August 15, 2022 • 47 mins
Bob Labriola and Tom Opferman recap the Steelers preseason win over Seattle Saturday night. They discuss the QB play from the three that played, and hear from QB 1 Mitch Trubisky on his debut as a Steeler. They discuss the WR play and the impressive performance of George Pickens before hearing Coach Tomlin's thoughts on the game. They then get into the defense and preview today's practice to wrap up The Training Camp Report!
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Man, We're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get stuarded, and so now we take off. She's the
training camper report what Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola on
Steelers Nation Radio. The Pittsburgh Steelers opened up the preseason
with a thirty two to victory over the Seattle Seahawks
this past Saturday at Aker Shore Stadium and labs. All
(00:29):
of the question marks we had going into this game
have been answered. All of our worries for two season
have been put to bed. I don't even know why
we need to analyze anything, because the Steelers are perfect.
Not only do we have one good quarterback, we have
three great ones. Gunnarol Schefski is going to the Hall
of Fame. George Pickens isn't far behind him. Uh. It
just looks like this team is going to go eighteen
(00:50):
to know easily. Oh, then you're not counting the playoffs?
How dare I? Um? Yeah, you know? Or twenty want
to know? Whatever? Yes? Yeah, um, you know you know
you met. You started off by saying all the questions
are answered. You know, I my and I know you
(01:12):
were kidding. Okay, let's get that. Yeah, yeah, I didn't Um, Actually,
no questions were answered when it comes to the quarterbacks.
I don't think no. I mean, what whatever you um,
there was no separation in my mind. I mean, if
if you went't into the game, UM liking say Trabinsky best, well,
(01:36):
there's nothing happened that should dissuade you from that opinion.
If you went in liking um Pickett best, there's nothing
that happened in the game to dissuade you from that opinion.
And for those uh low brows in the stands who
booed Mason Rudolph um for getting sacked when uh, my
(01:57):
recollection was the Seattle player just blew past Dan more Like,
who did not play a bad game overall, but he
got beat badly on that play. Um, But that's the
quarterback's fault. I mean. So if you went in hating
Mason Rudolph, and there were some people in the stance
who did, they can still hate him because you know,
(02:19):
he had the audacity to get sacked when a opposing
defensive lineman came in clean. So, um, yeah, there wasn't
a lot of separation among the three quarterbacks. And you know,
if Mike Tomlin wants to continue this week, in the
(02:41):
using them in the order in which he has used
them pretty much throughout with the occasional flipping of Rudolph
and pick it. Um, you know, there's nothing that happened
in the game that would you could argue that that
rotation should be changed, or you know, the depth chart
should be changed, or or anything. I mean, it's just
(03:02):
everybody did something good. Um, and three quarterbacks finished a game.
Three quarterbacks on the same team finished the game all
with pass ratings over a hundred. I don't know that
I've ever seen that myself. Yeah, it was an incredible
performance really from all three. Like you said, they all
really had good things. You could point to Mitch clinical
(03:24):
first opening drive led to a touchdown that was really
good to see. Mason Rudolph, Yeah, he got booed for
no reason because that was not his fault when he
got the ball, you know, stripped from him and he
was able to pick it back up, so it was
nothing more than just a sack. But man, I think
he had maybe the best throw of any other three
than of the night when he dropped that back corner
of the end zone deep ball to George Pickens. Great
(03:44):
play by Pickens as well, to get his feet in.
But what a beautiful past that was from Mason. And
then Kenny comes in second half wins the game for you,
and he only had two in completions in his fifteen
attempts passing the ball in the second half. For Kenny,
I mean, you can't really find an negative when it
comes to any of these guys unless you're, you know,
bending over backwards to try to find a negative. Right.
(04:05):
As I said, you know, if you if you want
to criticize in here, let's let me just do it
for you, you know again. And I'm not I'm not no,
I'm not going to claim that any of this is justified.
I'm just saying, if you want a nitpick, if you
want to whoever you want to hate, Okay, let's let's
go for it here. Let's start with Pickett. You mentioned
he only had two incompletions. He only had two incompletions
(04:27):
because all he did was dumped the ball off. I
mean he completed thirteen passes for yards. I mean you
know that, and and that you know the game winning touchdown,
the game winning touched on the game winning touchdown, Tyler
Vaughnes made that pleases he did. He just threw it
out to him. Um, you know he either made the
guy missed or the guy missed too again, who do
you want to blame slash credit for that? And then
(04:49):
Tyler Vaughnes runs it into the end zone. Um, so
that's the artificial picket. Um. Uh, criticism, let's go backwards,
not route off Rudolph he got sacked, how dare he?
