August 2, 2022 • 46 mins
Bob Labriola and Tom Opferman recap the Steelers first padded practice yesterday and we hear Coach Tomlins thoughts on the festivities. They then discuss injury news, Diontaes hold in and hear from rookie WR George Pickens as well, on this edition of The Training Camp Report!
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Man, we're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get stuarded, and so now we take off. He sees
the training camp report. What Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola
on Steelers Nation Radio, The pads came on for the
first time in Steelers training camp yesterday for day five
practice and labs. You know, we we hyped it up
(00:26):
all day yesterday on the training camp report, and I
have to imagine that it lived up to the hype yesterday. Well,
you know, I don't. I don't know if anything really
lives up to the hype, but let me just say this.
I mean, it was a welcome change, you know, to
see something that is closer to real football. Um. You know,
it is still drills and so it's it's still contained
(00:49):
environment up here training camp, but um you know, you
you got to see some hitting, some tackling, um, you know,
and it's just it just feels like it's more legitimate,
even if it's really not even preseason game like, which
isn't even close to being a regular season game like.
But again, um, it it just I don't know, it
(01:11):
just feels more real, at least it did to me.
And I have to imagine there's just such a different energy,
not just you know, in the atmosphere around the practice field,
but the players themselves in the fields probably seemed to
take it up a little extra notch, get a little
bit more excited. Like you said, this is actual football now,
this is what we signed up for. Yeah. And you know,
I think that the players also understand that this is
(01:34):
now when um, real evaluations can happen. Um. You know, uh,
the paddlest sessions so very similar to the offseason program.
I mean, you know a lot of it is certainly
graded and reviewed and all that stuff, and mental mistakes
are charted and noted, and you know there's teaching and
(01:55):
and those kind of things. But um, you know, players
know as well when one guy gets his butt kicked
by another guy, not only the people involved in either
you know, the the KICKI or the kick the kicker,
but their teammates. Uh. And oftentimes it's it's plain enough
for the fans sitting on the hillside to see, and
(02:17):
so you know, nobody wants to be you know, get
their butt kicked. Um. And you know, in front of people,
especially if you've played football long enough and well enough
to ascend you know, to even have a chance to
make an NFL team. So yeah, I think that there's
more excitement involved, and certainly um along with that excitement,
(02:39):
it comes a little bit of a I won't call
it fear because I think that that's unfair, but you know,
some real desire not to be you know the KICKI
when the you know foot meets. But well, the paths
coming on where isn't the only thing of change to
note from yesterday's practice. And we're gonna sink our teeth
into all of the moving pieces on the Steelers offense
(03:00):
and some things on the defensive side of the ball
that popped as well. Before we do that, we always
like to give a listen to coach Tomlin's post practice
presser early on in our training camp reports. So before
we move on anywhere, let's take a listen to what
coach had to say following Day fives practice. Man great
to get out and compete today, put the paths on
his significant step, but equally as important as the learning
(03:22):
that that that is born out of ease opportunity. So
we got a big evening to night and continue with
the growth process and hopefully do it at a higher
level again. Tomorrow. Um, not a lot of significant news
regarding health related things. Nag. He wasn't able to finish.
Somebody stepped on his foot, but it shouldn't be a
major deal. Um. All the others that we've outlined a
(03:42):
kind of status quo. Jeremy McNichols is getting the shoulder evaluated.
He wasn't able to participate today. That's one that I miss.
But other than that, um Man just really excited to
be in this environment and continue with this growth process
and and keep snapping that ball and and and watching
them grow into visually and collectively questions run practice. I'm
(04:03):
guessing that's because the beds going on and what did
you like it? I did? Um. You know, we just
got a lot of growth ahead of us on both
sides of the ball in that space, and so when
when given an opportunity, we're certainly gonna focus on that
component of play. UM just not a lot of padded
opportunities between now when you step into a stadium based
on the structure of of the preseason, and so when
(04:24):
you get those opportunities that it really needs to be
a focus. Mike, he swapped the order of Mason and
Kenny just what was the thought process behind that? Today?
There'll be more of that. Um. All of those guys
are running all groups. It's just part of team development.
So we shouldn't read into it as now Kenny's a
two masons you should not, but I'm sure you will
(04:46):
anyone else. Mike, what are the what the benefits have
you seen so far? From yourself? Boy? Um, you know
he just as a football lover, he's a good communicator. Um.
He does the things that your value from a coach's perspective,
in terms of challenging guys, holding them accountable, and leading
his group. Um, he's a hand in the power guy.
(05:06):
So it's been it's been a good, good addition. Make
there seems to be room for a competition that backup
running back in some second little stuff outside linebackers. Those
guys went against each other day and backs and backers.
What did you see from those position groups? I thought
I thought both groups had their moments. Um. I'd like
to see more detailed hand usage per positions, but that's
(05:26):
something that's just gonna come as we continue to work.
It's talking a bit about what have you seen? Um,
you know he has an appetite for the competition, and
that is a good thing. He's learning and learning fast.
But I think the most significant thing that's captured my
attention is he seems really comfortable in these waters. From
(05:46):
a competition standpoint, it's there Any changing that Dante Johnson
status situation are will be there? Any changes in the
way he practices. Um there there wasn't any today. We'll
see what tomorrow holds being evaluated. How much do you
have to wait wanting him to participate? In him wanting
to participate with being cautious somebody stepped on him, You
(06:07):
like the intensive media back on backers. Is that a drill?
That's maybe it's not that, I don't say fair, but
not conducive to the tight ends. You know, drills are
football like, they're not football. What I mean is someone
has an advantage in the drill, and I expect those
that have an advantage to win quickly. I expect those
that that that are at a disadvantage to fighting compete
(06:28):
and and and that's just the nature of drill work.
We construct drills at times to provide an advantage, but
one side of the ball or the other. It's just
part of the growth process. It seems like you threw
rookies out there a couple of times over and over again.
Is that's something that was just born in that opportunities.
That's something that you want to see coming into backs
on backers now they need reps and so it's really
(06:49):
as simple as that they need reps, and so you
you provide them the additional reps that they need. Have
eyes on a Scott for a little while at linebacker
and Avery for the first time this year. What do
you see from two guys? Um? You know, both guys
have done a nice job. Um, we'll just look at
the tape and continue to monitor their growth and development.
I expect Avery to show um that he's an NFL
(07:10):
football player because his his resume displays that and so, um,
that's just one component of his evol That was coach
Tomlin speaking to the media following day five's padded practice yesterday. Labs,
I want to start with seven shots and a couple
of things of note from seven shots that were different
when the pads came on. The first thing I want
to touch on was something that you actually predicted or
(07:33):
thought might happen on yesterday's training camp report. You're like
labstradamis just seeing into the future. But she thought that
we might see a little bit of Naji getting some
run and low and behold first play and seven shots,
they hand the ball off to number twenty two. Yeah,
and you know that's that's one of the things I
think that, um, the Steelers need to develop. And the
(07:54):
only way you developed it is it is by working
at it, you know, in training camp, and you know
you need I really think that a good red zone
offense has to be one that can run the ball
into the end zone. And um, you know, I remember
back in two thousand and four the training camp that
(08:16):
Bill Kawer kind of nicknamed re establishing the mindset, you know,
after the Tommy Maddos mistake of two thousand and two
and two thousand and three, when the Steelers kind of
lost their way offensively and you know, became a high
wire act on offense, which was totally out of their personality.
And Ken wizzen Hunt was the new or was the
(08:37):
off Yeah, the new offensive coordinator that summer, and uh
Bill Coward didn't do seven shots, he did goal line,
and there were several uh installments of goal line and
at one point Ken wizzen Hunt ran the ball fourteen
straight times. Now you know in two thousand and four
that was Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith and you know
(08:59):
those people. So, um, that wasn't very highly successful early.
And I remember asking Ken wizzen Hunt, you know, did
you ever think about a play actually pass? And he said,
scoring a touchdown in August up here, it's not nearly
as important as me getting the point across to this
offense that when we get down close, they have to
(09:21):
have the attitude to run the football into the end zone.
And so, you know, that kind of taught me that
outcomes aren't necessarily as important as you know, establishing. Um,
I don't know a mindset, you know, to use Bill
Kawer's word, that you know, this is the way we're
gonna play. And so I think football players, especially when
(09:44):
you get when they get to this level, you know,
they are of the mind of the They have learned that,
you know, get it done the way that the coach
tells you to get it done. That's one of your jobs.
And so um, you know, I like the fact that
the first play of seven on seven was a running play,
(10:05):
not only because of what you have to teach the offense.
But don't forget the Steelers will last in the NFL
and run defense last year too, So you know you're
kind of drilling both sides at the same time. And yeah,
I mean, they're not gonna do it a lot, I
don't think, especially not with Naji. I mean, you don't
want him getting pounded down there. But every now and then,
(10:28):
you know, again, you want to teach your offensive line
that they're gonna be times in those situations when their
primary job is to come off the ball and you know,
drive somebody on defense backwards, and you want your defense
to get the idea that when they're down there, you know,
it's not always gonna be pick plays in the end
zone or fade passes, that they're gonna sometimes have to
(10:50):
hunker down, uh, you know, and shed blocks and make tackles.
So again, I just think that when you look at
this Steelers team and where it is, uh, those kinds
of drills, that kind of thinking really accomplishes two goals
all at once. Yeah, and Naji powered his way across
the goal line, so he was successful in his one
rush attempt in seven shots, gave the offensive one nothing lead.
