off from An and Bob Labriola.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
On the Training Camp Report, Steelers practice today already done.
It was a ten am practice because of weather expected
to be in the area in the afternoon, so they moved.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Things up and labs.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I understand that somebody that really made a splash in
today's pad less practice was wide receiver Roman Wilson. I've
seen some people describe this as perhaps the play of
Training Camp on Twitter.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
Well, it was certainly a very nice play, you know.
I don't I don't know about the play of training camp.
I mean it was very nice. I give Roman Wilson
his props. I'll by all means he's this is a
big year for him, in my opinion, his second season,
his second laperon the track, the NFL track, and he
(22:51):
has shown when he showed up for OTAs he looked different, better,
And when I say different, I mean better, more developed.
You know, we see this a lot of times with
young players their second season in the NFL, once they
have a full off season to prepare their bodies, knowing
(23:16):
more of what their bodies need to endure the rigors
of what's to come, you know, they they look a
lot different. You know, Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown. These are
just guys who took advantage of that first off season
after their rookie seasons too, you know, really developed themselves.
(23:38):
So Roman Wilson checked that box today.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Excuse me.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
It was a one on one drill, one receiver against
one defensive back. It was Joey Porter Junior was matched
up across from Roman Wilson. He did a nice it
was a nice route. Uh, he got a little bit
behind behind him behind Joey Porter Junior but the coverage
(24:03):
was still close. The ball was delivered over thirty five
yards down the field. Roman Wilson made the play a
contested catch in the end zone over one of the Steelers'
best cover corners on the roster. So good play by
Roman Wilson. It's to kind of play the Steelers are
(24:24):
going to need from him, and you know, he still
has an opportunity, I think very much so to win
a spot that would make him one of the primary
wide receivers for every regular season game. You know, whether
(24:45):
he becomes Aaron Rodgers' favorite receiver or you know, all
of that stuff is it will be determined in time.
But right now, I think the hope would be that
the Steelers top three wide receivers wide receivers now not
eligibles wide receivers would be DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin, and
(25:07):
Roman Wilson. We've seen some good things from Calvin Austin.
Aaron Rodgers has said some good things about him. If
Roman Wilson can continue down this path that he has
been on since the start of his training camp, really
since the start of this offseason, it's going to be
a good thing both for him individually and for the
(25:28):
Steelers as a team.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
And people out there may be flinching when you hear
that breakdown on the top three receivers. You know, yeah,
DK Metcalf's some monster, but that's not that much size. Well,
when you factor in the other eligibles, that's where the
size starts to get infused into this passing game. And
you know, let's talk a little bit about those tight
ends and we'll get to firemouth in a second here
and what he had to say. But I've seen some
video of John new Smith Labs and he just looks
(25:50):
very impressive, very athletic for a tight end.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Very much so. And I don't know that opposing defenses
are going to be able to treat him like a
tight end in terms of the people they assigned to
cover him or the kind of coverages they try to
devise to control him. And let me say this, this
is a guy I don't think, I don't believe I've
(26:13):
talked about enough, certainly Darnell Washington. This guy he is
a massive human being. He is now. You know, I
was watching him the last couple of days, even in
the individual drills and stuff, and he has really developed
(26:34):
into a guy who can you know, before I thought
as a rookie, he was a guy. You know, he'd
go out for a pass, turn around, you threw it
to him and he could catch it. Now he's more
of a excuse me, more of a receiver receiving tight
end who can catch the ball away from his body
(26:54):
with his hands, you know, like a real or a
real receiver does. He can run routes and you can
lead him and he can put up his hands away
from his body and catch the ball cleanly. And I'm
here to tell you once that happens, you don't want
to be.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
In his way.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
You just don't, because I don't think it's going to
end well for many of those guys.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Who are We've seen it, you know, when he does
get the ball in his hands, it takes a couple
of guys to bring him down. And then there's the
guy that you didn't mention, who we're going to hear
from in just a second here in him of his
comments to the media. But Pat Fryarmouth who earned a
second contract from the Steelers, So obviously there's a lot
of faith from the organization. They believe in him, even
though the numbers might not be where you'd want them
to be for a second round pick, high hopes for
(27:40):
him coming out of Penn State. But Labs, You've said
this several times when we've been evaluating receivers in the
passing game. You know, it's really tough to get that
read on these guys who have been here, like a
Friarmuth because of the quarterback play that the Steelers have
had over the past couple of years, and Pat Fryarmouth
has had a different quarterback throwing him the football since
his season that was with Ben Roethlisberger and then it's
(28:02):
just been a revolving door ever since.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Yeah, And you know, one of the things I think
that is not going to be the case is there's
not going to be any trepidation about using the middle
of the field. You know, with Justin Fields when he
had to start the games early in the season, there
(28:25):
was some concern, you know, because his the book on
Justin Fields as an NFL player was he wasn't really
an anticipatory thrower. He needed to see it before he
threw it. And in the middle of the field in
the NFL, especially during regular season games, that's too late.