And then right and then you know the other the
other thing. I mean, he did put together seventeen play drive,
(05:12):
good for him, but they had to settle for a
red zone field goal. So there you go. What's he
doing cutting um and trabisky? Um, you know he did
take the team down the field on the first drive,
but they didn't do anything on the second drive, so
he's obviously you know, it wasn't worth the money, the
fridge of money that they gave him the sign So
(05:34):
you say, they have three. You know, if you want
to be negative, a contrary and a painting the butt
on a Monday, if you're cranky in the morning like
gun Low me and you, you can find something to
hate about them all two. So um, there you go.
It's it's uh. As Mike Tomlin refers to it, Ebb
and Flow. Um So, but again I'm gonna go back
(05:57):
to what I really think, which is the guys all
played well enough that there's nothing really to separate them
more than had separated them when the game started before
the game started. So here we go back to the grind.
I think Jacksonville is going to be um a more
(06:19):
intense test, a better test for a couple of reasons. Uh.
First of all, they're gonna have to get over the
fact that they played all played well in the preseason open.
I'm sure Mike Tomlin will help him get past that,
and he's yeah, the next few days. Uh. And the
heat down there, I think it's just gonna be uh.
(06:40):
You know this is it's almost chilly up here today.
Um So, the heat of the day thing, practicing in
the heat of the day is gonna be nothing compared
to Jacksonville. I remember, um, back in the day, Jerome Bettis,
who has asthma, use it use it used an inhaler
(07:02):
during games often. He used it a lot when we
would play in Jacksonville. So it's going to be different
even then Latrobe, when Latrobe is hot, So I think
that that's gonna be a factor. And Hey, the Steelers
have been teams that played in championship games and played
(07:23):
in UH and and um won a Super Bowl and
struggled down in Jacksonville. So that's just I don't know,
if it's the weather, whatever it is. All teams have
their places that it's like the Steelers Bermuda Triangle. You
don't want to get down there. Bad things just get
down there, bad things, man, bad things. Um. So I
(07:47):
think that we may learn a lot more um this
coming Saturday. And who knows, I mean maybe after this game,
the second game, it'll be the other way around where
rather than praise and them all, you're ripping them all, um.
But you know, again, we'll have to see yet. And
as I said many times, the thing about the NFL
is you got to do it more than one in
(08:08):
a row, no question. One thing I didn't hate about
the quarterbacks though, is some of that mobility that Tomla
and Colbert omar Con everybody said in the off season
they really wanted out of their new quarterback with some
mobile aspect to his game that was on display. Not
so much, you know, scrambling wise, Kenny did have three scrambles.
He had sixteen yards on the ground, uh during his
second half performance. But I think about the Mitch Drabinsky
(08:31):
touchdown to Gunnar l Chefski. You know, pocket isn't exactly
the best. He breaks out of it, rolls out to
his left, finds a wide open Gunner in the end zone.
It's just that new mobility that you're going to have
with the quarterback this year. And I'm not saying this
is a negative towards Big Ben. He's a Hall of
Famer first ballot, and we all know how mobile and
how tough he was to bring down the pocket in
(08:52):
his prime, but that kind of waned away obviously in
the later years. And it was really good to see
Kenny gets some mobility going in the scrambled Mitch being
able to manipulate the pocket well, roll out and still
find Gunner for a touchdown. Yeah, and you know it it.
I always looked at it um from how those kinds
(09:12):
of quarterbacks would impact the Steelers defense when they didn't
have a quarterback like that themselves, you know, Josh Allen,
guys like that, even Baker Mayfield. I remember, you know,
Baker Mayfield was not a running quarterback, but uh he
was able to uh sometimes break down the defense, you know,
(09:33):
by getting outside the pocket and being on the perimeter,
you know, those kinds of things, and um, you know
that's that's a part of the NFL. Now I understand
the value of a pocket passer. And we're going to
see instances here, if not immediately in Jacksonville, but certainly
(09:54):
then as the schedule we get deeper and deeper into
the schedule on into the regular season, where you know,
quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger, who you know, maybe you can
describe him as a statue you know later in his career,
you know, but his arm strength and accuracy and some
of the other tangible physical assets that he brought to
(10:14):
the position, um, I think have maybe to some degree
fans came to take them for granted. And you know
you're gonna see sometimes when uh you know, because look
when can you pick it? And again, I'm not trying
to be overly critical, but we're comparing him to Ben
Roethlisberger here for a minute. When he throws those long
(10:37):
out patterns, man, I hold my breath because they just
don't get there as fast. And that's not you know,
that's not necessarily a rip on picket as much as
it is. You know, there aren't too many guys who
have the arm strength at Ben Roethlisberger, so you get
used to that, get used to seeing that. You know, again,
(10:59):
there are um too many guys who played with Ben
long enough to have become lulled into thinking that, you know,
this is the way it is with every quarterback on
your team. So I don't know that it's going to
become a problem necessarily with within the locker room in
terms of you know, the receivers knowing how to you know,
(11:21):
deal with this new um kind of quarterback that the
Steelers are gonna have. But you know, fans are paying
attention and are going into it with an open mind
instead of you know, we like this and we hate that, uh,
and refusing to you know, be swayed by stuff that
slaps them right in the face. Um, you know, you're
you're gonna see some things where uh, you know, the
(11:44):
the arm strength, the accuracy maybe isn't what it had been.
