Training Camp Report Day 7

Labs and Tom talk about the previous days practice, hear from Tomlin, Watt, Nick Herbig and Beanie Bishop.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
He's no training camp report with Tom Opperman and Bob
Labriola on Steeler's Nation Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Things are pretty heated at Steelers practice yesterday. And I'm
not just talking about the temperature, although that is true
as well. Labs. Apparently, in addition to the refs being
there for practice, Michael Buffer was there too. I didn't
hear him yell out let's get ready to rumble, but
the players obliged anyway.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Well, and what I heard was me and you were
going to skirmish here in about ten minutes.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
We have a scrap coming up.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Good tea, Yeah, because yeah, I'm starting to get a
little testy too with you. I just want you to
understand that I'm about fed up feelings, mutual pal. See,
there you go. We got all the ingredients, and I'll
tell you what, there's enough people here all ready to
watch it. Well, looking at the fans lined up along

(00:57):
that one walkway, waiting way for the security lift that
rope so they can all run into autographs seeking position.
God bless these fans seriously. I mean that, I mean
I could. I could not be out here this early
doing this, and you know they they got all their
gear too. I mean they got chairs, they got coolers,

(01:18):
they got I mean, they have everything. God bless them.
As I said, I mean it.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
The fans are very professional about this as well. Abs
you want the players to be professional on the field,
fans are professional when they're hunting autographs. But you know
we're gonna hear from tom and later in this segment.
That's kind of what his tone was though, And he
didn't waste much time when he got into his media
availability about this fight. You know, sure, it's good to
see competitive spirit, but that ain't what you want to

(01:45):
see out of professional football players, right.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
And you know, all of the players who were involved,
I mean I you know, I think very highly of
them and their abilities, and they're very important to this team. Okay,
so please don't miss under understand anything I'm about to say.
But the way I viewed it, a Landon Roberts broke
the code. You don't hit the quarterback, you don't. I know,

(02:10):
we just bumped them to the ground. You know, it
wasn't any big deal, but that violates the code. I mean,
Mike Tomlin, it makes that clear, has made that clear
from the very first training camp he ever operated here
back in two thousand and seven, you don't hit the quarterback. Now,
the quarterback in Pittsburgh doesn't wear a red jersey because

(02:32):
you're supposed to know better than that, and so you
break the code. And he just bumped him to the ground.
I get it, but still that's a violation. And so
the other thing is kind of a code to me
is you take liberties with the quarterback. You got to
deal with the offensive lineman. And that was something that

(02:55):
you like to see because, as I said to someone,
you know, shortly after it happened, imagine what Pouncey would
have done if somebody took a pop at Ben.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
We've seen it a couple of times in his career.
But yeah, I get your draft, it's it's not there.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
So no. So again, you know, you don't want to
see that happening. All those guys are too important to
this team. You don't want anybody to get injured. Anybody
they start throwing hands against other players who are wearing helmets.
You know, you can break bones really easily like that. Uh,

(03:34):
you know, you don't want your center to have a
broken hand. You don't want your one of your starting
inside linebackers to have a broken hand. You know, it's
just nothing good can come from that. Uh. So that's
what you don't want to see. But let me say this,
Uh I think in some recesses of their minds, the

(04:00):
coach is kind of I won't say liked what happened.
But you want to see when you want to see
teammates stand up for each other. And that's what happened yesterday.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I get what you're saying, like you don't want to
see a fight break out, but if a fight does
break out, let's hope that the aftermath looks like it
did for the Steelers yesterday. And you know one thing
that's kind of chuckled to myself about with the Landon
Roberts and you know, kind of just pushing just justin
fields to the ground a little bit after the play.
You have to think with a running quarterback in a

(04:35):
camp setting like that, Labs, it gets a little extra frustrating,
right because he's darting around, he's running around your defensive line,
he's pulling a bunch of Reid options and you can't
touch him.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Right, No, I get it. And you know, eight days
out here, it's been hot every day. You know, you're
eight days of living in the dormitory, eight days, eating
in the caf.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
And connects four too. It's not just on the field.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
So you know, and you're seeing the same people going
against the same people. You know, as I said, you know,
I'm annoyed with you. And I don't even have to
see you. You know, we just talk over these wonderfully
uh these devices that they these torture devices that they
plug in for us to uh do what we do here.

(05:27):
But no, seriously, you know, I get it. I mean
there have been days here when I woke up from
uh I woke up in the dorm room and I
looked around and I thought, oh my god, am I
in a bad mood today? Just you just are. You know,
there's really nothing about it to trigger it necessarily, you
just are. And you know, I'm not in the sun

(05:48):
doing the things that they're doing. I'm not you know,
the physical exertions on the fields and all, you know,
all of that stuff. So I get the frustration, you know,
because I'm you're incing you know a degree of it
as well. But you know, again it's professional. You've got
to be a professional about it. And you know, I

(06:11):
would imagine we're not going to be seeing any of
that again for a while, and let me just throw
this is kind of like off the topic a little bit,
but this is why Mike Tomlin is leary or hesitant
to have joint practices, because when you have another team
out there, just imagine that somebody and I'm you know,

(06:34):
I'm not implying that anybody on the Buffalo Bills would
do this, but I use them as an example because
they're coming up for a joint practice. Imagine if someone
from the Bills took that shot at Justin Fields. You know,
then what happens. Now You've got problems. So you know,
that's why you really have to be careful scheduling those

(06:59):
kinds things. Oh and here's a little I was talking
about this with Jerry Doule, like last night when we
were on the air on Fox Radio. There were the
NFL officials were here. Yeah, they threw flags, So you know,
everything that happens, you know, you know, but to throw

(07:19):
the flag to me, you know, what are they going
to do? You know, you know, fifteen yard penalty in
the in the cafeteria line or you know what I mean,
what's what's the infraction? How do you assess that? But
you know they're doing their job too.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well, the offense is doing their job. In seven shots,
they'd be making Lou Brown really proudly labs third straight win,
a winning streak now for the offense, So maybe some
more frustrations for the defensive side of the ball. They
get the good meal, but the main takeaway from seven
Shots again is the emphasis of running the football Labs.
They're just hammering the ball down the defensive throat and

(07:58):
it's good for the offense, but also, like you noted yesterday,
it's bad for the defense that now two days in
a row can't seem to figure out how to stop
the run.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
Well, you know, it's not easy down there either, you know,
and I get it, But you know, I think that
that maybe is contributing to the frustration of the defense
as well, because you know, Russell Wilson has not been
has not participated in seven Shots, He's not taken a
snap in seven shots yet, So you know, you have

(08:29):
fields in there all the time, and now you're not
only dealing with maybe Nause Harris running behind a fullback,
but then you also have the potential for Justin Field's
play action and you know, darting in the end zone.
It's only one yard away, two yards away wherever they
put it into the end zone. And you know, now

(08:52):
you're eating beans and weenies whatever it is. I say
that joking, of course, but yeah, you know it's it's
it's a difficult assignment down there when you have a
quarterback who is adept at running the ball, and then
you also are showing, uh, the opponent that you know

(09:15):
you are willing to power run it in there. So
you know that just you can suck in the inside
linebackers or you know, even the safeties just that has
a brief second of maybe they don't even take a
step towards the middle of the field where the play
action seems to be going. They just might lean that way.