(11:12):
But you know, It just makes your life so much
easier when you have a successful red zone, goal line
running game. The field gets shorter, the field gets tighter,
it's so much harder to score through the air. If
you can just hand the ball off the number twenty
two and he can rumble his way five yards into
the end zone every time, you're gonna be very successful
and very very stress free for the most part once
you get down there. Yeah, and I've always it's never
(11:35):
really made any sense to me how a lot of
NFL teams when they get down close to the goal
line they pack everybody in, because then the defense responds
the same way and packs everybody in, and then you're
trying to, you know, dig buffaloes out of small spaces. Uh.
I always thought that if you spread everybody out, then
the defense would have to spread everybody out, and you
(11:57):
give the ball to a talented running back and he
should be able to find some kind of opening, and
maybe you only have to break one tackle instead of
try and push back a couple of three pound defensive lineman.
But hey, what do I know? Well, the one change
that has everybody super excited and Steelers Nation was the
movement of Kenny pick it up to the second team. Uh,
he got his chance to run with the two's not
(12:19):
only in seven shots, but when they went on to
do eleven on eleven as well. We heard from Tomlin
just recently in that post practice press are saying there's
no reason to read too much into that. You're gonna
see change like that happened for the next couple of weeks.
But he also did that we will read too much
into that. And I'm sure there are a lot of
Steelers fans this morning that have moved their depth chart
in their kitchen as they eat breakfast as Kenny pick
(12:41):
it up to number two and Mason down to number three. Yeah,
I'm sure they are. But I do believe. I do
take Mike Tomblin and his word and I believe him
because really you have to be able to see, for example, well,
since we're talking about him, can you pick it play
with and against better competition if you're really going to
(13:03):
be able to come up with an accurate evaluation of
him in terms of whether he deserves, you know, to
be the starting quarterback. So, um, you know, we we
talked about this previously that um in the paddless drills,
you know, you might be watching seven on seven with
Kenny picking as an example, um, and just look at
(13:27):
the the outcome of the play. Oh, he checked it down,
or he threw a swing pass the tight end or
you know whatever, and he didn't push the ball down
the field. Those kinds of things. And what the point
I made was, well, when they're graded, you know, the
coaches will determine whether he went to the correct spot
with the ball based on the coverage, you know, those
(13:48):
kinds of things. So, uh, Mike Tomlin didn't say that,
and I know that I don't know that that is
was a reason, you know, for the decision, but I
do believe eve that there was some of that involved
that you know, Kenny, Kenny Pickett's evaluation to that point
probably included enough of good decision making and putting the
(14:11):
ball where it was supposed to or they would look
at him and say, Okay, this guy deserves a chance
to play with some better people and play against better
some better competition. Now that doesn't mean that Mason Rudolph
was substandard. I mean, because I think that's where a
lot of fans want to go right away. They don't
want to say, well, this one guy did good. They
(14:31):
want to say, well, this guy did bad, especially when
it's Mason Rudolph and Steelers. So um so. But you
know again, I do think that they're gonna give Kenny
Pickett some opportunities and they'll move it around too, because um,
you know, I would imagine that, um, you know, moving
him back, maybe that might be a test. You know,
(14:54):
how does he handle that? Does he go into I
think because you know, maybe it's not even deserve or
let's just say, you know, they make the determination of hey,
Mason's playing really well, let's move them back to two,
give him some more reps there, and then see how
pick It reacts to that, because you know, you don't
want a guy to be so fragile mentally, you know
(15:17):
that he goes in the tank on something like that
because it's maybe not even that significant. Um, because there's
gonna be real adversity that NFL quarterback is going to
have to face during real games against real opponents. So
you know, a lot of this is you know, just
part of the teaching process, the evaluation process, and um,
(15:38):
you know, we've got a couple of weeks now before
the first preseason game, and I think that they want
to get some kind of idea look at where a
lot of these guys are, including the quarterbacks. Well, we
know Kenny went over two and his two chances in
seven shots running with the second team. When you saw
him out there eleven on eleven with the second team,
did you notice maybe a little bit of provement, looking
(16:00):
a little better playing with guys that were a little
more talented than the threes that he had been running with,
or was it kind of more of the same. You know,
I don't want to say struggle. I think the right
word is learning curve that he's experiencing as he makes
the transition from college to the NFL. Well, let's start.
We were talking about seven shots, so let's just I'll
start with those. Um, he was over too through two
(16:23):
and complete passes. Neither one of them was particularly um,
you know, on the money. Now, again, I'm not sophisticated
enough to have a good idea and understanding of you know,
did he even go to the right receivers? Because it's
really difficult for me, I'll speak just personally for me,
(16:44):
because you only get to see it once. There's no replay.
I can't rewind the video or any of that. Kind
of stuff. So you know, you're and you're looking at
so many things. Was the under pressure, Um, who's he
looking for? Is that guy open? And I miss a
lot of stuff. I'm not going to try and pretend
that I don't so, but it just seemed that when
he delivered the ball and where the ball went, one
(17:05):
was an overthrow, uh and the other one was wide.
So you know, you could I could make the case
that he wasn't accurate just based on that, but I
don't know enough detail about where the coverage was that
maybe he was trying to put the ball the only
place it could go. Um. So I don't want to really,
(17:26):
um say or or cast, you know, make any definitive
statements about how he was doing because there's just so
much of it, um that that is above my level
of understanding. So um, he didn't really look that much
different to me, But neither did the offensive line in
(17:46):
terms of the kind of protection he was getting either.
I mean, he made a couple of plays in some
eleven on eleven situations where he had to get himself
out of the pocket. One one play made really nice.
There was a really nice play was in the third
down drill. He got himself out of pressure, and then
he delivered an accurate and on time throw to Miles
(18:07):
boy Miles Boykin was coming back to help the quarterback
and the ball arrived perfectly at times and in a
right spot, right at the stick for Miles Boykin to
make the catch and step out of bonds to get
the first down. So this there was there were flashes
of what that was a nice throw, nice play, um,
But again to make a general statement, UM, I'm not
(18:31):
comfortable doing that yet. With the return of pads came
the return of backs on backers and one player on
the defensive side of the ball flash there and throughout
the rest of practice. So we'll get into that and
talk about him on the other side of the break.
Before we hit the break, though, we want to let
you know that Omar Con, we'll be having a press
conference today at eleven thirty. You can hear that press
(18:52):
conference live right here on Steelers Nation Radio. It'll also
be streamed live on Steelers dot com, Steelers mobile app,
and you can streaming on the team's Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube pages. So that's Omar Con at eleven thirty today
right here on SNR. So make sure you're tuning in
for that. Like I said, backs on backers on the
way next, and we'll talk about some of the wide
(19:12):
receivers as well. That's all on the way on the
Training Camp Report right here on SNR. Yeah, he sees
the training camp Report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola
on Steelers Nation Radio. Day six of Steelers practices today
(19:32):
at one fifty five at Chuck and All Field on St.
Vincent College in Latrobe. Day two in pads for the
Steelers today. With the return of pads yesterday, we saw
the return of backs on backers and of course live
tackling for the Steelers and labs. You you mentioned yesterday
that it's always interesting to see who Tomlin pits against
two to start backs on backers. Who were the two
(19:55):
players that he tabbed yesterday to kick things off, Nag
and Aisles Jack. I don't think I could have picked
a better pair. Well, I mean, you know when when
once it became obvious that you know, T. J. Watt
was sitting that one out, which you know, what's the
point now? Yeah, what's the point? Um? Yeah? Those seem
(20:16):
to me to be a couple of the you know,
the prime candidates. I mean, Miles Jack is new to
the Steelers and so um, not that he needs you know,
he's got enough of an NFL resume that you don't
necessarily need to impress upon him that it's necessary to
play physically. Um. But still um, and then nausea is
(20:39):
you know, he wants to be a leader. Um. You
want him to be able to show his teammates, you know,
by example, some of the things that he's willing to do.
And so yeah, it kind of made sense as you
as I thought about it, you know, as it was happening. Um,
you know, but for me this, I've seen a lot
(20:59):
of backs and backers, a lot of them, and this
one was was rather uh, drama free is the way
I would. You know, I've seen some things, you know,
backs on backers where James Harrison, I mean he was
he was like running over people's like seeing someone try
to stop a moving Volkswagen, you know. Or there were
(21:20):
times where Joey Porter or Chad Brown or some of
those guys would make um, attempted blockers look stupid, just
really foolish. Um. Chad Brown put a spin move on
a guy one time that the guy tried to like
reach out to block him, and he wasn't there and
he whipped so badly, lost his balance and fell on
his face. So but there was none of that, you know,
(21:43):
this time. And I think that Mike Tomla would actually
prefer it that way. I mean, you want to get
through the drill. Uh. See some guys, see how they
react to some things, you know, without a lot of
the embarrassment or you know, sometimes it gets a little
verb belie abusive down in the field, you know, between
the offensive guy and the defensive guy. Because I'm here
(22:06):
to tell you, as Mike we when we heard the
Mike Tomlin post practice rundown, he said something to the
effect that, you know, inherent in every drill often is
an advantage and a disadvantage for one side or the other.
So clearly in this version of backs on backers, that
disadvantages for the blocker because the blocker can't cut the
(22:26):
guy as he would be able to do. Uh in
a real game, that's legal. So you've got to stand
up there, you know, if you're a hundred two hundred
pound running backs, say, and you've gotta block James Harrison
who gets like a six five or six yards sprint
at you, I mean, you can tell who the disadvantaged
person is there. However, in a day or two, they're
(22:48):
gonna do backs on backers again, only it's going to
be they call it backs on backers pass, which means
the linebacker has to try to cover the running back
one on one. The entire field is open the advantage
and there's no pass rush and there's no pass rush,
you know, I remember, you know there were guys you know,
(23:09):
trying to cover Levy on Belt in an open field
like that with no no pressure on the passer. I mean,
it's it's just, you know, it's impossible. But as Mike
Tomlin said, you know, I just expect those who are
at the disadvantage in the drill to fight and compete.