But you know, these guys I think are able to
get things done in a different way. So again, they're
not who they're not, And I think everybody should understand that.
I certainly believe every you one associated with the team
understands that, and you just don't ask them to do
(12:04):
things that they're not physically capable of doing. Everything will
be fine, well QB one Mitch Rabinsky spoke to the
media following his Steelers debut against the Seattle Seahawks. Let's
take a listen to what Mitch had to say about
his performance offense. Going down there and get a touch
on the first drive. Um, and we executed well. I
would like to go down the second drive and do
the same thing. Go to for two. But I feel
(12:25):
pretty good about where we're at and um, overall execution.
So oh, I did a great job just communicating and uh,
it was good to be out there. Um live, it
was a lot of fun. You just think you might
get more than two series. Was that kind of wanted out?
We didn't know, to be honest, So we were just
going out there. I had the idea I was just
gonna play first quarter, maybe into the second, and then
(12:48):
after two series got the got got taken out. So
it's it is what it is. And um, when we
scored in the first drive, so just go back and
look at the second drive, see what we couldn't have better?
And uh, but overall, it was good. How well do
you feel like what you guys have been working on
able to trub translated onto the field. Yeah, it was good.
(13:08):
I think we got a lot of our base concepts
down running the past, and UM we executed those well tonight.
So the guys know him and we're able to go
out there and execut So it doesn't matter what we call.
The guys are comfortable with everything that we've been repping
up to this point. So it's good to see. And uh,
not just the first group of the twos and the
threes and the young guys up there and guys who
just got here this week. We're able to go out
(13:29):
there and execute well. So it's uh, it's definitely translating
from practice into the game, and that's what you want
to see. The emotion like the first drive, first opportunity
here at the stadium. Yeah, it was. It was awesome.
I was excited all day. I was waiting all day
for for the opportunity. UM had to wait all around
for the night game, and I was just amped up,
are you to go? And wanted to lead a team
(13:49):
right down the field and score right away. And it
was a good way to start the game and uh
set the tone so uh and we finished strong as
a group. So it was a fun game to be
a part of, and it was it was awesome. We
got a good connection with Gunner and he was the
guy that didn't get a lot of opportunities to be
a receiver in New England. What do you like about
what he brings to the table. Yeah, he's shifty, he
gets open, he's very quarterback friendly, and when he gets
(14:11):
the ball in his hands, he has great run after catch.
So someone that you can rely on. He's gonna know
he's gonna be in the right place. And um, like
you did on that third time and made a guy
Mason was able to extend to play. So UM, I'm
glad he's getting the opportunity and he really showed out tonight.
What was learning process just tonight and carrying this into
the next week? Yeah, for sure, I think you enjoyed
(14:31):
the win as a team. I thought we played well
in all aspects. And then you go back, you'd be
critical on the film and see what we can get
better at and work on that in practice this week
going into preseason two? What was the lake for the
older guys watching Kenny have some fun there. It was awesome.
It was awesome. I told him before the game, you
always remember your first preseason game, so um, you you
(14:52):
They all kind of blend together after that. But I
told him it's gonna be a memorable one tonight, and uh,
we finished strong as a group, and you gotta be
happy for him and and the whole team. So that
was awesome. It's only two of the line in front
of you. How they play, Yeah, they did great. We
I thought we did a great job with communication and
just giving me time and we're able to convert a
couple of third downs and we had some big runs
(15:12):
there as well. So they're creating holes for the backs
and uh, we had a couple of explosives. So um,
we're just gonna keep getting better as a unit, and
that that group up front did a great job. The
backup court or backup running back. We're your thoughts on McFarland,
what he's brought tonight. Yeah, all the backs are running hard.
I think I was going live in practice really translates
(15:32):
to the game. I mean, those runners are they run
so tough, and um, they take care of the football
and they they're hitting the holes when they're opening, so
the old line is doing a great job creating them
for them, and those backs are making some great plays
and open space a macw he's running hard tonight. He's
tough to bring down and he's so quick and shifty. Um,
it's fun to watch him with the ball in his hands.
And he's just gonna keep doing those things when giving
(15:53):
those opportunities anyone else confidence you guys have a George
what he's been able to do with just a few
weeks as a prole, Yeah, for sure. Um, I mean
he's standing out, he's making plays, and he's definitely a
guy you want to go to. And uh, anytime the
balls in his area, it's a big play opportunity. So uh,
we just gotta keep getting rest with him, keep giving
(16:14):
him opportunities, and he's going to continue to do special things.