(09:38):
Or you know, if you're if you've got to take
on Jack Coleto, who's been the fullback here the last
couple of days, uh, and he leads it up in there.
I'm here to tell you that that that's real too.
If you're not there to meet that force with force,
then Nause or Jalen Warren, you know, they waltzed right

(09:58):
into the end zone. So it's that's why I love
this Arthur Smith emphasis on running the football and his
willingness to do it down in that area of the field.
So yeah, you know, it's good for the offense. As
Mike Tolman said, those Steelers on Steelers, that means it's

(10:20):
bad for somebody else.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
And as you noted in your answer there and in
your practice report, you know, Jack Coletto has been seeing
a lot of usage as a lead blocker for Nausee
and Jalen Warren, and that fullback has kind of been
a position that you haven't seen much of out of
the Steelers offense in the past couple of years. It's
been two padded practices. Remember last year they had Kendrick
Green running full back at some point, right, So we'll

(10:43):
see when the calendar starts to get closer to September
if Jack Coletto still has kind of a say in
this offense. But it's it's good to see it so far,
and it's good to see it having success so far.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, you know, Matt Canada didn't believe, you know, in
a fullback, and you know before him, you know, you
had Ben so there wasn't a lot of that kind
of running. You know.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Uh, could you imagine Bell's running style behind a full back.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Well, you know, maybe that the fullback might have gotten
his way exactly. Oh so uh but yeah, you know,
and one of the things that's going to be interesting,
you know, as we progress through this preseason. You know,
Jack Coleto, I'm using him as an example, he's going

(11:36):
to need to show himself to be pretty indispensable on
special teams because you know, I don't I don't believe
the Steelers are going to go to an off you know,
an I formation offense more than fifty percent of the time.
So you know, how many snaps in a real game
might a full back have, you know, you use a

(12:00):
maybe in the short red zone, maybe on some you know,
third and one, fourth and one, if you decide to
go for it plays, what's that six seven snaps a game?
Maybe it averages out to be. So if he's not
someone who is, you know, one of Danny Smith's main men,

(12:21):
I don't know that you can keep him on the
fifty three man roster. So again that's why I said
this is so once these preseason games start and special
teams becomes live and not just kickoff return either kick
off and kickoff return either, I mean, you know, punt
excuse me, punt punt return. As I said, if you're

(12:45):
gonna be an extra back, if you're not Nausey Harris
or Jalen Warren and you want to make this team,
this fifty three man roster, you better be a special
teams guy. If you want to make this team. You know,
behind the first top four receivers, you better be a

(13:06):
special teams guy. You know, one of Danny Smith's go
to lines in one of his you know, special teams
meetings during these training camps. Excuse me, I'm sorry, my
voice is just wearing out on me here. You know,
he says, if you're not a starter on offense or defense,

(13:28):
you better be a starter on special teams because once
you get to September, there's no third group. You know
there's third They'll call for the third group out here
with ninety man rosters in a training camp practice, and
you'll see a whole new offense and defense running out
on the field. Once you get into September, there ain't
no third group. So if you're not, as he said,

(13:50):
if you're not a starter on offense or defense, you
better be a starter on special teams. So there's a
lot of guys you know down the depth charter at
running back and wide receiver who need to be started
on special teams.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Here's what coach Tomlin had to say following yesterday's second
padded practice as he caught up with the media.

Speaker 4 (14:08):
Man, really good workday out here. Man, love the energy
and enthusiasm. Obviously, we're at the very beginnings of this
progress process, and so there's a lot of lessons to
be learned, some formal, some informal. We got a little
bit less than professional and chippy today. It's an opportunity
to teach and learn as part of this process. As

(14:29):
much as we hate it, we'll learn and grow from that.
We got some formal lessons to learn. We had some
ball security issues today, but it's also a tip of
the cap to the defense in terms of them hunting
the ball. And I think that's the thing that you
remember in a process like this is Steelers versus Steelers,
and so there's ebb and flow to this process. Some
people gonna have good days, it's gonna mean bad days

(14:50):
for others. Some units are going to excel in certain
aspects of the game, it means failure for the other unit.
And that's just a component of this. All the while,
we know that we're collectively getting better and pushing forward
towards something, and so that's the lessons to be learned.
Had a few injuries to analyze today. David Perles has
got a knee injury that's being evaluated.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Uh uh kay.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
Johnson had a hamstring they got a little tight. We
had to pull him out. Some other bumps and bruises
associated with players that time of year. Unfortunately, it's just
a component of team development.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
We'll deal with it.

Speaker 4 (15:26):
One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity. I'm always focused
focused on the opportunity that's provided for those that are working.
We preserved a couple veteran players to day on both
sides of the ball. Again, we're in the providing them
what it is they need to be ready to play football.
But when we sit them down and provide them rest days,
it's awesome opportunity and shorter lines for others to show

(15:48):
what they're capable of, and so we get multiple things done.
When we take that approach, all pause and open it
up for questions.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Anything more definitive on Roman golf.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
No, it's just an it's an ankle sprain. I'm sure
I'm going to get it after practice, but I hadn't
had a chance to meet with the docs yet. Mike,
what kind of tone were you trying to set with
the Black Forces today? Just having fun?

Speaker 1 (16:09):
It did get a little chippy out there.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
I mean, like you said, there are lessons and maybe
got a little less than professional. But what do you
take from having something like.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
That pop up?

Speaker 4 (16:17):
I said in the opening he talking to these guys
collectively or do I mean individually as a group? How
do you all that I'm going to give you, guys
regarding that component of development is what I gave you
in my opening statement.

Speaker 5 (16:29):
Aptunit is for guys who need arrest veterans, some of.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
Your depth outside linebackers. She's so far.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
You know herb because an example of our expectations for
year two guys. He showed some flashes of year ago.
Obviously he's a capable teamer. Were just in him developing
all components of his game and being varsity in all areas.
And he's definitely capable of that and focused on that,
and as you mentioned, it's been providing a great opportunity
for some of the other guys, Moon and others to

(16:58):
get more reps and to get more reps against quality competition,
and so it's good for them as well.

Speaker 6 (17:02):
You might think, Chris Thomas and Jebrik is a just
in general terms your thoughts and what you've seen out
of Russell Wilson, anything pleasantly surprised you from what you've
seen out of it.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
You know, I answer your last question first, I don't
know that I'm surprised by anything. You know, this guy's
been in this league a long time and his reputation
precedes him in terms of his relationship with the game,
His leadership skills, his willingness to work, all those things
have been confirmed.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
For me.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
It's a pleasure to work with him day to day.
He's a football lover and a football junkie and it's
an asset to him and to us.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
What are some of the things you really like about
the leadership he explains.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
You know, just his willingness to work and his communication skills,
whether it's player to player, player to coach. It's really good.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
Talk about the referees being here first day.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
It's just a part of development.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Man.

Speaker 4 (17:48):
They've got a season to get ready for. We've got
a season to get ready for. Why not do it together.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Are you planning on doing.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
Anything yourself or with them? Regarding the hips us.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
Absolutely, they're doing it in every city standard procedure.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
Yeah, I mean that that hip drop tackle rule is
going to be a big thing. That's a big factor
in training camp sessions across the NFL, with the refs,
with the teams, like Tomlin was alluding to there, If
you're not focused on that, if you're not working together
on that, I mean, what are you doing?

Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah? And you know it's it's curious to me too,
because I don't know that any teams besides the Steelers
have any tackling at all, you know, live tackling during
training camp. So any that kind of work you would
have to do would be kind of film study or simulation, right. Yeah,
So you know, I'm sure that that's something that has

(18:40):
to be covered, but I don't know how effective they
how effectively they could do it in these kinds of settings.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
He also mentioned the injury report, and you know, nothing
really new from his side of things on Roman Wilson
other than it you know, it is an ankle sprain
that we kind of already knew that, but you did
see some veteran players get a day off. On both
sides of the ball. Isaac camalou camp he or TJ. Watt. Yeah,
you want to keep those guys rested and you know,

(19:09):
practice and maintenance on them. But I think it's more
on the other side of the coin, when especially you're
this early session of camp, he wants to see some
of the other guys get out there in some more
weightier situations than the All pros that he already knows
what he's going to get.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
From, right, You're trying to protect them. And again, as
you mentioned, you want to see you know, some of
the younger players going against you know, the kind of
competition that those wrested veterans usually go against. You know,
they're all ones, so you know the ones on offense.
If you're resting Isaac Camalo as an example, you know

(19:43):
he would be going against the ones on defense. So
whoever you put in for him, say Spencer number seventy four,
brain cramp can't think of his first name, Spencer Anderson.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Spencer, Yeah, you were looking for the last name.

Speaker 3 (20:03):
Sorry, Spencer Anderson. You get to see him going against
the ones. You know, if it's t J. Watt you're
taking out, you know Herb Nick Kerbig is going against
you know, Troy Faltanu or Broderick Jones or you know
those kind of people. So yeah, it's it's a good
thing to get the veterans some of that rest. And

(20:28):
it also it kind of serves a dual purpose with
the next man up kind of situation, because not only
do you get to see them playing with the frontline people,
but you get to see him playing against the frontline
people on the other side of the ball.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
Former Steeler greats showing up at camp and helping current
Steelers out is a common theme with Steelers training camp
every year. We'll discuss that a little bit when we
come back, and we'll hear from t J. Watt and
Nick Herbig as well. That's all on the way on
the Training Camp Report on Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
This is the Training Camp Report with Tom Opferman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio for.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
Those of you heading up to camp for Steelers players themselves, coaches,
for media members too, Hoping that the weather might break
a little bit, be a little bit cooler today than
it was yesterday. Meteorologist Labs has his radar out and
he's got some bad news for you.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah. Well, one of one of the windows tabs I
have open on my laptop here as we talk is
the National Weather Service, and I you know, it's for Latrobe,
the airport. And since we've been on the air, the
temperature has gone up six degrees and you know, it's

(21:47):
nine to twenty six, so we went on at nine,
so it's twenty six. In less than a half an hour,
the temperature has gone up six degrees and the humidity
is listed at ninety or excuse me, eighty nine percent.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
Gonna be another high and sticky one out there for
you today at Saint Vincent College. The good news though,
for you labs, is the temperature hasn't changed one bit
in your nice little press box there. It's been a
comfortable sixty nine seventy degrees the entire time.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
And I'll tell you what we would be skirmishing if
it wasn't climbate controlled, because you're especially I would I
could just imagine how annoying you would be if I
was hot.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Oh, it couldn't even imagine myself. One big thing that
you always see at Steelers' training camp is some of
the former players, some of the former greats even coming
back and kind of sharing some of their tricks of
the trade with the current crop of Steelers. And yesterday
I saw, you know, some pictures sloting around on the
Internet of depot out there and action shots of him

(22:46):
getting some work in with not just Nick her Big Lab,
but TJ. Watt too. That's a defensive Player of the
Year himself. You know, he's in that fraternity with James Harrison,
and he's still listening intently, at least from what I
could gather from the pictures that I saw of what
this former great Super Bowl champion has to say to him.
I saw a picture earlier in camp of Troy palam

(23:07):
Mal who kneeling on the sidelines talking to Minka Fitzpatrick.
That has so much value, and not every team in
the NFL has those kind of players that can come
back and shares that with them.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I'd be listening intentally too
if James Harrison was trying to show me something I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
That a P and j Samwich, you'd be all.

Speaker 3 (23:28):
Right, because you know, I don't think even a former
All Pro Defensive Player of the Year like James Harrison
could improve my pass rush moves. I mean, there is
no athletic ability in these genes. And I mean that
with the with the G not J that in me.
So yeah, you know, it just shows, you know, Mike

(23:52):
Tomlin often talks about t J. Watt and his work
ethic and you know that kind of thing. I mean,
you know, TJ. What isn't too stuck on himself or
too arrogant or you know whatever to think that you know,
he can't listen to somebody like James Harrison. You know,
James Harrison is the guy who held the all time

(24:14):
franchise sack record that TJ. Watt recently broke. So of
course he might have some you know tips or you know,
things that he did as a player that could be
incorporated into t J. Watts game. And certainly Nick Kerbick,
you know, a guy who was still very much in
the infancy infancy of his NFL career. And the only

(24:39):
thing about James Harrison is, you know, he is a
very unique specimen athletically. You know. One of the things
Mike Tomlin always said about him when talking about James
Harrison was, you know, usually you're looking for some one

(25:00):
maybe a little taller, ah at that spot, you know,
but he used that his diminutive size, his stature as
an as a weapon because when he got up under
you as strong as he was. Right. So you know,

(25:27):
again I don't I'm not good enough or proficient enough
in the in the intricacies of that position and rushing
the past, or in the NFL or anything. But you know,
I would think that James Harrison's viewpoint, his tips, his suggestions,
you know, might be unique to someone of his build

(25:48):
and height, I mean and strength. But again T J.
Watt is not you know, he's interested in hearing what
with someone with James Harrison's resume and heedigree has to say,
you know, whether he is actually able to implement it,
you know, put it to practice on the on regular

(26:09):
season NFL fields, you know, we'll see. But I think
it's a credit to TJ. Watt that he is willing
and interested in hearing it. One way or the other.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
Boy, I'll tell you what, just based on those pictures
that I saw, if I needed to get one sack,
just one sack, needed to throw them out there for
one play, I think James Harrison might have a better
than fifty to fifty shot of getting it. Done a
full NFL game might be a problem nowadays, but if
he had to turn back the clock one or two times, man,
he's still in such great shape, still looks like such
a specimen. TJ Watt and Nick Herbig both caught up

(26:40):
with the media after practice yesterday. Let's see what both
outside linebackers had to say.

Speaker 3 (26:44):
Jer you'd like to see a little physically like that? Finally,
little feist.

Speaker 2 (26:47):
Is Yeah, it's good.

Speaker 5 (26:49):
It's good, especially when you have so many new players,
you're trying to figure out what everybody's all about. And
to be able to see guys wanting to run to
the fight and not run away from those awesome to see.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
TJ noticed her big talk with Harrison a little bit
over there on the side ands today.

Speaker 5 (27:02):
I think for a guy who didn't have the tallest
stature as an outside linebacker, I know Nick likes to
kick your brand on stuff.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
How can you learn from James and that regard. Yeah,
you're interviewing.

Speaker 5 (27:10):
You brought up the height, not me, But I think,
I think, honestly is a great asset for any of us.
It's a move that's very difficult to learn, but once you,
I mean, he's made so many sacks off of that
one move that it has the hat a couple of
connors as well. So if Milk can be a young
guy and try to learn from the James Harris and
the guys in the Hall of Famer, why wouldn't he
try to soak.

Speaker 2 (27:30):
Up as much information as possible for him.

Speaker 5 (27:32):
And it's so cool that Debo's willing to spend his
time teaching his moves to this as well.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
You don't mind your couple of your defensive guys instigating
those old occasions.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
No, I mean, as long as it's there's a good
meeting behind it, and then sometimes you have to stoke
the fire to see what we're about as a team.
And I think that's all today was about. I obviously
we don't want to want it to continue and to
mess up practice and slow things down, but I think
it was good for today. Your first impressions from Too
Impressment Tech, I think he's done a great job. He's
done a good job of changing up his sets, doing

(28:02):
different things. It's always funny to get a new tackle
the goal agents because it's not necessarily a singing techniques
that we used to sing the day in and day out,
So it's been great.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Competition, he TJ.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
Behind you? How does it?