And so you know, yesterday was the time for the
(23:29):
running backs, the tight ends in some instances to fight
and compete. And I think he largely he got what
he was looking for. We mentioned Miles Jack was the
linebacker that went in the first matchup of back zone backers,
and you noted in your practice report that you know,
Harris stood up to that initial charge, but it was
just the start of a large portion of this practice
where Miles Jack was just around the ball and in
(23:51):
the thick of a lot of the action. When they
did live tackling, Miles Jack was all over the field.
Um Tomlin said in his post practice presson, you know,
we did want to put a little emphasis on the
run and stopping the run. It has to be music
to a lot of fans ears, and it has to
be really encouraging. Although early on for the coaching staff
that this guy that you brought in in the offseason,
(24:12):
Miles Jack, to really shore up your inside linebacking and
stopping that run. I mean, he checked that box big
time on day one. Yeah, And I think more when
we're talking about Miles Jack and why he was brought
to the Steelers and what his what's in his wheelhouse
as an inside linebacker, much more telling was the first
play of live tackling, because you know it's eleven on eleven,
(24:34):
they handed the ball to Levion Bell and Miles Jack
shot through and tackled him for a loss. I mean,
that's what I think the Steelers are looking for for
this guy from this guy. You know, I remember last summer.
I know I got really excited when the Steelers acquired
Joe Schobert in the trade from Jacksonville. I think that
(24:57):
this free agent signing from Jacksonville, is that really going
to be a bigger help for what they need from
the group of inside linebackers and what um, you know,
their defense needs, uh, you know overall, because this guy
is is a physical more of a physical player, more
of a run stuffer. But he's not so one dimensional
(25:20):
that he's a liability on the field if the offense
doesn't cooperate and decides to throw the ball. We're gonna
hear from wide receiver George Pickens in just a few
minutes here. But a couple of quick notes before we
get there. You heard Tomlin mentioned in his presser that
we played in the first segment today, Naji Harris did
experience an injury that had him shut his practice down.
He just got his left foot stepped on, and like
(25:42):
Tomlin said, there's probably nothing of concern there. You just
want to be careful with a guy who's going to
be the focal point of your offense like that. Absolutely,
and um, you know it is he is a running
back and it is his foot and there's really you know,
as we were talking in the first segment as well,
you know it's still a couple of weeks before the
first preseason game. You know, the first regular season game
(26:05):
is um in Cincinnati Sunday, September eleven. It's August the second, right,
And you know, someone once told me, you know, the
any anything that Najy Harris that happens to Najy Harris
or he does on the field at this point of
(26:26):
the year is bad news because what are you gonna
say yet a nice run? I mean, you know, that's
that's not news. If if Naji Harris is in the
news now, it's for what we were just talking about,
an injury? How serious is it? When will you be back?
You know, is it going to keep him outlong? La?
Da da No? That kind of stuff. So there's no
(26:47):
point in testing his toughness because this is not the
time for that kind of toughness. There is some kind
of toughness that you're looking for from your top line
players all the time. But you know, playing through you know,
a potential foot injury without allowing it to I don't
(27:08):
I won't say fester because that's not the right word,
but develop or whatever too, so you can really see
what it is and determine a course of treatment for
it and and start that treatment process. You know, to me,
that's just foolish. Another note that I'm sure most Steelers
fans would categorize as bad news was that Deonte, when
the pads came on, he did not put his pads on, uh,
(27:31):
refrain from doing team activities once again, just did some
individual work pathless. I thought there was a chance labs
that when the pads came on, he might change his
tune a bit and join in on the team stuff.
But seeing as how that did not happen, I don't
see a really logical end in sight other than that,
you know, there's no maybe maybe that first preseason game
is the next mile marker that you could look at
(27:52):
to see when he would jump in. But I think
this might be a long haul kind of thing. Yeah.
I mean I think that, you know, kind of in
for a penny, in for a pound kind of deal. Uh.
If if he was gonna just hold in for the
through the non contact part part of training camp, I mean,
what's even the point of that in my mind? Uh,
(28:13):
in terms of him trying to, you know, get the
outcome and his agent trying to get the outcome that
they're looking for Uh, but yeah, I kind of thought
this was gonna be that that kind of situation. I mean,
we didn't see t J. Watt last year. Um put
the pads on when the pad started to go on.
I mean, if if you're gonna do this, you know,
(28:35):
I think you have to be committed to it. Um,
And you know, I don't know how. I really don't
know how this is gonna turn out. I mean, I I, um,
I can see it both ways. I can certainly see
uh what Deante Johnson is is trying to do in
terms of not force the team into to a negotiation
(28:56):
but protect himself while that process is going on. Um,
but I just don't know, uh, if if it, if
it's gonna work. If it, If he doesn't get the
contract extension, then is he in a situation where he's
playing with a new quarterback and then a new kind
of offense anyway, even though Matt cannad is still the coordinator,
(29:18):
but Ben's not the quarterback anymore? So has he then
hurt himself in the attempt or the goal of you know,
a show me kind of season in two that might
allow him to cash in when he becomes an unrestricted
free agent, next March, So you know, it's it's an
(29:39):
educated guess, a gamble, however you want to describe it.
And um, you know, I don't know how it's gonna
turn out, and I'm just happy, relieved. I guess would
be the word that I'm not the person who's giving
him advice on what what course of action he should take,
because I really it could go either way, It really could,
(30:01):
and I have I could talk myself into it either way. So, um,
you know, as I said, I don't think he's gonna
be coming back, Um, and I don't know how it's
gonna turn out. Well, one guy that's definitely making the
most of the opportunity of Deonte Johnson sitting out has
been rookie wide receiver George Pickens. He actually caught up
(30:24):
with the media yesterday and we have that audio for
you right here on SNR. You were a guy when
you were Georgia. You gotta look like you really embraced
the blocking aspect to play a wide receiver. Yeah, how
long has that been a goal of yours? And and
how much are you looking forward to put the pads
on today and showing a little of that. Uh, really,
just keep doing the same thing I've been doing at
(30:46):
the end of day. It's like football, So you don't
really up in one day more just because we've got
pads on or I've been one day. Let's just because
we don't. So just like, is that something they stressed
somebody stressed you at an early Ah, you can't just
catch past as you gotta's already worked. Yeah, as an
early age, I didn't play your offense, So that kind
of explained itself to me. Would you play uh safety
(31:07):
in your cornerback? You like us blocking? Yeah, it's cool. Uh,
it's not like a you know, everybody don't want to
do it. But like I don't really got no problem
with past catching blocker where I running this football? So
what's been the key year success so far? Uh? Just
keep working. That's kind of what I said at the
come out to like, it's keep working. I'm probably said
(31:28):
at every interview too, because that's literally what I did.
That's all I do. Bro, You've got a lot of
people teammates I'm talking about bringing your name up to us.
Oh yeah, I'm describing you was hate turning. Are you
hearing any of this? Really laying any of this to you?
How did your first week go? Uh? I feel like
my first week win good. Uh. I haven't really heard
any teammates to at least say anything. Um, they just
(31:49):
really tell me to just keep doing what I'm doing.
So st're the thing that cheeps to said about standing
out about your game as your body control. How long
is that? There? The plus for it? Ever since I
was like seven, right, I've just been working. I always
kind of had. I mean, I would get say I'm blessed.
I guess what help you? And Calvin finned He was saying, like,
you guys are really tight. You talked about games, music,
(32:11):
stuff like that, but you didn't know each other before
you got drafted here, so what is it? It's kind
of contributed to I kind of didn't know him a
little bit in the COMBA because were, you know, the
receiver group always we were the first group to get
to the COMBA, and uh, really just every day being there,
you know, like when you be with somebody every day,
you know, it's just like your kids if you're going
(32:32):
eventually you know what they want to do and know
what they So that's kind of how kind of created.
It wasn't like no set up playing type how how
much on your plate, like how many different positions to
get larned? So far and all that my freshman or
usually yeah, I play Z and uh, you know, I'm
normally like an X like a backside receiver X one
on one type deal. But it's kind of the same thing,
(32:54):
to be honest. It really helped playing in the pro
style offense. It's the same thing, you know what I
mean we're speaking, Uh, yeah, I mean so far he's Glitchen,
so yeah, so far. I probably say there's some guys
will speed on defense too, so you know, you can't
really say the whole team. But as far as like
(33:14):
an offense, yeah, probably call Memphis music really the same
artists he listened to. That's like that's like part of
the question, you know before like it just happened. It
wasn't like feeling like you said, we know each other before.
You know, I listened to Memphis rappers and I didn't
even know he was from Memphis, you know what I mean,
So like they just kind of clicked some of those
(33:35):
Memphis Uh Young Dolph rp Uh, who else Yo Gotti? Uh.
That's really like the main two. Those are like the
main two that are like huge everything. They dropped a
song almost every day, you know what I mean, So like, yeah,
that's paying in your room. Yeah, I mean our rooms
(33:56):
kind of connected. So if he's playing, I can already
hear it, don't even have to go there. He thinks
you could be maybe the most productive grouping receiver away
that you're Oh yeah, I just tell him, you know,
thank you, Jasey. You know what I mean. Like I said,
I'm just gonna keep working, Uh aren't really you know,
kind of look at the accolades. I just kind of
(34:16):
let it happen, you know, just kind of like the
Calvi and Thag just gonna happen. Naturally. When you come
to your objective to people want to just take notice.