So he's he's been really impressive up to this point.
That's Steelers quarterback Mitch Dubiski speaking to the media following
the Steelers win over the Seahawks on Saturday and Labs
before we hit the break here. He talked about the
offensive line at the end of his questioning there, and
it wasn't a perfect performance. From them, but especially what
he said about the running game I think really jumped
(16:36):
off the television screen to me. They were really given
McFarland and Warren and the backs a lot of room
to operate, and that was something refreshing compared to what
we saw a lot of last year. Well, you know,
I don't, UM, I'm not a real expert on offensive
line place starts and Wolf take care of that when
they come on after us, right and they're on next,
(16:57):
so um, but it's seemed to me, you know, here's
the numbers seven at the Steelers rushing numbers twenty seven
attempts eighty five yards six point nine average. So you
know you'll take that, you'll take half of that? Um Uh,
you know in a in a a go on a
(17:18):
game by game basis, I think, and it would be
an improvement over last season. And let's not forget number
twenty two to not play against the Seahawks eithers um.
You know what I think is and and I don't know,
maybe this is premature to be saying this, you know,
drawing a conclusion to early um, but hey, you know
that's what we get paid to do on this on
this hour. I think bread and water. That's what I get.
(17:43):
What do you get? Um So, But I think that
what we're gonna see is maybe, you know, the Steelers
don't have the offensive line to line up play smash mouth,
you know, the way Steelers fans like it. I mean,
it's not gonna be Jerome bett As the way the
team would run. Then put a fullback in Dan c
Ryder and you know, just knock people off the ball
(18:06):
and you know, game four yards six yards on a
consistent basis, I think that there's gonna have to be
you know, maybe some a little bit more creativity. Uh.
And again, as it's gonna be with the quarterback play,
you know, it's going to evolve a little bit. It's
not gonna be what we're used to, but that doesn't
mean it still can't be effective. And it seemed to
me that um the line did a decent job in
(18:30):
creating some openings for McFarlane and even Jalen Warren and
Master Tige even there at the end of the game,
you know, between the tackles and then they use some misdirection,
you know, they use some a jet sweep Steven Sims
at a thirty eight yard run, you know, with a
little reverse action, you know, get the flow going one
way and um come back the other way, you know,
(18:54):
and you know that can be effective too if it's
blocked correctly. And you know, those kind of kinds of
things you don't allow penetration. So you know, the offensive line,
I'm not going to uh start nominating anyone for the
Pro Bowl or anything. You know, there's a long way
to go and there's a lot to see yet. And
(19:14):
this is also, um, it's gonna have to um survived
the test of time. And by that, I mean you know,
Seattle didn't watch a second I guarantee you a second
of video and trying to get ready for this game.
I mean, they're just worried about themselves. That's the way
it is around the NFL. So what you saw there
(19:36):
was you know, Seattle trying to adjust on the fly
to what they were seeing for the first time. And
you know, once we get past who knows, maybe even
Jacksonville spend a little time watching what the Steelers did
in this game. But certainly comes September eleven, the Bengals
are gonna be prepared, at least prepared to the extent
that they can be based on the video that they're
(19:58):
able to see from the preseasons, so things are gonna change,
but I liked what I saw from them first time out.
Some skill position players that have been popping at St.
Vincent really made their mark in the first preseason game.
We'll get into that on the other side of the break,
and of course we'll hear from coach Tomlin in his
postgame thoughts after the win against Seattle. That's all on
(20:18):
the way here on the Training camp Report right here
on SNRDC start Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio. Steelers practice today get
started at one pm on the campus of St. Vincent College,
(20:39):
Chuck Nolfield. If you're headed up or if you want
to head up and see a practice before training camp breaks,
you best do it soon. You only have a handful
of practices remaining before camp breaks, so make sure you
get up to Latrobe and take in all of the
wonders of a Steelers training camp practice labs. One guy
that you've been bringing up a lot when we talk
about practice, this has been the wide receiver gunner Rolschewsky.
(21:02):
You've been saying how good gunners look, not just in
the punt return game, not just as a kick returner,
but he looks like a legit wide receiver. And I
think everybody in Pittsburgh and across the country saw what
you were talking about when he had his first drive
with Mitch Robinsky on Saturday. He looked really good and
he did all those things that you were talking about,
(21:22):
you know, those little New England type wide receivers, those
Edelman esque kind of routes. It really shown on Saturday night. Yeah,
And you know the thing about Gunner Rolschewsky is he
was signed to be a returner um. But what you know,
except for catching the ball out here on kicks and punts,
(21:43):
we haven't seen him. You know, there's no tackling ever
on special teams. The Steelers do do live tackling drills,
but none on special teams. And he did not return
nor was he even back to return any against the Seahawks.
So you know, the kind of the thing that he
was signed to, we haven't seen him do it yet.