Speaker 5 (28:14):
What's it like having another established leader like Russell Wilson
in the building for you guys this season?

Speaker 2 (28:19):
That's great. It's great to have presence from both quarterbacks.

Speaker 5 (28:21):
Honestly, him and Justin have done a great job of
acclimating to us but also bring some of their leadership
styles to this team. And it's only going to continue
to grow as they get more and more comfortable. But
in terms of Russeller, guy's gonna be in the Hall
of Fame, he's won a super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (28:33):
I mean that kind of has got to help that
leadership home.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, it's been it's been great.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
T J. Did you go investigate that freaks without your home?

Speaker 4 (28:41):
No?

Speaker 5 (28:41):
I when I don't have a helmet on, I try
to stay as clear as possible from at all and uh.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
I took it.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
I'll take two steps to the show.

Speaker 5 (28:48):
Of the intend but I'm not gonna get involved without
a helmet.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
Good take fort in the past, Rush this year?

Speaker 5 (28:54):
How much can Patrick Queen's audition and Kayden Wilson so
much other guys helping that week the Yeah, I can
speak to pet Queen. I've seen him do a lot
on film watching AFC North. He does a great job
of pitching inside stunts.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
They did a good job in Baltimore with him, and.

Speaker 5 (29:09):
I'm sure we'll have a lot of big fun games
drawn up and we'll all have an opportunity.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Do you offense pretty pressive last days on seven Shocks?

Speaker 7 (29:17):
What have you seen out about living impressed to you?

Speaker 5 (29:19):
Decisive, getting the ball out quickly, and they're able to
control line of scrimmage in their run game, which something
that we need to take more pride in as a
defense and hopefully we get corrected soon.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
P j O.

Speaker 8 (29:28):
Paper, this looks like it could be the best beat
that since you've been here.

Speaker 3 (29:31):
What has to happen for that to head?

Speaker 5 (29:33):
Control line of scrimmage, stop the run, I mean, all
the normal things when we need to be able to not.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
Have those big explosive plays.

Speaker 5 (29:39):
Last year we had too many explosive plays, explosive runs.
We need to eliminate those and and hopefully create more splash.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's the vibe of p unit life loose.

Speaker 5 (29:48):
We're loose, but we need to we need to perform better.
Like you said, seven Shots hasn't been great the last
two days, and we need to take more pride in
that and come out fire in tomorrow because.

Speaker 9 (29:58):
There been more of an emphasis.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
You're about to same and stopping you up.

Speaker 5 (30:01):
Oh, it's always the same. I mean each and every year,
there is no secret Sauces just stopped there on getting
behind the chains and the other ten years.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
But how would you describe a defensive yet just as.

Speaker 7 (30:10):
A physical you know, we're we're we're blitzberg So we're
gonna come after the ball.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
We're gonna try get after Nick.

Speaker 5 (30:19):
Mike talked a lot today about the young young guys
getting opportunities.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
What can you say about just the defensive.

Speaker 9 (30:23):
Line and where a lot of a lot of the young.

Speaker 8 (30:25):
Guys are producing here a year two.

Speaker 7 (30:27):
You know, obviously we have vets in the room, h
and anytime the young guys, especially myself, we get opportunity
like that to go out there and you know, a showcase.
So we've been working on all off season, all all
our life, basically letting up to this point. You know,
I think he's just got to make the most of
your opportunities.

Speaker 5 (30:43):
What do you make for this group compared to the
last year.

Speaker 7 (30:45):
And maybe, like I said, man, I don't I don't
really try and compare contrast or whatever.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
We're trying to win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 7 (30:52):
We need a Lombardi here, So whoever's gonna help us do?

Speaker 3 (30:54):
Dad, let's go.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
Marcus schools a year this year, and there's a spot
to be one there.

Speaker 8 (30:59):
One of the guys, it came over late last year's
Moon Else he working.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
On his first year. I love Moon.

Speaker 7 (31:04):
He's a great kid, great, great football player, great guy
off the field too. He works hard, big seank. So
they got a good we got a good competition going on.
So almost see how that turns out.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
Who's your take on what started the dust stuff at
the other practice?

Speaker 7 (31:18):
It's just it happens, you know, it's we want to
be family if.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
We didn't fight.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
The Herbig's are a great interview. What can you say?
Both Nick and Nate and Herbig was such a big
contributor for the team last year. Labs a position of
such strength like outside linebacker TJ. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
I mean, hey, I'm a big nerse, so I'll throw
this out there. Both of them are top ten rated
Madden outside linebackers, So congrats to both of them. But
my point, you know, my point being there they're established,

(31:45):
one's a superstar. One is kind of on the fringe
of being that star. Outside backers, the depth at that
position was kind of still lacking, not the case last
year with Herbig. He really put himself on the map
that that way, and I'm looking forward to seeing him
continue so this year.

Speaker 3 (31:59):
Yeah, and you know, because both of those you know
Madden guys that you just mentioned, PJ. Watt and Alex Heismith,
they go, you know, a million miles an hour when
they're on the field, and you know, to keep them
able to do that throughout the course of a sixty
minute game, Tarrell Austin, the defensive coordinator, likes to get

(32:20):
them occasional breathers. You know, sometimes it's a snapper two,
sometimes it might be an entire series. And when that happens,
you don't want to have a significant drop off because,
especially at that position, that's an extremely important position. You know,
in this Steelers defense, you know, not only the rushing
of the passer thing, but also from that comes you know,

(32:44):
generating takeaways. So you know, the addition of Nick Herbig,
I think was significant. You know, kudos to Omar Khan
for you know, to go back to that draft when
the Steelers got Nick Kerbig, he came via a pick
that the Steelers acquired, you know, as part of a

(33:06):
second or third day trade. You know, I'd have to
look it up for specifics, but I do remember that
the Nick Herbig pick was was made in a slot
in the draft that the Steelers did not originally own.
When when when the whole thing started? So you know,

(33:26):
it just shows you that even though you know, media
bums like me might be moaning about, you know, why
are they accumulating these third day picks? Well, you know
some days sometimes you know, if you if you do
your job right in terms of you know, scouting and
stacking the board and you know, all of that stuff,
you can come out with a guy like Nick Krbig.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Well, you mentioned Terrell Austin how it's his job to
kind of manage all of these good to great players.
We're going to hear from him in our next segment
to wrap up the first hour. Had a nice lengthy
chat with the media yesterday, so defensive coordinator Trell Austin
on the way. We're also going to hear from Beanie
Bishop a little bit later on in the show as well.
That's all on the way of the Training Camp Report
on Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Hec's the Training Camp Report with Tom Opferman and Bob
Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Steelers defensive coordinator Tarrell Austin is entering his third season
as defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Labs. He's
had a ton of talent to play with in his
three years, and obviously Mike Tomlin being a defensive minded
head coach as well in a defensive coordinator in his
past helps with your job. But I don't know if
anybody can really criticize much of what Austin has done

(34:48):
in his tenure since taking over for Keith Butler as DC,
and last year especially. You know, people want to see
the metrics in the statistics of the team defense trend
towards the top ten in most categories. That's when you're
t the elite. Well, they were in the top ten
and most categories last year.

Speaker 3 (35:04):
Well, and let's not forget that revolving door at inside linebacker.