Have gone? Um really just like my objective account was
really just to you know, show guys we've been not
in past the whole time. So just going like all
the coaches, I'm really a nice route running. Remember that
(34:38):
was my biggest thing because everybody knowing big fast that
was my you know, just a deep all type of guy.
That's what you That's what Randy Moss was. Randy Moss
really never had and that's kind of what I wanted
to display you would. You wouldn't. Can't You're gonna be
laying together for so long time there? And how is
that relationships grown? And did you know him at all
before you got here? Yeah, the combine really helped that
(34:58):
a lot. Uh. Like some of the guys that you
probably won't thank you don't know, you still kind of know.
Like when Kenny got here, we was already a familiar
you know, Top thirty visits, you visit other teams with
that player. So, guys, the body control that you talked
about Pattins, you were six or seven, But did you
hit a gross for at any point that it got
a little difficult to start trying to control your body
(35:19):
or did that just come naturally? Oh, it just came naturally,
you know, naturally. I wanted to do a different bit
of drills as taller I get. So you know, some
people get tall and they just start working on you know,
just regular stuff that you already have blessed with. When
I just gowing to model my game after a little
guy and try to, you know, improve it that way.
That's Stealers rookie wide receiver George Pickens speaking with the
(35:40):
media yesterday at St. Vincent College before practice of day
five LABS, expectations are high for that rookie wide receiver,
and they seem to be getting higher each day as
camp rolls along. One thing I really love to hear
from him. I wouldn't say that he was enthusiastic when
he said he likes to block, but but I think
he understands that that's definitely part of the game and
(36:00):
definitely part of what the Steelers offense is gonna require
from him moving forward. Yeah, and you know, looking at
clips of him, you know during the college games, you know,
regardless of what he says or whether he sounds enthusiastic
when talking about it, you can see by his play
that he is willing and um aggressive in that area.
(36:23):
And I've mentioned this before that the way you turn
you know, four to six yard runs in the NFL
into eight to twelve to fifteen yard runs in the
NFL is with perimeter blocking, and George Pickens is willing
to provide that. When we come back, we're gonna wrap
up the training camp report. We want to talk some
offensive line, as it was really the first good look
(36:43):
you had at that unit, and also touch on some
of the rookies that have been flashing so far up
at St. Vincent for Steelers two training camp. It's all
on the way. Next right here on the Steelers Training
Camp Report on Steelers Nation Radio sees the training camp
(37:06):
report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Wrapping things up here on day six is Training Camp Report.
Day six practice starts today at one pm, so if
you're headed up, make sure you get there for the
start of the festivities. Everybody loves when the pads come on.
We've been talking about that all day today. The fans
(37:28):
love it. We love it, the coaches love at the
players love it. But I have to imagine one group
that loves it particularly more than the rest is that
offensive line group. We got our first look at that
new look unit, really our first legitimate look at that
new look unit yesterday. Uh. The left guard rotation stayed
the same. It continued it was we expected to for
a while here throughout camp. But other than that, anything
(37:51):
that kind of jumped out at you in the first
initial phase of of padded practices for the offensive line,
um and this is not this this umped out of me,
but it was not. UM. The first group during during
live tackling drill Um. It was it was a short
(38:11):
yardage uh situation. And I'm looking through here through my
practice reports, so I get the names right. Um. But
there was an instance where an offensive lineman jumped jumped
the comp okay and Pat Meyer, the offensive line coach,
(38:32):
immediately pulled him off um And there was no like
yelling at him or anything. He just pulled him out
as the team was almost still the rest of the
offense was still in there in their stances because the
whistles blow blew right away, you know, to stop everything.
(38:53):
And so he pulled him out, and he didn't make
him run a lap, but he made him run um
like h to the other end of the field and back,
and he was immediately replaced in the lineup, and then
they went back and they ran the play uh as
if nothing had happened. So, you know, I've seen different
(39:15):
coaches and different offensive line coaches, you know, handle those
kinds of things differently. You know Bill Kawer was that
would make him crazy, those kind of pre snap penalties.
You know, Russ Grim wasn't much of a yellow or screamer.
He just kind of give the guy a look like
you know what are you doing because his point was,
(39:37):
you know, if you're in the NFL as an offensive lineman,
then you jumped the count. You know, you messed up.
You know, do I really I don't really have to
say anything to you. If you do it again, you know,
then we have a problem most likely. But so that
was a little something different, and you know, I'm gonna
see how to continue to watch things like that just
(39:59):
to see how. You know, this is Pat Meyer's first
year as the offensive line coach, and you're just trying
to gauge, you know, how he goes about his job
and interacts with his players and so, um, you know,
I don't know if I'm in favor or opposed you
know to that kind of thing. And that's his style.
That's fine with me, um, and we'll see if it
(40:20):
has an impact. But you know, there didn't seem to
be you know, to get back to answering your question,
first snap of live tackling, Lasy Harris gets tackled in
the backfield. Um, you know, another play in live tackling,
he was kind of um brought down from behind and
tackled for a little or no games. So if you're right,
(40:42):
if you're asking me, what was there a big jumping improvement? No,
but then you know you flip it around and you think, wow,
the defense is stopping the run. So um, always look
at the glass. Well but I mean you can truly
and and it's legitimate to pain it either way because
you can say, well, boy, the run defense, you know,
(41:05):
the offensive line was terrible. Well you know, um, but
the run defense was last in the league. So you
know which which is? You know, you want to be happier,
you want to be angry or you know, how how
do you kind of split the baby so to speak?
So um, you know, I and and let me here here,
I'm gonna give away one of my secrets and to
(41:27):
our millions of listeners. Um, I'll tell you what I
think about the offensive line when I get a chance
to talk to Max Starks and Craig Wolfley about it,
because I mean I always did that, even you know,
with Toun Jolkin. I would try and find him when
he was watching you know, the one on one pass
block pass rush drills, and I just stand next to them, um,
(41:49):
and I just say to him, you know, commentate. I
wouldn't even ask any questions. You learn some things about
how to you know, the way you play the position.
And um, you also, you know, get some evaluations on
the guys that you're watching. Wolf and Starks are in
the locker room following us, so make sure you keep
it here to hear what those guys have to say
(42:10):
from the first day of padded practice. But before we
hand things off to those two, I wanted to talk
about the strong showing that we've seen some from this
rookie class through camp. I mean, obviously there's not massive
expectations on anyone really maybe outside of George Pickens right
now with that class, but you know, Pickets obviously got
a lot of the attention as he naturally would. Pickens
(42:30):
has looked like one of the best players in camp.
You see Connor Heyward making plays. You see to Marvin
Leal making plays. Calvin Austin is popping as one of
the faster guys, if not the fastest guy on this roster.
I mean, it's super super early, but so far, the
returns on this rookie class look like it's a pretty
good start. Yeah it does. And um, you know some
(42:51):
of those guys, they're gonna need them, uh, you know,
to pop and to contribute you know, George Pickens, for one,
I think that you know, this guy is legit. Um.
And so to me, it's not a question of, uh
if if this guy is a player, you know it's
he is, how are they going to use him? And
(43:11):
how how productive is he gonna be? The Calvin Austin
thing I've seen a couple of you know, he just
he just shows burst that you can tell is special
because you see him running with other you know, with
the other players. Uh. One of the most successful running
plays you know during the live tackling was a jet
(43:34):
sweep with um Austin getting the ball and one more
downfield block and he goes all the way. So one
of the things with this guy is going to be
if the the opponent, whoever it is, is unable to
truly gauge his speed watching him on video, you know,
(43:55):
and all those first you know, the first time against
him and the Steelers, if they're unable to gauge his
speed watching it on video, um, he's gonna he's gonna
break some long plays. Uh. And what even watching him,
he catches punts well, and he has a I don't know,
a gear that you can just see is is gonna
(44:19):
make him effective in that respect. We've we've talked about
the Marvin leal to Um, he flashes, you know, before
you know it, he's in the backfield. Now, I don't
know if he's going to be able to be as effective,
um and when he has to like hunker down and
be physical and take on blocks and those kinds of
(44:41):
kinds of things. But I'm not willing to say that
he's not. And uh, and I also don't know that
his quickness and that and athleticism might not be able
to compensate for some of you know, I won't say
lack of strength, but unfamiliarity with how to play in
there when you're you're just trying to be physical, uh,
(45:02):
you know, until he's able to get stronger. So yeah,
I UM, I'm liking a lot of these these rookies
in I think that, um, everybody's gonna be focused on
the quarterback naturally if he's not playing, then um is
that is the draft class certainly a bust in their
first year. But there's a lot more to with than that.
(45:23):
Practice today starts at one fifty five. If you are
headed up to St. Vincent to take in the festivities,
the Steeler legend for the photo of today is Larry Brown,
four time Super Bowl champion with the Steelers of the seventies.
Tomorrow's legend is Rocky Bler. So there are eight super
Bowl rings that will be on campus in the next
two days. It's pretty impressive stuff, and make sure you
(45:43):
get up there and get your photo taken with Larry
Brown today Rocky Blyer tomorrow. We also wanted to remind
you that Steelers General Manager Omar Con will be having
a press conference today. We will be broadcasting that live
right here on s n R. It's at eleven thirty
a m. So make sure you're tuning into that. You
can also stream the press conference live on Steelers dot com,
(46:05):
the Steeler's official mobile app, and the team's Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube pages. So definitely looking forward to hear from
omark On later on today, and we'll definitely sink our
teeth into some of the things that he said on
tomorrow's practice report. But that's gonna do it for us
here today, Wolf and Starks are in the locker room.