But my opinion, I said this, I will continue to
(22:05):
say this. I think this guy is an upgrade over
Ray Ray McLeod. All due respect to Ray Ray McLeod,
I think Gunnar Roschewsky is a better receiver. Uh, and
for some of the reasons that you know you just
mentioned that, I've talked about the mit Robinsky said and
in that postgame presser, and Trabinsky called him quarterback friendly,
(22:27):
and you know that's the kind of thing. Uh. And
I'm not comparing him at this point now with Ray
Ray McLeod, but going back to the New England esque
kind of things that the Edelman stuff, uh A Mendola, Um,
you know those are quarterback friendly receivers as well. And
you know that's a big deal, especially because the way
(22:49):
it looks I believe the way it's going to evolve
here as we get more into the preseason and then
into the regular season. You know, Gunnar Roschewsky's role as
a receiver and probably going to be in situations where
the Steelers have more than two on the field at
a time, and usually when you have more than two
on the field at a time, it's a possession down,
(23:10):
you know, third down, fourth down if you're going for it,
maybe red zone, you know, those kind of situations. And
having a guy whose quarterback friendly on the field as
a receiver in those situations is a big help. Excuse me,
and certainly a bigger help. You know, when the quarterbacks
are all gonna be new, they're either new to the Steelers,
or they're gonna be or they're new to the NFL
(23:32):
in the case of Kenny Pickett, or you know, new
to the role that they're going to be asked to
fill um this regular season. So having a quarterback, friendly
guy with good hands um who gets open is reliable
that that's a big help for the quarterback and so
(23:53):
um I I like, you know, Gunna Roschefsky, I think
is gonna be a nice addition to this offense. Well,
one guy that everybody was looking forward to seeing was
number fourteen, George Pickens, and once again he did not
disappoint Labs. The touchdown passes obviously in the front of
everybody's mind, but the sideline catch that he had from
Mason Rudolph where he just kind of jumped up and
(24:14):
snatched that ball out of the air, tapped two feet
down and got him in and he even got up
and started feeling himself a little bit after that catch.
That's the kind of catch that you see from someone
and go, wow, this dude is really special because that
kind of body control and that kind of ability to
snatch that ball out of the air like that that
doesn't come around too often. It's not very common amongst
(24:35):
a lot of wide receivers, it is not. And you
know you've heard me use this um phrase to describe
Kenny Pickett. That's an NFL throw, that's an NFL catch. Um.
And you know what we hadn't what we didn't see
Pickens do you know against Seattle that we've seen a
bunch of times at training camp. You know, I don't
(24:57):
know if his hands are huge or whatever it is,
but his ability to snatch the ball and control it
with one hand, um is amazing to me. That might
be his superpower when it's all said and done. We
didn't see that against Seattle much. But yeah, that his ability,
you know, the combat catch thing. We see that a
lot out here in Latrobe to that's certainly going to
(25:19):
come into play, uh in the NFL in games because
you know, combat catches, what what's open in the NFL
is so much different than what's open in college. You
so rarely see guys get open in the NFL where
they're open when you the way that you see them
get open in college and so even if um, your
(25:43):
quote unquote open and the quarterback delivers the ball goes
to you, targets you. Sometimes by the time it arrives,
you're gonna have a defensive back or two in the
neighborhood where it's not going to be a clean and
easy process, you know, for you to catch the ball,
secure the ball, and then complete the catch either start
(26:03):
to run or get your feet in or whatever the
situation might demand. And I think Pickles is going to
excel um in those situations. And you know again his um, hey,
he's a free quick can I tell you? He's big, strong,
he's fast, right, he has the good awareness, you know,
(26:24):
the toe tap Antonio Brown thing. Impressed with that seeing
you know, he's just fresh out of college and you
have to add that extra foot down in the NFL,
and it seems like it's just so natural to him.
He has no problem getting that second foot in. Yeah,
I mean everything he does impresses me, seriously. I Mean,
you get kind of getting numb to it a little
bit after you watch it every day over the course
(26:44):
of two or three weeks, like we have been able
to do up here. But still there's always something It
seems to me every day when you go wow, you know, wow,
look at that. Wow that was impressive. Wow that was
what or whatever? Um. And there have been some plays
up here where you know, he'll make a play at
(27:07):
the pylon, so you're ready at the pylon. You need
to get over the goal line, but stay in bounds,
you know, And and he does stuff with one hand.
That it is just the body control of the awareness.
It's it's unusual. It just is. I I don't even
know that Antonio Brown was that as a rookie. And
so this guy, um, you know, the term let me
(27:31):
say this, the term number one receivers thrown around a lot.
And I've talked to Mike Tomlin about this, and you know,
the the actual you know, number one receivers are like
franchise quarterbacks if there aren't that many. I mean, people
talk about it like there are a lot of them,
like every team has one, but really that's not the case.