Speaker 6 (35:08):
That I mean, yeah, exactly right, when your call seriously,
and this this is when you know it sounds, you know,
like hyperbole, but when I say they had to take
Miles Jack off his couch.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
That is a literal true statement. That's what he was doing.
You know, he was a part owner of that I
think AHL franchise American Hockey League or you know one
of those minor league, you know, hockey league things.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
He was starting into the businessman's side of.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
His Yeah right, I mean seriously, and that's you know,
good for him. But when you're calling a guy like
that off his couch after October thirty first, you know,
I mean he hasn't been working out, and why would he.
You know, like you said, he's transitioning into the business

(35:59):
world world. No one had, no team had shown any
interest in him through that. I mean, you know, the
guy was out there available, and you know he not
only was added, but he had to play. So you know,
you're you're you're not only bringing a guy back. You
got to wait for him or help him get into

(36:20):
football shape. Whatever you're scheming, you have to remember you
know what he could and couldn't do, because you know,
if and again I'm not meaning to be uh disparaging
against Miles Jack, but if you know he was that
every down, all situations inside linebacker, he wouldn't have been

(36:40):
out there, uh free, you know, without a contract that
long into a regular season anyway, So he had some limitations.
So not only is he a guy who you know
had pretty much I would guess mentally anyway given up
or checked out of the NFL as a as a business,

(37:01):
but then you also have to deal with the things
that kind of ended his career in the first place.
And he wasn't the only one. I mean, Michael Walker
remember him, Blake Martinez remember him. I mean, these are
guys that you know, literally you had to you needed
a scorecard. Who's an inside linebacker for the Steelers today?

(37:24):
You know this week, who's eligible, who's not injured, who's
who's you know that kind of stuff. So yeah, that
was a significant hurdle or obstacle that Terrell Owens, Tarol
Austin excuse me, had to overcome. And you know, I
give him, give him credit. I mean, that's didn't make

(37:46):
the job any easier, no.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
And that's what really separates the good coordinators from the
ones that are kind of swimming above their head. And
he did such a great job at that spot. And
like I said, just across the defense and seeing some
young guys develop like Joey Porter junior. You know, obviously
there's position coaches that kind of foster that too, but
they're all under Austin's watchful eye. So yeah, it's been
a good uh two years going on three year, ten

(38:09):
years so far for him at defensive coordinator. And he
caught up with the media and had a nice lengthy
chat yesterday, so we thought we'd share that with you
right now.

Speaker 8 (38:16):
Fire away. Yeah it got a little feisty, but you know,
that's that's camp. We just got to learn that. Uh
you know, really we want to be aggressive, we want
to be physical, but you have to keep your cool.
You can't do that stuff. You do that stuff in
the game, you're out of the game and it hurts
our team. So uh, it's a good it's a good
teaching moment for us. But uh, you know, we we
I like the competitiveness, I like the fire, but we

(38:38):
just got to make sure we understand we can't fight.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
When you finally get the pads ons that kind of
anticipated those things after tempers have been building up for
so long.

Speaker 8 (38:46):
Yeah, but it's still it's you know, you still we
have to understand, Uh, there's a fine line there, and
so you know, we'll we'll coach off of that. We
have some good, good things to talk about, some good
things to teach, and you know, we'll just go from there.
And just the biggest thing is that you know, you
don't want stuff happening again and again and then gets
out of control and then we got to do Then
you have to do something Jo.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
I know we asked you a bunch during mini camps
and NTAs about the.

Speaker 5 (39:09):
Slot corner position where we've seeing a lot of money
there so far, we're seeing how they is their a
bunch kind of playing against.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
The bigger packages.

Speaker 8 (39:16):
Was that the thinking is that make the most sense
to you guys right now or you're still gonna experiment there? Yeah,
we're still we're still working through this U. But those
guys they got some good work in the spring and
now we're we're gonna see how you know, fleshes out
here uh in camp with pads on and really you know,
more a little bit more competitive you can actually have
make a little bit more uh informed decision. Uh that way,
So right now, that's how we're working. And I'm not

(39:38):
gonna sit here and say that's how it's gonna be.
It could change, Uh, based on performance, based on some
different things we see from some other guys.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
What do you like about those two and what they
can pride there?

Speaker 8 (39:47):
I think, uh, you know, they're both h and I'll
talk about DeShawn first, you know, and in terms of
a bigger package, he likes to be down in the box.
He's a he's a tough, physical guy. He's a good pro.
So I like the fact he you know, the biggest
thing I like is he's a contact player. With Beanie,
he gives you a little bit because he gives you
some speed, he gives you.

Speaker 3 (40:03):
Some ability to cover.

Speaker 8 (40:04):
And he he is, uh you know from what we
saw on college tape and different things and we're starting
to see now is you know, he's a pretty tough
guy and he's a pretty competitive guy. So uh that
you know that gives him the baseline that you need
to play in there we.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
Talk about that being a teaching moment.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yet there was two of your more experienced players that
land And and Patrick.

Speaker 2 (40:21):
Do you talk to them at all about it? At
the time, you.

Speaker 8 (40:24):
Say, yeah, we'll talk about it. You know, we'll talk
about it. Usually we'll talk about it in a in
a group setting. So that everybody gets the message. It's
not just for those two. And I know, I mean,
you know, we like to say their veterans, and they are,
and everybody's veteran. But competition's competition, and when it heats up,
it heats up. And so you know, we just got
to make sure we're better.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
Talm, what do you think about the depth on your
defensive line?

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Right now?

Speaker 8 (40:44):
We've got a chance to see it because we had
a couple of guys arresting today and so we like,
we like the young guys. We got to developed the
young guys, and so I think right now, I'm not
I'm not really concerned about it. I think we're we're
in a good We're in a good position. I think, uh,
you know, we have Mond, we have Milk who have
proven good backups. I think, uh, Marver's coming along starting

(41:04):
to be, you know, play a little bit better. We
know he's he's had a little ups and down since
he's been here, but he's a he's a good guy
and he's he's worked his tail off this offseason. So
I like where we are right now.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
What if you wanted to see him the more of
I mean, what has he given him?

Speaker 9 (41:16):
What did you want to see it?

Speaker 8 (41:17):
Well, I just want to see more consistency. I think,
really what happens when you start guys that have talent
and when they start playing and and and all of
a sudden, it kind of goes up and down for him.
You just want to see more consistency. And I think
if you see more consistency, his talent will.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
Show other than the extracurriculars.

Speaker 10 (41:32):
What do you like about the physicality and the edge
that Queen and e Rod bream and they both seem
like they're kind of cut from.

Speaker 3 (41:38):
The same cloth.

Speaker 8 (41:39):
Yeah, it's it's it's good it, you know. I mean
a lot of defense is about temperament and how you
play and and and what you're willing to dish out
and and you know, because they're gonna try to give
it back to you. But I think our guys are
are tough, they're edgy. I like that, and I would
never like discourage that at all, because I think, you know,
we want our you know, identity on defense. We're gonna

(41:59):
be tough, physical, hard nose, that's what we are. And
and you can't you don't wanna legislate that out of
those guys.

Speaker 5 (42:06):
Can you talk about the impact that he's making, not
necessarily on the field, but in between the set, in
between snaps in the huddle and just overall.

Speaker 4 (42:13):
In the world.

Speaker 8 (42:13):
Yeah, I mean he's a you know, he's he's a
proven guy. Uh, really good. Uh, good communicator with the guys.
He's not one of those loud yellow guys, but he's
a really good communicator with guys. He's uh, he's sharp. Uh,
you know, he has all the things of a good pro,
a really good pro, and so I think you know,
the guys kind of gravitate towards that. And so he's
he's been really good for our defense so far.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
So we're talking about Peyton Wilson Sunday when he was
running with Nickel and then in.