Up next for Bob Labriola, I'm Tom Opferman and this
has been the training camp report right here on Steelers
(46:26):
Nation Radio.
Man, we're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get stuarded, and so now we take off. He sees
the training camp report. What Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola
on Steelers Nation Radio, The pads came on for the
first time in Steelers training camp yesterday for day five
practice and labs. You know, we we hyped it up
(00:26):
all day yesterday on the training camp report, and I
have to imagine that it lived up to the hype yesterday. Well,
you know, I don't. I don't know if anything really
lives up to the hype, but let me just say this.
I mean, it was a welcome change, you know, to
see something that is closer to real football. Um. You know,
it is still drills and so it's it's still contained
(00:49):
environment up here training camp, but um you know, you
you got to see some hitting, some tackling, um, you know,
and it's just it just feels like it's more legitimate,
even if it's really not even preseason game like, which
isn't even close to being a regular season game like.
But again, um, it it just I don't know, it
(01:11):
just feels more real, at least it did to me.
And I have to imagine there's just such a different energy,
not just you know, in the atmosphere around the practice field,
but the players themselves in the fields probably seemed to
take it up a little extra notch, get a little
bit more excited. Like you said, this is actual football now,
this is what we signed up for. Yeah. And you know,
I think that the players also understand that this is
(01:34):
now when um, real evaluations can happen. Um. You know, uh,
the paddlest sessions so very similar to the offseason program.
I mean, you know a lot of it is certainly
graded and reviewed and all that stuff, and mental mistakes
are charted and noted, and you know there's teaching and
(01:55):
and those kind of things. But um, you know, players
know as well when one guy gets his butt kicked
by another guy, not only the people involved in either
you know, the the KICKI or the kick the kicker,
but their teammates. Uh. And oftentimes it's it's plain enough
for the fans sitting on the hillside to see, and
(02:17):
so you know, nobody wants to be you know, get
their butt kicked. Um. And you know, in front of people,
especially if you've played football long enough and well enough
to ascend you know, to even have a chance to
make an NFL team. So yeah, I think that there's
more excitement involved, and certainly um along with that excitement,
(02:39):
it comes a little bit of a I won't call
it fear because I think that that's unfair, but you know,
some real desire not to be you know the KICKI
when the you know foot meets. But well, the paths
coming on where isn't the only thing of change to
note from yesterday's practice. And we're gonna sink our teeth
into all of the moving pieces on the Steelers offense
(03:00):
and some things on the defensive side of the ball
that popped as well. Before we do that, we always
like to give a listen to coach Tomlin's post practice
presser early on in our training camp reports. So before
we move on anywhere, let's take a listen to what
coach had to say following Day fives practice. Man great
to get out and compete today, put the paths on
his significant step, but equally as important as the learning
(03:22):
that that that is born out of ease opportunity. So
we got a big evening to night and continue with
the growth process and hopefully do it at a higher
level again. Tomorrow. Um, not a lot of significant news
regarding health related things. Nag. He wasn't able to finish.
Somebody stepped on his foot, but it shouldn't be a
major deal. Um. All the others that we've outlined a
(03:42):
kind of status quo. Jeremy McNichols is getting the shoulder evaluated.
He wasn't able to participate today. That's one that I miss.
But other than that, um Man just really excited to
be in this environment and continue with this growth process
and and keep snapping that ball and and and watching
them grow into visually and collectively questions run practice. I'm
(04:03):
guessing that's because the beds going on and what did
you like it? I did? Um. You know, we just
got a lot of growth ahead of us on both
sides of the ball in that space, and so when
when given an opportunity, we're certainly gonna focus on that
component of play. UM just not a lot of padded
opportunities between now when you step into a stadium based
on the structure of of the preseason, and so when
(04:24):
you get those opportunities that it really needs to be
a focus. Mike, he swapped the order of Mason and
Kenny just what was the thought process behind that? Today?
There'll be more of that. Um. All of those guys
are running all groups. It's just part of team development.
So we shouldn't read into it as now Kenny's a
two masons you should not, but I'm sure you will
(04:46):
anyone else. Mike, what are the what the benefits have
you seen so far? From yourself? Boy? Um, you know
he just as a football lover, he's a good communicator. Um.
He does the things that your value from a coach's perspective,
in terms of challenging guys, holding them accountable, and leading
his group. Um, he's a hand in the power guy.
(05:06):
So it's been it's been a good, good addition. Make
there seems to be room for a competition that backup
running back in some second little stuff outside linebackers. Those
guys went against each other day and backs and backers.
What did you see from those position groups? I thought
I thought both groups had their moments. Um. I'd like
to see more detailed hand usage per positions, but that's
(05:26):
something that's just gonna come as we continue to work.
It's talking a bit about what have you seen? Um,
you know he has an appetite for the competition, and
that is a good thing. He's learning and learning fast.
But I think the most significant thing that's captured my
attention is he seems really comfortable in these waters. From
(05:46):
a competition standpoint, it's there Any changing that Dante Johnson
status situation are will be there? Any changes in the
way he practices. Um there there wasn't any today. We'll
see what tomorrow holds being evaluated. How much do you
have to wait wanting him to participate? In him wanting
to participate with being cautious somebody stepped on him, You
(06:07):
like the intensive media back on backers. Is that a drill?
That's maybe it's not that, I don't say fair, but
not conducive to the tight ends. You know, drills are
football like, they're not football. What I mean is someone
has an advantage in the drill, and I expect those
that have an advantage to win quickly. I expect those
that that that are at a disadvantage to fighting compete
(06:28):
and and and that's just the nature of drill work.
We construct drills at times to provide an advantage, but
one side of the ball or the other. It's just
part of the growth process. It seems like you threw
rookies out there a couple of times over and over again.
Is that's something that was just born in that opportunities.
That's something that you want to see coming into backs
on backers now they need reps and so it's really
(06:49):
as simple as that they need reps, and so you
you provide them the additional reps that they need. Have
eyes on a Scott for a little while at linebacker
and Avery for the first time this year. What do
you see from two guys? Um? You know, both guys
have done a nice job. Um, we'll just look at
the tape and continue to monitor their growth and development.
I expect Avery to show um that he's an NFL
(07:10):
football player because his his resume displays that and so, um,
that's just one component of his evol That was coach
Tomlin speaking to the media following day five's padded practice yesterday. Labs,
I want to start with seven shots and a couple
of things of note from seven shots that were different
when the pads came on. The first thing I want
to touch on was something that you actually predicted or
(07:33):
thought might happen on yesterday's training camp report. You're like
labstradamis just seeing into the future. But she thought that
we might see a little bit of Naji getting some
run and low and behold first play and seven shots,
they hand the ball off to number twenty two. Yeah,
and you know that's that's one of the things I
think that, um, the Steelers need to develop. And the
(07:54):
only way you developed it is it is by working
at it, you know, in training camp, and you know
you need I really think that a good red zone
offense has to be one that can run the ball
into the end zone. And um, you know, I remember
back in two thousand and four the training camp that
(08:16):
Bill Kawer kind of nicknamed re establishing the mindset, you know,
after the Tommy Maddos mistake of two thousand and two
and two thousand and three, when the Steelers kind of
lost their way offensively and you know, became a high
wire act on offense, which was totally out of their personality.
And Ken wizzen Hunt was the new or was the
(08:37):
off Yeah, the new offensive coordinator that summer, and uh
Bill Coward didn't do seven shots, he did goal line,
and there were several uh installments of goal line and
at one point Ken wizzen Hunt ran the ball fourteen
straight times. Now you know in two thousand and four
that was Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith and you know
(08:59):
those people. So, um, that wasn't very highly successful early.
And I remember asking Ken wizzen Hunt, you know, did
you ever think about a play actually pass? And he said,
scoring a touchdown in August up here, it's not nearly
as important as me getting the point across to this
offense that when we get down close, they have to
(09:21):
have the attitude to run the football into the end zone.
And so, you know, that kind of taught me that
outcomes aren't necessarily as important as you know, establishing. Um,
I don't know a mindset, you know, to use Bill
Kawer's word, that you know, this is the way we're
gonna play. And so I think football players, especially when
(09:44):
you get when they get to this level, you know,
they are of the mind of the They have learned that,
you know, get it done the way that the coach
tells you to get it done. That's one of your jobs.
And so um, you know, I like the fact that
the first play of seven on seven was a running play,
(10:05):
not only because of what you have to teach the offense.
But don't forget the Steelers will last in the NFL
and run defense last year too, So you know you're
kind of drilling both sides at the same time. And yeah,
I mean, they're not gonna do it a lot, I
don't think, especially not with Naji. I mean, you don't
want him getting pounded down there. But every now and then,
(10:28):
you know, again, you want to teach your offensive line
that they're gonna be times in those situations when their
primary job is to come off the ball and you know,
drive somebody on defense backwards, and you want your defense
to get the idea that when they're down there, you know,
it's not always gonna be pick plays in the end
zone or fade passes, that they're gonna sometimes have to
(10:50):
hunker down, uh, you know, and shed blocks and make tackles.
So again, I just think that when you look at
this Steelers team and where it is, uh, those kinds
of drills, that kind of thinking really accomplishes two goals
all at once. Yeah, and Naji powered his way across
the goal line, so he was successful in his one
rush attempt in seven shots, gave the offensive one nothing lead.
(11:12):
But you know, It just makes your life so much
easier when you have a successful red zone, goal line
running game. The field gets shorter, the field gets tighter,
it's so much harder to score through the air. If
you can just hand the ball off the number twenty
two and he can rumble his way five yards into
the end zone every time, you're gonna be very successful
and very very stress free for the most part once
you get down there. Yeah, and I've always it's never
(11:35):
really made any sense to me how a lot of
NFL teams when they get down close to the goal
line they pack everybody in, because then the defense responds
the same way and packs everybody in, and then you're
trying to, you know, dig buffaloes out of small spaces. Uh.