(27:52):
And last year, for example, I don't know that the
Steelers had a number one receiver. Based on what the
true definition of it is, I think that George Pickins
has the ability to be that, uh, and he's on
his way to being that already. Yeah, the hype train
is full steam ahead for George Pitkins. Really excited to
see him continue to work his way through his rookie year.
(28:13):
Coach Tomlins spoke to the media following the win over
the Seattle Seahawks. Let's take a listen to coach Thomlins
postgame press conference right here on the training camp report.
But at first, I'd just like to thank the fans man.
They were really into it and and we appreciate their presence. Uh,
created the type of atmosphere that we desire here and
acting sure and so Um, that was good to get
back in front of them. Um. A lot of good
(28:35):
efforts and things to learn from, some positive things, some
negative things. Um, that's probably the nature of the first
week out. It's good to learn those lessons and explore
those things with the win. UM. I don't care what
time of year it is. We play and play to win.
And I appreciate the group's efforts, Um, particularly a lot
of the young guys. We held a lot of guys
(28:55):
out and created a awesome play opportunity for guys only
in terms of playmaking and so forth, but just you know,
displaying conditioning and and and seeing Uh, if they're capable
of playing with detail as as you know, fatigue and
so forth sets in. UM, a lot of you know,
awesome efforts. UM will comb through this as big I
(29:17):
just told a group, you know, the big the biggest
thing that we've probably done to this point is the
next time we come together and the analysis of this
tape and the lessons learned and how that guides our
actions as we as we lean into the next in
stadium opportunity, and that's the cycle that is this game.
And so UM it's a big week for us. UM
we're able to stay virtually injury free. I think Carl
(29:39):
Joseph had an ankle that's being evaluated. I don't know
that any of the other ones or of any significance.
You guys didn't see us work on Friday. Uh, so
Calvin Austen had a foot injury that didn't allow him
to play. UH will evaluate him and hopefully he'll get
back to us sooner rather than later. But don't have
a lot of details in that regard pausing and open
it up for questions. UH can't picking what he was
(30:01):
able to do there again, you know, UM, he moved
his group. UM, he played situational football he had. He
displayed a competitive spirit. UM, A lot of good things
to build on. From the first performance standpoint, I thought
I could say the same thing about all three, to
be honest with you. UM, they moved their units, they
(30:23):
did the informal things associated with the position. From a
leadership and communication standpoint, UM, they were engaged. It was
a good first time out for all three. Obviously we'll
comb through it tomorrow and and and and evaluated in
that way. The division of labor with them play out
pretty much the way you thought about, Like what did
(30:44):
you think? You know? I like the efforts of of
of those guys. UM. I didn't like Jalen putting the
ball on the ground. I appreciate his tackle breaking and
contact balance. UM, but but that standard of expectation is
non negotiable. Uh, he's got to get better there. These
are good days provided we take care of the ball,
and UM we didn't do that. Thankfully we got it back. UM,
(31:07):
So you know, we gotta get better. See anything on
George makings that surprise to you to night. We're not
blocking the other intangibles that UM. I gotta look at
the tape to analyze some of those things. But from
a playmaker perspective, he was His performance was was consistent
with what we've seen in practice settings. Play like that
dude from Mark Robinson, a young guy trying to make
(31:29):
the team. You know, it's a big play, not only
for him but for us. Um. You know, situational splash playmaking.
Um to secure victory. We value that. Did Anthony Miller
have an injury? We didn't see him out there. Yeah,
he's got a shoulder. Also, yes, do you give the
run defense a little bit of an asterisk? And he
(31:49):
didn't go with your you know t J and the
first defensive line or a six yards for curious standard
as the standard and we were below the line. Um,
we gotta get better there. Impressions of the offensive one,
you know, we we gotta keep them cleaner. Um. You
know we're capable of that. Um. They brought some pressures
and that was good. We had an opportunity to see
some pressures and have our protection from an assignment standpoint
(32:12):
be tested. But I'd like to see our quarterbacks cleaner,
uh than they were tonight. Um. But we made some plays,
particularly in that position, with our legs and so forth.
And I'm an appreciative of that also, Um, you know
some of those things, Uh, we're able to be revealed
because of it. What do you think about the quarterback
playing particularly that I'm sorry, what do you think about
the quarterback plays at night? The secondary play? Um, we
(32:35):
did some good things. Um, we'll we'll comb through it
tomorrow with greater detail. I thought at the early stages
we were doing some nice communication things that allowed us
to have cohesion. There was less commusic communication as a
game we're on, and it created some looseness, if you will.
And so those younger groups gotta gotta remain vigilant about
about the communication component. We had guys running in the
(32:57):
flat open and things of that nature, and the situational
football it is unacceptable anyone else. Yeah, Mike, you've used
rookies a bunch in the past, Nagy last year, playpool
before that. Is it just as simple as anyone that
can help you win the game is gonna play or
is there more to it? Maybe an energy that they
bring anything. It's just that simple. Um. You know, if
they're playmakers, we we put them in position to do so.