Speaker 8 (42:39):
Backs on back well, I mean, you know the backs
on backers and uh, that's not like a real drill,
you know, cause it's like, Okay, I'm a run real fast,
and you know, it's hard to block, it's hard to
to to rush. You know, it's just I I it's
not it's kind of not really football. But uh, what
you see is you see some you know, you see
some toughness, you see some things there. Uh, he's got
work I mean and in terms of r learning how

(43:02):
to rush backs in this league and rushing backs you know,
coming from college. So he's got some work there.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (43:06):
I think what I like about him in the in
the dying package is he can really run. And so
he's like a lot of young guys, he's gonna look
good sometimes, he's gonna look bad sometimes.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (43:15):
But the court, the goal is to get him to
be more consistent because then his talent will take over,
and he does have lots of talent. We talked to
Corey nere certain that you mean nicol or din there Wellever,
he's the dime linebacker. It doesn't matter whether it's nickel
or dime. He's the dime linebacker or he's he's the
he's the remaining linebacker.

Speaker 3 (43:30):
We Uh. We talked to Corey Trice yesterday. He's feeling
pretty good.

Speaker 4 (43:33):
What what are some of the steps he has to
take to to get back to maybe where he was
last year?

Speaker 8 (43:37):
Well, I think he's in the right spot. He's you know,
taking reps in terms of uh, you know, getting himself back,
getting him back in football shape and all those things.
Corey's a great He's a great young man. Uh sharp,
really sharp football player, and uh, he's done some good things.
He just hasn't had a ton of reps right now,
and I think as the camp goes on, you'll see
his reps ramp up a little more bit more. Give

(43:58):
him an opportunity, uh to com pete and get back
in the mix for for some playtime.

Speaker 2 (44:03):
You guys as a.

Speaker 10 (44:04):
Defense, you guys haven't gone against a quarterback or seeing
a quarterback with justin fields and a camp setting like this,
What kind of challenge does he give you as a
coordinator to team against as a defense to kind.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
Of work against.

Speaker 8 (44:13):
I think you see that out there when he breaks
the pocket. He is dangerous and he can turn a
bad play into a really good play really fast. So
it's it's good for us because then that means we
have to be really sharp on our rush lanes and
how we're rushing a quarterback. It means we have to
be really sharp if wearing our zones and we see
him scramble in terms of coming out of coverage and
corraling them. It does a lot and it makes it

(44:37):
it's really good work for us because you know, I mean,
we're gonna run across quarterbacks like that. Obviously we play
Lamar twice. We're gonna but we're gonna run across quarterbacks
like this, and this can only help us as far as.

Speaker 10 (44:48):
You're deficult a well, bego first of all, house, moonmen
thus far.

Speaker 2 (44:52):
And I saw Herbert talking to James.

Speaker 8 (44:54):
I mean, I guess that's a great guy for him
to learn from outside lineback.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
We're not much hypers.

Speaker 8 (45:01):
I don't know if he can get James's back though
James's back is big man. Uh, but they're a little
different type of player. But yeah, it's really good. I
think Moon's been doing well. Uh, He's really shown me
some good stuff. He's got really good length and and
he uses his hands and and so I'm kind of
pleased with Moon. I was, I didn't you know, you
don't know a lot about him. We got him late
last year and and and so you're finding out about

(45:22):
him and Pads and I and I like what Moon's doing. Uh,
And obviously we know where Nick is. He's taking that
second year leap and and he's got a lot of
stuff to learn. But he is ultra competitive and and
and he's you know, he's got upside. And so we're
just gonna continue to work with those guys and let
him go. And and it's great, you know, because we're
gonna give TJ some time off every you know, here
and there, and it allows those guys to to get
more reps and show what they can do. As the

(45:44):
newcomers to your defense, what do they have to do
most to kind of gain your you gain your trust
and be.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
A part of the game.

Speaker 8 (45:48):
Point Well, I think for for anybody coming into a defense,
the first thing you got to do is, uh, you know,
you have to be able to handle what you're supposed
to do your assignment, the things you're gonna do, uh,
and do that well, uh, and then and then.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Show some consistency in your work.

Speaker 8 (46:02):
And I think that's what, you know, what new guys
have to do, because that catches the attention of their guys.
The guys in the huddle trust him, and it catches
the attention to coaches because now we trust him as well.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
Thank you, guys, Hi, guys. See, was defensive coordinator Tarol
Austin talking to the media and as you mentioned a
little bit about Patrick Queen, and that's got to be
exciting because we talked about before the interview inside linebacker
was such a revolving door last year. You can't predict
the future and what injuries might happen this year, but
at least he's got a second team All Pro and

(46:30):
a member of the NFL one hundred lists to work
with this year at the initial start of the season.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
Yeah, and you know, those things that you just mentioned
make him, you know, an established guy. Not only you
know in terms of what as a piece that the
coaches have, you know, to you know, to manipulate on
the field, but you know, his his teammates, I mean,

(46:57):
they all know who Patrick Queen was is. They've heard
the name, maybe they watched them on TV. Familiar right, Uh,
you know that kind of stuff. So uh yeah, that's
that's the kind of credibility that I think goes just's

(47:18):
in addition to what you know he brings you on
the field. Uh, it's similar, you know, in a different way,
different position to a different degree. But Russell Wilson is
a quarterback. You know, this is a guy who has
a presence in the locker room, has a stature in
the locker room that you know, I just believe helps

(47:41):
a team overall, again, beyond what they can give you
on the field, We're gonna.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
Keep things on the defensive side of the ball. To
start the second hour of the show, we're gonna talk
some secondary, the cornerbacks, Deshaun Elliott, new safety in town,
and of course the familiar face is Joey Porter Junior
and make As Patrick. Beanie Bishop also caught up with
Rob King after practice, so we'll hear from him a
lot more to still get to as we go into
our second hour. Today Steelers practice just a little over

(48:08):
thirty minutes away from starting at Saint Vincent College. This
is Labs and Tom on the Training Camp Report on
Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
This he's no Training Camp Report with Tom Opferman and
Bob Labriola on Steeler's Nation Radio.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
Steear Secondary has a superstar i Minka Fitzpatrick and a
blossoming star and Joey Porter Jr. But there's also some
new faces being mixed into that unit to Shaun Elliott,
Dante Jackson to name a couple, Beanie Bishop, the undrafted
rookie free agent getting some run at the slot, and
also grayln Arnold getting some play there as well. Before
we get into some of the new faces, though, Labs

(48:51):
just to touch on the faces of that unit, Joey
and Minca. We saw mincalast year kind of struggle a
little bit with the injury bug and didn't really have
a Minca type year that we're used to since he
came to Pittsburgh. I mean, he's basically an All Pro
and every single one of his seasons, He's got to
pick six in almost every single one of his seasons here.

(49:13):
But it seems like no one is doubting, and I've
seen several articles written about this. I've seen him say
it himself that emphasis to get back to minke ball
shouldn't be much of a problem this year. And maybe
it's those new additions and the rise of Joey Porter
Junior in that secondary that allows him to get back
to make aball well.