(28:47):
There's too many people in there reading the quarterback reading
the route, knowing what's coming, knowing what your tendencies are.
And if you're not anticipating where that receiver is going
to be and throwing him the ball before he is open,
it's too late and turnovers often result the situation with
(29:09):
Russell Wilson. Then later in the season, he was short,
and he wasn't as young and nimble as he had
been early in his career with the Seattle Seahawks, where
his height wasn't as much of a disadvantage.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Right, he could find those cracks in the line.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Yes, he could create them for himself too, which was
very much a big time skill and one it was
critical to him his development. The kind of play he
gave the Seahawks in those seasons where you know, they
won a Super Bowl, they were they played in another
Super Bowl. You know, they were one of the top
(29:48):
teams to the playoffs, right, Yes, And then so this
year though with Aaron Rodgers, you don't have any of that.
I mean, he knows it, he might see it before
where the offense line, you know, as soon as they
break the huddle. So I think that Pat Fryarmuf now
is going to be even more of a dangerous weapon
(30:11):
more of a prolific part of the pass offense because
of the quarterback play you have in Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Pat Fryarms spoke with the media following yesterday's practice. Let's
hear how Pat think padded practice went.
Speaker 9 (30:27):
You know, some good, some bad, but that's the whole
part of training campus to you know, get those you know,
get the the blood flown again, hit the pads and
getting ready for the season.
Speaker 10 (30:36):
Aaron talked this morning about him and in his process
of learning this offense into getting stronger day by day.
What's some of the things, like you guys in the
tight end room, some of the receivers can do to
kind of hate him along in that process, and if
you guys have done it so far, like what goes.
Speaker 9 (30:48):
Into yeah, you know, just the extra meetings, you know,
getting on the same pitch as him. You know, he's
played for in the NFL for what twenty years now,
and so he has a way of he likes to
do things and he's doing a great job of implementing
that with Arthur's system. And so I think there's a
lot of a lot of possibilities on our offense. And
I think he's doing a great job, and I think
everyone is is attentive and he demands a lot of
(31:08):
detail out of everyone in receivers and stuff. So it's
been great for everyone. Just the accountability of detail, it's
been great.
Speaker 10 (31:14):
He's been talking about that too, the possibility, especially with
you guys in the tight end room. Have you guys
have been working through things, do you guys get more
excited about what you guys can accomplish out there?
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (31:22):
For sure.
Speaker 9 (31:22):
I mean obviously, you know, we show up every single
day trying to get better, and he's done a great
job of challenging us in certain concepts and certain routes.
And he's done a great job of especially with me,
just figure out different ways to run the same route,
but showed something else.
Speaker 5 (31:36):
So it's been great.
Speaker 7 (31:37):
Like you and Calvin and the other returning guys should
have that process pretty well, doubt Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
there's some hornbacks.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (31:43):
Different though when it's a guy like Aaron, it's a
multiple tea time MVP kind.
Speaker 10 (31:47):
Of kind of guys.
Speaker 9 (31:48):
Yeah, I mean, regardless of his you know, success in
the NFL. It's it's different for every quarterback. You know,
it's different from from Russ from Aaron to you know,
Kenny to Mitch to Ben and Mason and a couple
of others. But it's been Uh, it's it's it's fun
because you see the game in a different light with
each quarterback and so it challenges to me the receivers
(32:10):
to get on the same page. But it's definitely a challenge,
but it's it's fun because you learn the game of
football in so many different ways.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
I'm a rocape show meaning it to you guys, is
that is there anything net to that?
Speaker 9 (32:21):
When it yeah, like that's yeah, it's cool man, just
seeing you know, he's obviously from Plumb and the Pittsburgh
region and just you know, seeing the support of his
show and him I was a big night live or whatever,
and it was just cool to see everyone from this
area support him and and he's been great to everyone here.
And I'm very thankful for him to have me on
and to allow me to clear up that bile biol
(32:43):
clip or whatever, and so I I was very excited
for that. And he looks out for everyone on the
team and he's a great guy.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
He come to that here and he said he makes
a lot of fun with Knox throws.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
This time.
Speaker 6 (32:54):
He said that, Yeah, yeah, kind of like test.
Speaker 5 (32:59):
Gas. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (33:00):
I mean it shows us just like the type of
throws he can truly make. You know, he's obviously trying
to get adjusted to us. It reminds me of Ben
when I was working in OTA's. He was like throwing
a high throwing it behind me and stuff like that,
and I was kind of like, am I do I suck?
But it was just more so him seeing my catch
radius and seeing where what you can get away with
and stuff like that.