(33:21):
One special team is obviously good getting used because of
other tight ends like that weren't playing. How do you
think Connor Heyward's come on here in the last week
or so. You know, it's good to see him make
some coverage unit plays. Um. You always got questions about
the white shirts. That's what we refer to his offensive
football players. Uh in the special teams game, and I
think he had a couple of kickoff tackles, which is
good for him and for us anyone else. Alright, thank
(33:44):
you guys. That's coach Thomas speaking to the media. Not
very impressed with his defensive performance, and we'll get to
that on the other side of the break. But one
last thing offensively to touch on that he talked about
their labs in this segment. Jalen Warren obviously another guy
it's flashed a lot of camp you've met. Who's that
number thirty? He looks really good when he carries the football.
He had five point seven yards on per carry on
(34:07):
six carries against Seattle on Saturday night. But when Tom
was asked about him, you could tell what was at
the very top of his mind. Putting the football on
the ground. That's not going to do himself any favors.
If you're Mr Jalen Warren, right, And you know, I'd
even go far as to say this, this would be
a warning if you know, Um, Jalen Warren would ask
(34:29):
me for my advice, which he is way too smart
to do. Don't fumble again this preseason. If you fumble
again this preseason, that could be the difference and you're
getting cut. That could be the difference between active roster
and hoping you get picked up for the practice squad,
because as Mike Tomlin explained, that's non negotiable with him.
(34:51):
That is his thing. All coaches have their triggers, that
is Tomlins and especially you know, nausea hair earth. Um,
he puts the ball in the ground once, He's not
necessarily putting himself in a precarious position because of that.
But when you're a down on the depth chart kind
of guy hoping to grab onto a backup spot who's
(35:13):
not exactly a special team's ace, which Janlen Warren is
not so far anyway, Um, two of those, two of
those in a three game preseason, I mean that that
might be it. Just like you know, we've talked about
what does it take to make the roster as purely
as a returner, and I've said you better take one
(35:34):
into the end zone. Well, if you want to make
the roster as a backup running back, you're better not
fumble it more than once because once you know, you
get the lecture, especially if it's the first preseason game,
you get another chance. If that happens again, I don't
I don't know that you can come back from that now.
So Jitaln Warren certainly is on a bit of thin
ice when it comes to ball security. Make sure you
(35:55):
protect that rock for the next couple of games and
maybe you'll have a spot on the fifty three man roster.
One more segment to go here on the Training Camp Report.
Gonna flip things over to the defensive side of the
ball and talk about some of that disappointing performance that
Mike Tomlin reference there in his postgame press conference. So
that's all on the way here on the Training Camp Report,
right here on Steelers Nation Radio DC start Training Camp
(36:23):
Report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio,
rapping things up here on the Training Camp Report before
Steelers practiced today at one pm. Just a few more St.
Vincent practices to go before training camp breaks. At the
end of the week. We've talked a ton of offense
today so far, naturally, that seems to be what everybody
(36:45):
wants to focus on. No one seems to really care
about the defense too much. And I don't want to
say that the defense was abysmal and you especially Labs
have to factor and that they were missing some pretty
key players on that defensive side of the ball. But
you heard coach Tomin and his postgame press conferen and
that was below the line when it came to especially
the rush defense. And that's something that everybody has their
(37:05):
eye on this year when it comes to the steel
or something that I think most people would say needs
to be the most improved from two and uh so
far out of the gate looks a lot more like
one again caveat not as many stars out there as
they usually will, but still, you know that doesn't matter
to Tomlin, right, and let let me just put some
names to um, you know, the missing stars, Minka Fitzpatrick,
(37:28):
Alex high Smith, Larry Ogan, Joe b t J Watt, Tyson,
Ali Wallo, and Cam Heyward. Now, however, it's not like
you know the Seahawks were running Marshawn Lynch eat. You know,
you have and again due respect to the Seahawks, but
you know, let's put this in perspective. In my mind,
d J Dallas average seven point three yards of carry,
(37:51):
Travis Homer average ten point three yards of carry. I
mean I personally, I'll just speak for myself. I've never
heard of either one of those guys. Um. Well, and again,
I'm not making fun of him. I'm just saying that
these are not household names that were running the ball either.
And the numbers that the Seahawks were putting up were
really really unacceptable. D fifty nine yards rushing overall, six
(38:14):
point one average per carried. So um, you know, it
needs to get better. It has to get better. Uh.