Speaker 3 (49:30):
I think one of the reasons, excuse me again, one
of the things that quote unquote sidetracked Minca Fitzpatrick from
the kind of season you know we have come to
see from him is what we were talking about in
the previous segment, revolving toward inside linebacker because Minca had

(49:54):
to be used as a, you know, a plug for
a lot of a lot of holes, you know, Mika Fitzpatrick.
In addition to all the ball skills he has and
those kind of things, he's a very reliable tackler too.
And you know, sometimes that free safety had to be
moved closer to the line of scrimmage support to run

(50:15):
because you know, you're taking again, you're getting guys off
the couch, You're you're scouring, you're signing some guys off
practice squad, You're signing some guys off the who are
just free agents, you know, out on the street kind
of thing. Uh So, Minka Fitzpatrick had to be deployed

(50:35):
in areas and ways that you know, we're not traditional
free safety kind of things in this Steeler scheme. So
in addition to you know, Joey Porter Junior and Deshaun Elliott,
you know the names that you mentioned, Danta Jackson. Uh
those additions I think are going to help him be
Minka that we have come to know and love. But

(50:56):
let's not forget Peyton Wilson and and who's that guy
they go from the Ravens again. Oh yeah, Patrick Queen.
I think they're gonna have a big, big part of that,
play a big part in that as well.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm glad you brought that up. That's so true.
And then looking at Joey Porter Junior trying to take
that step into superstardom in his second year, had a
phenomenal rookie season. We saw his rookie year at rookie
training camp, him and George Pickens go at it a
lot and kind of you know, have iron sharp and
iron there. And from what I can tell, you've seen
that again this year. Those two guys have had their

(51:30):
monoymno moments, trying to make two really good players that
have aspirations to become stars in this league better.

Speaker 3 (51:37):
Yeah. And you know, one of the things about Joey
Porter Junior that I really like is he wants the
tough assignments. He wants to be the guy to line
up on the opposing team's top wide receiver. He wants
to be in man coverage, you know, against people like

(51:58):
that in the NFL in a week two week basis.
And you know, you were talking about people coming to
Steelers training camp, alumni coming to Steelers training camp and
helping or offering suggestions or you know whatever. That was
Ike Taylor, Uh for a big hunk of the Bill
Cower era, Bill Kuer used Ike Taylor as that guy.

(52:22):
You know, when the Steelers would play the Bengals and
they had O Joe Cenko and Hushman Zada and you
know that whole cast of characters there, it was Ike
Taylor who was on O Joe Senko. So you know,
Ike has that kind of attitude and resume in his
background in terms of being that guy, and uh that

(52:47):
that's an attitude that you need to have. And so
I think that it's and it's an attitude because you
really need to have a short memory and doing that
job at that position at this level. And you know
Joey Porter Junior, he wants to do that. And if
you're given that assignment, you're going to fail. You're going

(53:09):
to get beat. Because receivers are that good in the NFL,
especially the top guy on another team. And the way
the game is legislated, you know the things you can
and cannot do. You know, it's not like mel Blunt
mel Blunstein, where he could just get up on you
on the line of scrimmage, grab you, throw you down

(53:30):
on the ground and that was the end. So you know,
the rules are what they are, and the talent level
not only of the top receivers. But some of these quarterbacks,
you know, who can hit a flee between the eyeballs,
you know, at thirty yards away. The talent level of

(53:51):
the players that you're going up against and trying to
stop the top receiver on a put on an opponent,
it's you know, it's through the roof. And so yeah,
you got to have a mindset for that, and I
think Joey Porter Jr. Came with a nice base of

(54:11):
that mindset. Certainly, his bloodlines should indicate the Steelers fans
that there's no lack of confidence in coming out of
you know, the Porter household, the Porter family tree. So yeah,
I think that Joey Porter Jr. Is going to be
a guy. You know, you talk about a every down,

(54:34):
all situations inside linebacker and how important that is. Well,
you also and I don't know what you would call
a cornerback, but you also need you know, a Bell
Kyle corner that you can line up on people. And
I'm not going to say shut them down because that
doesn't exist. As I mentioned, guys are too good and
the rules are what they're the rules are. But yes,

(54:57):
somebody who's going to make life as miserable as possible
for those people. I think you got that in Joey
Porter Junior.

Speaker 2 (55:03):
Well, we know that Joey's going to be on the outside.
We know that Manka is gonna where he's going to
be playing kind of all over the field, hopefully playing
a lot of incavoll. But one question mark in that
secondary is the slot corner position. Cam Sutton was signed
late this offseason, but a suspension handed down by the
NFL means for half the season the Steelers are going
to be without him. So who is going to step
up in that slot role maybe take it for good

(55:25):
or at least until Cam Sutton can get back. Well,
Beanie Bishop is one of those candidates, and he spoke
with Rob King following practice yesterday before we discussed that position.
Let's hear what Beanie Bishop had to say.

Speaker 9 (55:35):
I'm here with Shannon Beanie Bishop. Beanie, great to have
you here. You went through OTAs you're here now in camp.
What have you found to be the biggest adjustments moving
from that to now these padded practices?

Speaker 10 (55:48):
You know, just the intensity level. You know, guys are
coming out here to compete for the spots on a roster.
You know, in college they keep everybody, you know, the
walkones and things like that, and here at the end
of the day is going to be fifty three men
on a team. So you know, you got to come
out here and you competing against grown man you know,
to have you know, wives, kids and things like that,
and you ultimately here to you know, win a job

(56:10):
from someone else.

Speaker 9 (56:12):
So before we get into things that are going on
in camp, when you get back to college, that it's
extremely productive career. Second team All American not drafted. Does
that surprise you and does that give you a little
extra motivation?

Speaker 10 (56:23):
Yes and no, because you know I was kind of
getting the grade of like fourth to seventh undrafted and
things like that. But you know, it was just something
that something that I kind of always you know, had
going on in my life as you know, being undervalued
and you know, overlooking things like that and always having
to play with a chip on my shoulder. You know,
even going into college, there was a lot of teams
that tell me, you know, we need bigger corners, you know,

(56:44):
right now, and things like that. But it just took
me a little time to develop and be able to
pick my weight up and things like that. But you know,
I feel that I have the heart to you know,
play and be a you know, an anger guy running
and you know little anger guy, like coach Tomlin says,
but that's like the ultimately thing of always having a
chip on my shoulder. So you know, this kind of
just added to added fuel to the fire.

Speaker 9 (57:05):
So you've seen a lot of Calvin Austin. I don't
know if you guys are getting more intimate out there
in the field. You guys have seen a lot of
each other. What has it been like going against him
in practice?

Speaker 2 (57:13):
It's been good.

Speaker 10 (57:14):
You know, another short guy, you know, twitchy and fast,
you know, so me and him, we have our battles.
We even eat lunch together and things like that, and
you know, go to Babbel study together and things and
just you know, after each rep I just asked him like, yo,
like what did you see right there?

Speaker 2 (57:28):
You know, things like that.

Speaker 10 (57:29):
So it's not just only a competition between me and him.
You know, at the end of the day, I make
the fifty three man roster, he make the fifty three
man roster, and you know, is going to be guys
in the league that I'm you know that might see
the same thing. So just being able to prepare, prepare myself.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Today.

Speaker 9 (57:44):
One of the fascinating things that happened in practice today
was in these goal line past drills, George Pickens is
out there and a coach is saying, no, no, no,
let's get Beanie out here. That's got to feel good.
And what was it like going against George Pickens.

Speaker 10 (57:56):
You know, it's good because you know there's gonna be
guys that they playing the slot, bigger guys that playing
a slide that may not be as twitchy as guys
like Calvin and Scotti. You know that I'm gonna have
to guard and they're going to look to, you know,
play throw to faeball and things like that. So you know,
it's just always great to get that kind of work,
you know, because I haven't really been seeing a lot
of GP because it's been me and Calvin. So that's

(58:18):
just good work right there, and you know, always being
able to you know, develop my game and be able
to see things that I won't normally see.