I always thought that if you spread everybody out, then
the defense would have to spread everybody out, and you
(11:57):
give the ball to a talented running back and he
should be able to find some kind of opening, and
maybe you only have to break one tackle instead of
try and push back a couple of three pound defensive lineman.
But hey, what do I know? Well, the one change
that has everybody super excited and Steelers Nation was the
movement of Kenny pick it up to the second team. Uh,
he got his chance to run with the two's not
(12:19):
only in seven shots, but when they went on to
do eleven on eleven as well. We heard from Tomlin
just recently in that post practice press are saying there's
no reason to read too much into that. You're gonna
see change like that happened for the next couple of weeks.
But he also did that we will read too much
into that. And I'm sure there are a lot of
Steelers fans this morning that have moved their depth chart
in their kitchen as they eat breakfast as Kenny pick
(12:41):
it up to number two and Mason down to number three. Yeah,
I'm sure they are. But I do believe. I do
take Mike Tomblin and his word and I believe him
because really you have to be able to see, for example, well,
since we're talking about him, can you pick it play
with and against better competition if you're really going to
(13:03):
be able to come up with an accurate evaluation of
him in terms of whether he deserves, you know, to
be the starting quarterback. So, um, you know, we we
talked about this previously that um in the paddless drills,
you know, you might be watching seven on seven with
Kenny picking as an example, um, and just look at
(13:27):
the the outcome of the play. Oh, he checked it down,
or he threw a swing pass the tight end or
you know whatever, and he didn't push the ball down
the field. Those kinds of things. And what the point
I made was, well, when they're graded, you know, the
coaches will determine whether he went to the correct spot
with the ball based on the coverage, you know, those
(13:48):
kinds of things. So, uh, Mike Tomlin didn't say that,
and I know that I don't know that that is
was a reason, you know, for the decision, but I
do believe eve that there was some of that involved
that you know, Kenny, Kenny Pickett's evaluation to that point
probably included enough of good decision making and putting the
(14:11):
ball where it was supposed to or they would look
at him and say, Okay, this guy deserves a chance
to play with some better people and play against better
some better competition. Now that doesn't mean that Mason Rudolph
was substandard. I mean, because I think that's where a
lot of fans want to go right away. They don't
want to say, well, this one guy did good. They
(14:31):
want to say, well, this guy did bad, especially when
it's Mason Rudolph and Steelers. So um so. But you
know again, I do think that they're gonna give Kenny
Pickett some opportunities and they'll move it around too, because um,
you know, I would imagine that, um, you know, moving
him back, maybe that might be a test. You know,
(14:54):
how does he handle that? Does he go into I
think because you know, maybe it's not even deserve or
let's just say, you know, they make the determination of hey,
Mason's playing really well, let's move them back to two,
give him some more reps there, and then see how
pick It reacts to that, because you know, you don't
want a guy to be so fragile mentally, you know
(15:17):
that he goes in the tank on something like that
because it's maybe not even that significant. Um, because there's
gonna be real adversity that NFL quarterback is going to
have to face during real games against real opponents. So
you know, a lot of this is you know, just
part of the teaching process, the evaluation process, and um,
(15:38):
you know, we've got a couple of weeks now before
the first preseason game, and I think that they want
to get some kind of idea look at where a
lot of these guys are, including the quarterbacks. Well, we
know Kenny went over two and his two chances in
seven shots running with the second team. When you saw
him out there eleven on eleven with the second team,
did you notice maybe a little bit of provement, looking
(16:00):
a little better playing with guys that were a little
more talented than the threes that he had been running with,
or was it kind of more of the same. You know,
I don't want to say struggle. I think the right
word is learning curve that he's experiencing as he makes
the transition from college to the NFL. Well, let's start.
We were talking about seven shots, so let's just I'll
start with those. Um, he was over too through two
(16:23):
and complete passes. Neither one of them was particularly um,
you know, on the money. Now, again, I'm not sophisticated
enough to have a good idea and understanding of you know,
did he even go to the right receivers? Because it's
really difficult for me, I'll speak just personally for me,
(16:44):
because you only get to see it once. There's no replay.
I can't rewind the video or any of that. Kind
of stuff. So you know, you're and you're looking at
so many things. Was the under pressure, Um, who's he
looking for? Is that guy open? And I miss a
lot of stuff. I'm not going to try and pretend
that I don't so, but it just seemed that when
he delivered the ball and where the ball went, one
(17:05):
was an overthrow, uh and the other one was wide.
So you know, you could I could make the case
that he wasn't accurate just based on that, but I
don't know enough detail about where the coverage was that
maybe he was trying to put the ball the only
place it could go. Um. So I don't want to really,
(17:26):
um say or or cast, you know, make any definitive
statements about how he was doing because there's just so
much of it, um that that is above my level
of understanding. So um, he didn't really look that much
different to me, But neither did the offensive line in
(17:46):
terms of the kind of protection he was getting either.
I mean, he made a couple of plays in some
eleven on eleven situations where he had to get himself
out of the pocket. One one play made really nice.
There was a really nice play was in the third
down drill. He got himself out of pressure, and then
he delivered an accurate and on time throw to Miles
(18:07):
boy Miles Boykin was coming back to help the quarterback
and the ball arrived perfectly at times and in a
right spot, right at the stick for Miles Boykin to
make the catch and step out of bonds to get
the first down. So this there was there were flashes
of what that was a nice throw, nice play, um,
But again to make a general statement, UM, I'm not
(18:31):
comfortable doing that yet. With the return of pads came
the return of backs on backers and one player on
the defensive side of the ball flash there and throughout
the rest of practice. So we'll get into that and
talk about him on the other side of the break.
Before we hit the break, though, we want to let
you know that Omar Con, we'll be having a press
conference today at eleven thirty. You can hear that press
(18:52):
conference live right here on Steelers Nation Radio. It'll also
be streamed live on Steelers dot com, Steelers mobile app,
and you can streaming on the team's Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube pages. So that's Omar Con at eleven thirty today
right here on SNR. So make sure you're tuning in
for that. Like I said, backs on backers on the
way next, and we'll talk about some of the wide
(19:12):
receivers as well. That's all on the way on the
Training Camp Report right here on SNR. Yeah, he sees
the training camp Report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola
on Steelers Nation Radio. Day six of Steelers practices today
(19:32):
at one fifty five at Chuck and All Field on St.
Vincent College in Latrobe. Day two in pads for the
Steelers today. With the return of pads yesterday, we saw
the return of backs on backers and of course live
tackling for the Steelers and labs. You you mentioned yesterday
that it's always interesting to see who Tomlin pits against
two to start backs on backers. Who were the two
(19:55):
players that he tabbed yesterday to kick things off, Nag
and Aisles Jack. I don't think I could have picked
a better pair. Well, I mean, you know when when
once it became obvious that you know, T. J. Watt
was sitting that one out, which you know, what's the
point now? Yeah, what's the point? Um? Yeah? Those seem
(20:16):
to me to be a couple of the you know,
the prime candidates. I mean, Miles Jack is new to
the Steelers and so um, not that he needs you know,
he's got enough of an NFL resume that you don't
necessarily need to impress upon him that it's necessary to
play physically. Um. But still um, and then nausea is
(20:39):
you know, he wants to be a leader. Um. You
want him to be able to show his teammates, you know,
by example, some of the things that he's willing to do.
And so yeah, it kind of made sense as you
as I thought about it, you know, as it was happening. Um,
you know, but for me this, I've seen a lot
(20:59):
of backs and backers, a lot of them, and this
one was was rather uh, drama free is the way
I would. You know, I've seen some things, you know,
backs on backers where James Harrison, I mean he was
he was like running over people's like seeing someone try
to stop a moving Volkswagen, you know. Or there were
(21:20):
times where Joey Porter or Chad Brown or some of
those guys would make um, attempted blockers look stupid, just
really foolish. Um. Chad Brown put a spin move on
a guy one time that the guy tried to like
reach out to block him, and he wasn't there and
he whipped so badly, lost his balance and fell on
his face. So but there was none of that, you know,
(21:43):
this time. And I think that Mike Tomla would actually
prefer it that way. I mean, you want to get
through the drill. Uh. See some guys, see how they
react to some things, you know, without a lot of
the embarrassment or you know, sometimes it gets a little
verb belie abusive down in the field, you know, between
the offensive guy and the defensive guy. Because I'm here
(22:06):
to tell you, as Mike we when we heard the
Mike Tomlin post practice rundown, he said something to the
effect that, you know, inherent in every drill often is
an advantage and a disadvantage for one side or the other.
So clearly in this version of backs on backers, that
disadvantages for the blocker because the blocker can't cut the
(22:26):
guy as he would be able to do. Uh in
a real game, that's legal. So you've got to stand
up there, you know, if you're a hundred two hundred
pound running backs, say, and you've gotta block James Harrison
who gets like a six five or six yards sprint
at you, I mean, you can tell who the disadvantaged
person is there. However, in a day or two, they're
(22:48):
gonna do backs on backers again, only it's going to
be they call it backs on backers pass, which means
the linebacker has to try to cover the running back
one on one. The entire field is open the advantage
and there's no pass rush and there's no pass rush,
you know, I remember, you know there were guys you know,
(23:09):
trying to cover Levy on Belt in an open field
like that with no no pressure on the passer. I mean,
it's it's just, you know, it's impossible. But as Mike
Tomlin said, you know, I just expect those who are
at the disadvantage in the drill to fight and compete.