Speaker 6 (33:20):
So it's very similar to that, and so it's been great.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Steelers tight end.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Pat fryarmanth following Wednesday's practice, the first padded practice, first
and only padded practice for your Steelers so far at
training camp. When Labs and I come back, it's a
big day on the NFL calendar, so we'll get into
that and we'll hear from Nick Herbig as well. It's
Tom Opferman and Bob Labriol on the Training Camp report
on Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy am and the Steelers Audio.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Network Iheartradios live coverage job about twenty twenty five Steelers
training camp. He's presented by Padex. Where now meets Next
and also brought to you by CGR Wholesale Roofing and
(34:06):
Sighting Supply Center, by Tons Appliances, by Always Safe Flagging
and Traffic Control by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, by
Schneider Downs, by Has's Steak and Seahouse, by your Neighborhood
Forward Store, by Castle Rock, by Clearview Federal Credit Union,
and by US Steel.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
Labs.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Tonight, technically football is going to be played the Hall
of Fame game. Yeah, Chargers and the Lions going head
to head, third strings, second strings. Definitely not any starters,
though I know you're very excited to watch.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Yeah. No, I mean seriously, I wouldn't watch if it
was the Bengals against the Ravens because this is not
you know, I mean, it's it's an extra preseason game.
I understand the point of it and all of that stuff,
but I mean, in terms of it having any really
(35:03):
relevance to the twenty twenty five regular season, I would
be hard pressed to come up with anything about what's
going to happen tonight having any realistic impact on that.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
I just like to see the helmets again, you know,
see the uniforms. Feel the broadcast come into my living room.
It just makes you feel comfortable a little bit sure.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
You know, and it's it's okay. For example, for me
if it was on its kind of like background because
listening to it or you know, it's just out of
the question in my opinion, but you know, kind of
just I don't know something. Well, let's let's put it
(35:48):
this way. It beats having that on the on TV
instead of Big Brother exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
I'd much rather watch third stringers, guys who aren't going
to be in the league soon playing for Paul against
each other than really anything else because I'm addicted to
this sport. Hall of Fame game is tonight Lions versus Chargers.
It'll be on NBC if you want to view it.
Nick Herbick talked to the media yesterday. He's a great interview,
lots of personality. Let's play what he had to say
(36:15):
and then Labs and I will discuss a little bit
about that edge rushing room before we get out of here.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Today.
Speaker 6 (36:20):
First day of Pat's feel out. The found amazing. You know,
it's real football now.
Speaker 8 (36:24):
Felt good to be out there with the guys, especially
after yesterday with the little weather delay.
Speaker 6 (36:28):
But you know, we just adjusted and keep moving forward.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Allow how much you.
Speaker 8 (36:31):
Guys welcomed the shipping us A lot of the guys
that we've just talked to and basically kind of said,
you know, we've been.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
Dying, we've been waiting. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (36:37):
I think that's part of the culture here. You know,
Mike t brings the best out of everybody. I mean, naturally,
you know we're we're competitors. We didn't get here not
being competitors. So went against the crack and everybody wants
a piece of it.
Speaker 6 (36:49):
It was your bet for first fight a camp.
Speaker 10 (36:53):
I can't say, did the excitement yesterday for Pats and
then obviously having the taken away to allowing them to
marinate overnight, did you feel a little bit more intensity
because it was kind of strict way from us yesterday.
Speaker 8 (37:04):
I may not be lying if I said no. You know,
you kind of you once you get up to putting
pads on, like, it's a different I mean, you're always
training to go, and whether it's helmets and T shirts
or whatever it is. But you know, Paz has got
that a little different feeling into it, and then you
know overnight, you know, now we're going.
Speaker 6 (37:20):
So it's a good feeling to be out there the first.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Back sound backers.
Speaker 6 (37:23):
Just who looked at the best out there?
Speaker 2 (37:25):
To you and how'd you feel?
Speaker 6 (37:27):
I felt good. I think everybody looked good.
Speaker 8 (37:30):
You know, first time you're really blocking and rushing since January,
so obviously there's gonna be a little rust.
Speaker 6 (37:36):
But we're there to just put iron on iron and
get each other better. We heard Peyton talking a little bit,
uh a snack?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
There is that something new to you.
Speaker 6 (37:44):
Guys at are or is that?
Speaker 8 (37:45):
I mean, if you want to do college highlights? He'd
been talking trash. But that's my nephews, you know. I
tell my nephew Will how much I.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
Guess how much fun for you?
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Is it?
Speaker 9 (37:54):
Kind of seeing at least Parker's I can feel like
his personality is emerging more and more.
Speaker 8 (37:57):
As he's now you can just see him. You can
tell he's not a rookie anymore. You know, he's coming
into his own role. He's figuring it out. He's taking
care of things off the field to help him play
better on the field, and he just feels more comfortable
out there.