Speaker 9 (58:25):
Beanie, it's been fun watching you, and it's been fun
talking to you.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
Thanks very much.

Speaker 2 (58:28):
Yes, I appreciate it. Thank you, Beanie Bishop talking to
the new Steelers play by play man Rob King following
practice and Beanie definitely getting thrown into the fire as
far as that slot quarterback position is concerned. But Labs,
while that interview is playing, you noted in your position
in the press box that the Steelers have started to
make their way onto Chuck and Oldfield, missing a very
important part of their uniform, if you will.

Speaker 3 (58:51):
Yeah, the quarterbacks are all typically you know, the first
ones to walk down the hill, and you know, all
four of them now are on the field kind of
loosening up their arms and it's clear looking at them
that none of them are wearing shoulder pads. So this
is going to be a shells practice. You know, Mike
Tomlin will do this periodically. They had a couple of days,

(59:15):
pretty physical days.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
You would say that, right, like they were intense padded practices.

Speaker 3 (59:20):
Oh yeah, there was a lot of hitting. Pads were popping.
There were you know a lot of competitive drills going on,
all position groups matched against you know, the corresponding position
groups on the other side of the ball, and you
know there's Friday night lights coming up. You know, it's
it doesn't surprise me that this is a padless practice

(59:44):
because I do believe that, you know, you want to
put a good, good show on for the fans Friday
night lights, big crowd expected to be there because there's
always a big crowd there. And so I don't know
that you would want to go pads today and then
pads tomorrow night. And you don't want to go pads
today and padless tomorrow night. That's what you know' right,

(01:00:08):
Just trying to think along with you know, the head coach.
And then he also has a much better grip on
how their bodies are based on you know, Mike tomerrayfers
to it as bumps and bruises associated with play in
his post practice assessment of the injury situation. So I

(01:00:29):
don't know what that you know, how how extensive that
list of bumps and bruises associated with play is right now,
But you know, you don't want to beat them up
too much, not this early.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
I do want to get labs take on Beanie Bishop
grayln Arnold in the slot cornerback position, So we'll do
that when we come back. And we'll also talk a
little bit about a bounce back day by one of
the Steelers rookie offensive linemen. All that to wrap up
the training camp report on Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
This SE's no Training Camp report with Tom Opperman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Just a couple more minutes here for Labs and myself
on the Training camp report before we head out to
Chuck Nolefield and Training Camp Live with Mike Perzuda and
Max Stark. Steelers practice just about ten minutes away, will
be a padless practice today. Then they got Friday Night
Lights coming up tomorrow night. But Labs, we played Beanie
Bishop audio to end the last segment, and that slot

(01:01:29):
corner job, it kind of is up for grabs because
of the Camp Sutton suspension. Beanie Bishop has had go
with the ones you mentioned in your training camp report
on Steelers dot Com that grayln Arnold has had some
impressive run at that slot position. What do you think
so far in the early days of that, how that's shaken.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
Out, Well, you know, it's early. I think it's good
though that you have some options. You know, Beanie Bishop,
the way he talks, what I've seen from him so
far in practice, and you know it's not a lot,
so you know, let's not get carried away, but he
could have a little Mike Hilton in him. And by that,

(01:02:09):
I mean, you know, Mike Hilton was decent in coverage,
he was good blitzer, uh, and he was kind of
an asset as a slot corner against the run because sometimes,
you know, as we've talked about, defenses do not cooperate.
Just because you know you have extra defensive backs on

(01:02:29):
the field doesn't mean they're gonna throw the ball for you.
So yeah, he has a little bit of that, I think.
And like Mike Hilton, Beanie Bishop is a was an
undrafted rookie. So sometimes you know that's where you find
these guys. And grayln Arnold, I mean the guy you know, Yeah,

(01:02:53):
I'm gonna be honest, I don't really notice him until
he does something, if that makes any sense. You know,
you don't really necessarily he doesn't stand out to you
when he's on the field, But then you know, when
the ball gets batted down or if there's an interception
or something, you know, you put the binoculars on real
quick to see what just catch that part of the field,

(01:03:14):
and he's right in the middle of it. And you know,
that's a pretty good asset to have being around the
football for someone in that position or someone trying to
win that position. So you know, I don't know, I'm
not ready to annoy anybody yet, and I'm certain that
the Steelers certainly or not, but it does seem that
they have they have some options.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
Well, speaking of not annoying anybody right off the bat,
another rookie from this class, at the other end of
the spectrum from Beingie Bishop, the number one overall pick,
Troy Futanu had a little bit of a rough go
against TJ. Watt a couple of days ago in a
padded practice, but you noted yesterday, Labs, he experienced a
nice bounce back. And that's kind of what you get
from these rookies, right is you have a bad day

(01:03:57):
followed by a good day, and you just hope that
towards the end, can't you see more and more of
the good days in less and less of the bad days?

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
Yeah? You know, and uh, I'm not going to give
Troy file Atano a pass, but you know, make being
made to look bad by t J. Watt in a
pass rush of course, yeah, right, stuff happens. So but yeah,
he'd had and they were successive reps one, two, three
in a row because in those kinds of drills, if

(01:04:26):
one side or the other does well, you know the
guy who didn't is always you know, let's run it again,
or you know, give give him a well in golf
it would be a mulligan, but you know they want
to they want to run it back to try and
uh for a little bounce back. But three straight in
a row. Troy Foltano had a nice set and did

(01:04:50):
a good job of keeping Nick Herbig away from the
area that Nick Herberg was trying to get to in
the drill. So, yeah, you like to see that from
a rookie. And you know, I say this all the
time too. I usually defer to Max and Wolf about
a lot of the intricacies of offensive line play. But

(01:05:12):
I mean even I, you know, when I can see it,
it's that all good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:05:19):
And Ftano, I think that's one thing that you've noticed,
and with Fraser too, is there's a reason why these
were the first two draft picks this year.

Speaker 3 (01:05:27):
Yeah. And Zach Frasier, I think he I don't think
he's ready yet. I think there's a little bit there.
There's a little bit more to it at center than
than a tackle. Because of center, he has to make
the calls. Uh, maybe adjust the calls based on what
the play call was in the huddle and then what
he what he sees from the defensive front, you know,

(01:05:49):
that kind of stuff. And that's a level of experience
that you need as well, where as a tackle or
a guard rookie only needs to know, you know, his
job and then how to respond to any changes in
the calls or adjustments in the protection that might be
called out. So yeah, I think that, you know, Zach

(01:06:12):
Fraser has a little bit more on his plate as
a center. And so you know, right now, if somebody
put a gun to my head and said who's the
starting center in Atlanta injuries notwithstanding, you know, I would
say Nate Herbert. I think you know, he's got a
little bit of that edge too to him, a little

(01:06:36):
bit of a presence that a veteran would have, And
so yeah, I would lean towards him as the opening
day starter. But that doesn't mean by any that doesn't
mean by any means that you know, Zach Fraser is
a disappointment, because I'm not saying that at all.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
No, of course not. And we've got a long camp
still to get through to have things like that decided officially,
but that's going to do for LABS and Meet Today,
we're gonna hand things off to Mike Prezuda and Max
Stark's out at Saint Vincent College for Training Camp Live.
The Steelers are on Chuck Nolefield, just about four or
five minutes away from kicking off Day seven of practice
at Training Camp Labs and I'll be back again tomorrow

(01:07:15):
morning at nine am for the Training Camp Report on
Steelers Nation Radio