And so you know, yesterday was the time for the
(23:29):
running backs, the tight ends in some instances to fight
and compete. And I think he largely he got what
he was looking for. We mentioned Miles Jack was the
linebacker that went in the first matchup of back zone backers,
and you noted in your practice report that you know,
Harris stood up to that initial charge, but it was
just the start of a large portion of this practice
where Miles Jack was just around the ball and in
(23:51):
the thick of a lot of the action. When they
did live tackling, Miles Jack was all over the field.
Um Tomlin said in his post practice presson, you know,
we did want to put a little emphasis on the
run and stopping the run. It has to be music
to a lot of fans ears, and it has to
be really encouraging. Although early on for the coaching staff
that this guy that you brought in in the offseason,
(24:12):
Miles Jack, to really shore up your inside linebacking and
stopping that run. I mean, he checked that box big
time on day one. Yeah, And I think more when
we're talking about Miles Jack and why he was brought
to the Steelers and what his what's in his wheelhouse
as an inside linebacker, much more telling was the first
play of live tackling, because you know it's eleven on eleven,
(24:34):
they handed the ball to Levion Bell and Miles Jack
shot through and tackled him for a loss. I mean,
that's what I think the Steelers are looking for for
this guy from this guy. You know, I remember last summer.
I know I got really excited when the Steelers acquired
Joe Schobert in the trade from Jacksonville. I think that
(24:57):
this free agent signing from Jacksonville, is that really going
to be a bigger help for what they need from
the group of inside linebackers and what um, you know,
their defense needs, uh, you know overall, because this guy
is is a physical more of a physical player, more
of a run stuffer. But he's not so one dimensional
(25:20):
that he's a liability on the field if the offense
doesn't cooperate and decides to throw the ball. We're gonna
hear from wide receiver George Pickens in just a few
minutes here. But a couple of quick notes before we
get there. You heard Tomlin mentioned in his presser that
we played in the first segment today, Naji Harris did
experience an injury that had him shut his practice down.
He just got his left foot stepped on, and like
(25:42):
Tomlin said, there's probably nothing of concern there. You just
want to be careful with a guy who's going to
be the focal point of your offense like that. Absolutely,
and um, you know it is he is a running
back and it is his foot and there's really you know,
as we were talking in the first segment as well,
you know it's still a couple of weeks before the
first preseason game. You know, the first regular season game
(26:05):
is um in Cincinnati Sunday, September eleven. It's August the second, right,
And you know, someone once told me, you know, the
any anything that Najy Harris that happens to Najy Harris
or he does on the field at this point of
(26:26):
the year is bad news because what are you gonna
say yet a nice run? I mean, you know, that's
that's not news. If if Naji Harris is in the
news now, it's for what we were just talking about,
an injury? How serious is it? When will you be back?
You know, is it going to keep him outlong? La?
Da da No? That kind of stuff. So there's no
(26:47):
point in testing his toughness because this is not the
time for that kind of toughness. There is some kind
of toughness that you're looking for from your top line
players all the time. But you know, playing through you know,
a potential foot injury without allowing it to I don't
(27:08):
I won't say fester because that's not the right word,
but develop or whatever too, so you can really see
what it is and determine a course of treatment for
it and and start that treatment process. You know, to me,
that's just foolish. Another note that I'm sure most Steelers
fans would categorize as bad news was that Deonte, when
the pads came on, he did not put his pads on, uh,
(27:31):
refrain from doing team activities once again, just did some
individual work pathless. I thought there was a chance labs
that when the pads came on, he might change his
tune a bit and join in on the team stuff.
But seeing as how that did not happen, I don't
see a really logical end in sight other than that,
you know, there's no maybe maybe that first preseason game
is the next mile marker that you could look at
(27:52):
to see when he would jump in. But I think
this might be a long haul kind of thing. Yeah.
I mean I think that, you know, kind of in
for a penny, in for a pound kind of deal. Uh.
If if he was gonna just hold in for the
through the non contact part part of training camp, I mean,
what's even the point of that in my mind? Uh,
(28:13):
in terms of him trying to, you know, get the
outcome and his agent trying to get the outcome that
they're looking for Uh, but yeah, I kind of thought
this was gonna be that that kind of situation. I mean,
we didn't see t J. Watt last year. Um put
the pads on when the pad started to go on.
I mean, if if you're gonna do this, you know,
(28:35):
I think you have to be committed to it. Um,
And you know, I don't know how. I really don't
know how this is gonna turn out. I mean, I I, um,
I can see it both ways. I can certainly see
uh what Deante Johnson is is trying to do in
terms of not force the team into to a negotiation
(28:56):
but protect himself while that process is going on. Um,
but I just don't know, uh, if if it, if
it's gonna work. If it, If he doesn't get the
contract extension, then is he in a situation where he's
playing with a new quarterback and then a new kind
of offense anyway, even though Matt cannad is still the coordinator,
(29:18):
but Ben's not the quarterback anymore? So has he then
hurt himself in the attempt or the goal of you know,
a show me kind of season in two that might
allow him to cash in when he becomes an unrestricted
free agent, next March, So you know, it's it's an
(29:39):
educated guess, a gamble, however you want to describe it.
And um, you know, I don't know how it's gonna
turn out, and I'm just happy, relieved. I guess would
be the word that I'm not the person who's giving
him advice on what what course of action he should take,
because I really it could go either way, It really could,
(30:01):
and I have I could talk myself into it either way. So, um,
you know, as I said, I don't think he's gonna
be coming back, Um, and I don't know how it's
gonna turn out. Well, one guy that's definitely making the
most of the opportunity of Deonte Johnson sitting out has
been rookie wide receiver George Pickens. He actually caught up
(30:24):
with the media yesterday and we have that audio for
you right here on SNR. You were a guy when
you were Georgia. You gotta look like you really embraced
the blocking aspect to play a wide receiver. Yeah, how
long has that been a goal of yours? And and
how much are you looking forward to put the pads
on today and showing a little of that. Uh, really,
just keep doing the same thing I've been doing at
(30:46):
the end of day. It's like football, So you don't
really up in one day more just because we've got
pads on or I've been one day. Let's just because
we don't. So just like, is that something they stressed
somebody stressed you at an early Ah, you can't just
catch past as you gotta's already worked. Yeah, as an
early age, I didn't play your offense, So that kind
of explained itself to me. Would you play uh safety
(31:07):
in your cornerback? You like us blocking? Yeah, it's cool. Uh,
it's not like a you know, everybody don't want to
do it. But like I don't really got no problem
with past catching blocker where I running this football? So
what's been the key year success so far? Uh? Just
keep working. That's kind of what I said at the
come out to like, it's keep working. I'm probably said
(31:28):
at every interview too, because that's literally what I did.
That's all I do. Bro, You've got a lot of
people teammates I'm talking about bringing your name up to us.
Oh yeah, I'm describing you was hate turning. Are you
hearing any of this? Really laying any of this to you?
How did your first week go? Uh? I feel like
my first week win good. Uh. I haven't really heard
any teammates to at least say anything. Um, they just
(31:49):
really tell me to just keep doing what I'm doing.
So st're the thing that cheeps to said about standing
out about your game as your body control. How long
is that? There? The plus for it? Ever since I
was like seven, right, I've just been working. I always
kind of had. I mean, I would get say I'm blessed.
I guess what help you? And Calvin finned He was saying, like,
you guys are really tight. You talked about games, music,
(32:11):
stuff like that, but you didn't know each other before
you got drafted here, so what is it? It's kind
of contributed to I kind of didn't know him a
little bit in the COMBA because were, you know, the
receiver group always we were the first group to get
to the COMBA, and uh, really just every day being there,
you know, like when you be with somebody every day,
you know, it's just like your kids if you're going
(32:32):
eventually you know what they want to do and know
what they So that's kind of how kind of created.
It wasn't like no set up playing type how how
much on your plate, like how many different positions to
get larned? So far and all that my freshman or
usually yeah, I play Z and uh, you know, I'm
normally like an X like a backside receiver X one
on one type deal. But it's kind of the same thing,
(32:54):
to be honest. It really helped playing in the pro
style offense. It's the same thing, you know what I
mean we're speaking, Uh, yeah, I mean so far he's Glitchen,
so yeah, so far. I probably say there's some guys
will speed on defense too, so you know, you can't
really say the whole team. But as far as like
(33:14):
an offense, yeah, probably call Memphis music really the same
artists he listened to. That's like that's like part of
the question, you know before like it just happened. It
wasn't like feeling like you said, we know each other before.
You know, I listened to Memphis rappers and I didn't
even know he was from Memphis, you know what I mean,
So like they just kind of clicked some of those
(33:35):
Memphis Uh Young Dolph rp Uh, who else Yo Gotti? Uh.
That's really like the main two. Those are like the
main two that are like huge everything. They dropped a
song almost every day, you know what I mean, So like, yeah,
that's paying in your room. Yeah, I mean our rooms
(33:56):
kind of connected. So if he's playing, I can already
hear it, don't even have to go there. He thinks
you could be maybe the most productive grouping receiver away
that you're Oh yeah, I just tell him, you know,
thank you, Jasey. You know what I mean. Like I said,
I'm just gonna keep working, Uh aren't really you know,
kind of look at the accolades. I just kind of
(34:16):
let it happen, you know, just kind of like the
Calvi and Thag just gonna happen. Naturally. When you come
to your objective to people want to just take notice.