Speaker 6 (38:10):
And he's gonna have a big.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
Year in that same light too.
Speaker 10 (38:12):
And me talked about some of the second year guys
in the offensive line you're going up against. You get
that sense from guys like Zach and Troy, even though
he hasn't accepting field yet.
Speaker 8 (38:19):
Yeah, one hundred percent, you know, because I know for
myself going into year two was just he had a
different level of confidence out there and you know what's
expected of you, you know, being a Steeler and going
on here too, you know what that.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
Means and his high expectations.
Speaker 9 (38:33):
How about the swear today, I mean as a rookie
who actually did have his first time in that drill,
I know.
Speaker 8 (38:38):
Yeah, over the years, Tom was expected a lot out
of you, and that would you see from him. I
think he's gonna be a heck Coleos player. Man that
he's smart, He's got a knack for football. He's always
making plays. I mean you watch if you put his
film on, and he's always by the ball, he's always
shedding the block.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
I think he has a bright.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
Future the people. That's pretty much what he was drafted, right.
Speaker 6 (38:57):
He's a big dude. So he's gonna put that on tape.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
And upgraded di varsity works sometime soon.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
You think that that's beyond my pay grade? Many I
understand that is your brother going to make it out
here now that he's a retired man and all.
Speaker 8 (39:08):
For sure, for sure, you know that I want to
give shout out to him, especially man's a go.
Speaker 6 (39:12):
I want to be here without him for real.
Speaker 8 (39:14):
I'm super glessed to have somebody like that in my
life that you know, paved away for me and paved
the way for so many kids back from Holly. So
I'm super honored and to be his brother.
Speaker 6 (39:25):
I think you should do one more O line D
line one on one. He don't he don't want that.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Nick Herbig is always such a great interview in Labs.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
Yeah, Nate Herbig, former Steeler, was at the Commander's camp,
got hurt again towards Rotator cuff last year here in
Pittsburgh and decided to hang him up. So all the
best to him, I see moves on to the next
part of his career, but the younger Herbig still trying
to carve out his NFL path and laps. He's really
made such a big splash since being here as a rookie.
(39:53):
The volume of production he puts out with the limited
snaps that he has is really impressive. And then when
you look at that edge rushing room as a whole.
I think it's safe to say that's really the strength
of the Steelers defense.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
That position group.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
It's headlined by maybe the best ed rusher in football.
Then you got high Smith herbing and Sawyer behind him.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
It's real strong.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
Yeah, And it's important for that unit to be or
the heart of the Pittsburgh defense. I mean, the way
the defense is kind of constructed, the way it wants
to play, those guys have to be very productive. And
I really like that. The top four players, I mean
(40:32):
all of them were mentioned either in the interview or
by you. Just now, and let me just throw out
another name for Steelers fans who either come to camp
or will be watching the early preseason games. Number fifty three.
Eku Liota, a third year pro from Auburn. This guy
(40:53):
has some burst off the line of scrimmage, and when
they're running eleven on eleven drills, usually isn't in until
you know the third teams are on the field. He
is a problem. Now, you're not allowed to hit the
quarterback or sack the quarterback out here, but he will
catch your eye if you're just watching the line of
(41:16):
scrimmage and what's going on there. He will catch your
eye because he flashes a lot. He has good get off.
It seems like he has some decent speed. And I'm
not predicting that somebody's getting cut for him or anything.
I'm just saying, yes, the Steelers have a very good
top four of outside linebackers TJ. Watt, Alex high Smith,
(41:37):
Nick Herbig, and Jack Sawyer. They need four. I believe
they need four on their fifty three meter roster. They
need four on their game day roster because they like
to rest those guys, rotate those guys so that for
the critical plays, critical downs, critical time of games, your
top two or three are fresh. So you know, it's
(42:02):
It's one of those positions where you may only start
too or play two at a time, but two isn't enough.
And I think the Steelers are starting to build a nice,
nice unit there, and they also have some competition nipping
at their heels on the bottom of the depth start
trying to climb up labs.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
Benefit of early practice means early appearance at Sharky's right.
Just got to finish up some writing and get down there.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Huh yeah, just just a couple of things too, Yeah,
it's easy take care right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Sure, Well, we'll be back again tomorrow. It'll be a
fun show tomorrow. We'll be hyping up Friday Night Lights.
There's no better person to talk to about that in
the history of that than my co host Bob Labriola.
So we'll have a lot of fun there. We'll talk
about some of the stuff that happened at practice today
as well, and hear from coach and some of the
players after today's practice. For Bob Labriela, I'm Tom Afreman.
(42:53):
Thanks for giving us a listen. The Drive is coming
up next with Wes Euler and Matt Williamson. This was
the training camp report on Fox Sports Pittsburg nine seventy
am in the Steelers Audio Network.
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