Have gone? Um really just like my objective account was
really just to you know, show guys we've been not
in past the whole time. So just going like all
the coaches, I'm really a nice route running. Remember that
(34:38):
was my biggest thing because everybody knowing big fast that
was my you know, just a deep all type of guy.
That's what you That's what Randy Moss was. Randy Moss
really never had and that's kind of what I wanted
to display you would. You wouldn't. Can't You're gonna be
laying together for so long time there? And how is
that relationships grown? And did you know him at all
before you got here? Yeah, the combine really helped that
(34:58):
a lot. Uh. Like some of the guys that you
probably won't thank you don't know, you still kind of know.
Like when Kenny got here, we was already a familiar
you know, Top thirty visits, you visit other teams with
that player. So, guys, the body control that you talked
about Pattins, you were six or seven, But did you
hit a gross for at any point that it got
a little difficult to start trying to control your body
(35:19):
or did that just come naturally? Oh, it just came naturally,
you know, naturally. I wanted to do a different bit
of drills as taller I get. So you know, some
people get tall and they just start working on you know,
just regular stuff that you already have blessed with. When
I just gowing to model my game after a little
guy and try to, you know, improve it that way.
That's Stealers rookie wide receiver George Pickens speaking with the
(35:40):
media yesterday at St. Vincent College before practice of day
five LABS, expectations are high for that rookie wide receiver,
and they seem to be getting higher each day as
camp rolls along. One thing I really love to hear
from him. I wouldn't say that he was enthusiastic when
he said he likes to block, but but I think
he understands that that's definitely part of the game and
(36:00):
definitely part of what the Steelers offense is gonna require
from him moving forward. Yeah, and you know, looking at
clips of him, you know during the college games, you know,
regardless of what he says or whether he sounds enthusiastic
when talking about it, you can see by his play
that he is willing and um aggressive in that area.
(36:23):
And I've mentioned this before that the way you turn
you know, four to six yard runs in the NFL
into eight to twelve to fifteen yard runs in the
NFL is with perimeter blocking, and George Pickens is willing
to provide that. When we come back, we're gonna wrap
up the training camp report. We want to talk some
offensive line, as it was really the first good look
(36:43):
you had at that unit, and also touch on some
of the rookies that have been flashing so far up
at St. Vincent for Steelers two training camp. It's all
on the way. Next right here on the Steelers Training
Camp Report on Steelers Nation Radio sees the training camp
(37:06):
report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio.
Wrapping things up here on day six is Training Camp Report.
Day six practice starts today at one pm, so if
you're headed up, make sure you get there for the
start of the festivities. Everybody loves when the pads come on.
We've been talking about that all day today. The fans
(37:28):
love it. We love it, the coaches love at the
players love it. But I have to imagine one group
that loves it particularly more than the rest is that
offensive line group. We got our first look at that
new look unit, really our first legitimate look at that
new look unit yesterday. Uh. The left guard rotation stayed
the same. It continued it was we expected to for
a while here throughout camp. But other than that, anything
(37:51):
that kind of jumped out at you in the first
initial phase of of padded practices for the offensive line,
um and this is not this this umped out of me,
but it was not. UM. The first group during during
live tackling drill Um. It was it was a short
(38:11):
yardage uh situation. And I'm looking through here through my
practice reports, so I get the names right. Um. But
there was an instance where an offensive lineman jumped jumped
the comp okay and Pat Meyer, the offensive line coach,
(38:32):
immediately pulled him off um And there was no like
yelling at him or anything. He just pulled him out
as the team was almost still the rest of the
offense was still in there in their stances because the
whistles blow blew right away, you know, to stop everything.
(38:53):
And so he pulled him out, and he didn't make
him run a lap, but he made him run um
like h to the other end of the field and back,
and he was immediately replaced in the lineup, and then
they went back and they ran the play uh as
if nothing had happened. So, you know, I've seen different
(39:15):
coaches and different offensive line coaches, you know, handle those
kinds of things differently. You know Bill Kawer was that
would make him crazy, those kind of pre snap penalties.
You know, Russ Grim wasn't much of a yellow or screamer.
He just kind of give the guy a look like
you know what are you doing because his point was,
(39:37):
you know, if you're in the NFL as an offensive lineman,
then you jumped the count. You know, you messed up.
You know, do I really I don't really have to
say anything to you. If you do it again, you know,
then we have a problem most likely. But so that
was a little something different, and you know, I'm gonna
see how to continue to watch things like that just
(39:59):
to see how. You know, this is Pat Meyer's first
year as the offensive line coach, and you're just trying
to gauge, you know, how he goes about his job
and interacts with his players and so, um, you know,
I don't know if I'm in favor or opposed you
know to that kind of thing. And that's his style.
That's fine with me, um, and we'll see if it
(40:20):
has an impact. But you know, there didn't seem to
be you know, to get back to answering your question,
first snap of live tackling, Lasy Harris gets tackled in
the backfield. Um, you know, another play in live tackling,
he was kind of um brought down from behind and
tackled for a little or no games. So if you're right,
(40:42):
if you're asking me, what was there a big jumping improvement? No,
but then you know you flip it around and you think, wow,
the defense is stopping the run. So um, always look
at the glass. Well but I mean you can truly
and and it's legitimate to pain it either way because
you can say, well, boy, the run defense, you know,
(41:05):
the offensive line was terrible. Well you know, um, but
the run defense was last in the league. So you
know which which is? You know, you want to be happier,
you want to be angry or you know, how how
do you kind of split the baby so to speak?
So um, you know, I and and let me here here,
I'm gonna give away one of my secrets and to
(41:27):
our millions of listeners. Um, I'll tell you what I
think about the offensive line when I get a chance
to talk to Max Starks and Craig Wolfley about it,
because I mean I always did that, even you know,
with Toun Jolkin. I would try and find him when
he was watching you know, the one on one pass
block pass rush drills, and I just stand next to them, um,
(41:49):
and I just say to him, you know, commentate. I
wouldn't even ask any questions. You learn some things about
how to you know, the way you play the position.
And um, you also, you know, get some evaluations on
the guys that you're watching. Wolf and Starks are in
the locker room following us, so make sure you keep
it here to hear what those guys have to say
(42:10):
from the first day of padded practice. But before we
hand things off to those two, I wanted to talk
about the strong showing that we've seen some from this
rookie class through camp. I mean, obviously there's not massive
expectations on anyone really maybe outside of George Pickens right
now with that class, but you know, Pickets obviously got
a lot of the attention as he naturally would. Pickens
(42:30):
has looked like one of the best players in camp.
You see Connor Heyward making plays. You see to Marvin
Leal making plays. Calvin Austin is popping as one of
the faster guys, if not the fastest guy on this roster.
I mean, it's super super early, but so far, the
returns on this rookie class look like it's a pretty
good start. Yeah it does. And um, you know some
(42:51):
of those guys, they're gonna need them, uh, you know,
to pop and to contribute you know, George Pickens, for one,
I think that you know, this guy is legit. Um.
And so to me, it's not a question of, uh
if if this guy is a player, you know it's
he is, how are they going to use him? And
(43:11):
how how productive is he gonna be? The Calvin Austin
thing I've seen a couple of you know, he just
he just shows burst that you can tell is special
because you see him running with other you know, with
the other players. Uh. One of the most successful running
plays you know during the live tackling was a jet
(43:34):
sweep with um Austin getting the ball and one more
downfield block and he goes all the way. So one
of the things with this guy is going to be
if the the opponent, whoever it is, is unable to
truly gauge his speed watching him on video, you know,
(43:55):
and all those first you know, the first time against
him and the Steelers, if they're unable to gauge his
speed watching it on video, um, he's gonna he's gonna
break some long plays. Uh. And what even watching him,
he catches punts well, and he has a I don't know,
a gear that you can just see is is gonna
(44:19):
make him effective in that respect. We've we've talked about
the Marvin leal to Um, he flashes, you know, before
you know it, he's in the backfield. Now, I don't
know if he's going to be able to be as effective,
um and when he has to like hunker down and
be physical and take on blocks and those kinds of
(44:41):
kinds of things. But I'm not willing to say that
he's not. And uh, and I also don't know that
his quickness and that and athleticism might not be able
to compensate for some of you know, I won't say
lack of strength, but unfamiliarity with how to play in
there when you're you're just trying to be physical, uh,
(45:02):
you know, until he's able to get stronger. So yeah,
I UM, I'm liking a lot of these these rookies
in I think that, um, everybody's gonna be focused on
the quarterback naturally if he's not playing, then um is
that is the draft class certainly a bust in their
first year. But there's a lot more to with than that.
(45:23):
Practice today starts at one fifty five. If you are
headed up to St. Vincent to take in the festivities,
the Steeler legend for the photo of today is Larry Brown,
four time Super Bowl champion with the Steelers of the seventies.
Tomorrow's legend is Rocky Bler. So there are eight super
Bowl rings that will be on campus in the next
two days. It's pretty impressive stuff, and make sure you
(45:43):
get up there and get your photo taken with Larry
Brown today Rocky Blyer tomorrow. We also wanted to remind
you that Steelers General Manager Omar Con will be having
a press conference today. We will be broadcasting that live
right here on s n R. It's at eleven thirty
a m. So make sure you're tuning into that. You
can also stream the press conference live on Steelers dot com,
(46:05):
the Steeler's official mobile app, and the team's Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube pages. So definitely looking forward to hear from
omark On later on today, and we'll definitely sink our
teeth into some of the things that he said on
tomorrow's practice report. But that's gonna do it for us
here today, Wolf and Starks are in the locker room.
Up next for Bob Labriola, I'm Tom Opferman and this
has been the training camp report right here on Steelers
(46:26):
Nation Radio.
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