And and again I don't I'm not good enough to
be sitting here or have watched the game and say, Okay,
the line was getting pushed around, or the inside linebackers
were weren't weren't weren't where they were supposed to be. Um,
(38:37):
it didn't seem to me. There were a lot of
mis tackles. But again, I wouldn't hang my hat on
just about any of the instant analysis I was able
to come up with, you know, sitting in the press
box watching the game through binoculars. Uh so, uh why
it happened, I'm not so sure, but that it needs
(38:58):
to get better. I am pretty sure about that. Do
you expect to probably see maybe a little bit of
more reinforcements come Jacksonville's the game on Saturday? Maybe Ogan
Job gets a run, maybe Cam even gets a couple
of plays. Just you know that second preseason game. Really
treat that as kind of a dress rehearsal or do
you think it will just be more of you know, Hey,
these stars aren't gonna be out there. We need to
(39:18):
see some of these depth pieces come through and help
stop this run because I think it's gonna get a
little harder against Jacksonville. You know you mentioned the running
backs that Seattle was running out there. Jacksonville is gonna
have Travis at ten, first round pick from last year
who didn't play. He's now working himself back in the field.
He played in the preseason game against Cleveland for Jacksonville
last weekend. James Robinson has rushed for a thousand yards
in this league before, so if you see him on
(39:40):
the field, that's someone that's certainly you know, been there,
done that established himself as a pro so it's gonna
be a bit of a more formidable running game I
think against the Jaguars than you saw against Seattle. So
do you think you see maybe some more reinforcements from
the Steelers to help, you know, see what they got
or do you still think you hold off on that
and just let these depth pieces ride. Well? You know
this this will be Mike Tomlin's first ever season with
(40:02):
only three preseason games. You know, last year it was
the Hall of Fame game, so he still had four.
I don't really have a good feel with how he's
going to treat the final preseason game, whether it's gonna
be that the dress rehearsal. You know, some teams do
that now because then you have almost a full two
week break between then and the start of the regular season,
(40:23):
you know, or you know how he's gonna treat it, So, um,
I don't think that. Um. You know, Mike Tomlin is
going to adjust his kind of plan for to stop
the running game based on what Seattle did. And you
know he's not going to react to one preseason game
with how he handles the second one. I mean, he's
gonna demand better performance from who's ever out there, and
(40:45):
I believe that he has every reason and right to
do that based on what we saw Saturday night. Um,
but I really I can't answer that. I mean, that's
a guess. And so I think maybe we'll learn more
about his plans for this upcoming game on Thursday, But
as of right now, I just don't know. Uh, you know,
(41:06):
And again, it just wasn't a situation where it seemed
to me that there was, you know, a lot of
penetration by the Steelers defense and a lot of the
running game. I know Arthur Millette had two tackles for loss.
You know, I liked the way he seems to be
developing as a successor to Mike Hilton, you know, as
(41:26):
a slot corner who is a guy who is an
effective weapon to use against the opposing running game as
well as what you demand of a nickel cornerback against
the pass. So you know, we'll see how that, you know,
works out. But um, you know, I'm not capable of
evaluating Devin Bush at this point. I know that fans
(41:48):
are really interested in that, or maybe more interested in
pointing the finger of blame at him. Uh. And I'm
sure that there were some instances maybe when that would
be justified, and others maybe when maybe it was not
so uh. You know, I can't really give you too
much analysis of why it happened, but I can't say
that the Steelers cannot cannot continue to give up hunks
(42:12):
of running yards like that and an average per carry
north of five uh and expect to win many football games. Yeah,
especially seeing Homer the four carries forty one yards ten
yards per carry. That really stings when you read that
in the box score. I'm glad you brought up Mallette
having those two tackles for loss. Witherspion had a big
tackle for loss in the running game as well. Because
(42:32):
it really wasn't all bad for the defensive side of
the ball. There were flashes from some players, and you know,
sticking with the theme that we were talking about in
the previous segment with the wide receivers and guys that
have flashed in training camp that have translated that to
the field. In their first preseason game, Mark Robinson, the
linebacker drafted late by the Steelers this year, again looked
really good in that preseason game. Had a real nice
(42:53):
sack late in the game. Five total tackles, three of
them solo. Another guy that you know, as I saw
him ferstanding game action, I went, oh, no, wonder A
lot of the people out covering camp have been talking
about him a lot. Yeah, and you know, again, that's
especially an inside linebacker. I'm not good enough to say, well,
he did this, this and this and this wrong. He
(43:14):
was in the wrong place, here, he was you know whatever.
So but when you let's just say he made mistakes
because he's a rookie. He hasn't been playing linebacker all
that long in his life, and it's his first NFL game.
So let's just assume that he made some mistakes. Okay,
I think we're pretty safe and assuming that. But you know,
(43:34):
when you when you have a game like that where
you probably make some mistakes and then in the end,
when your team needs it, you make a game changing
splash play like he did. Um, you know that's um.
I won't say it makes up for all of that,
but it makes up for all of that in my
(43:55):
mind anyway. But I'm not the you know, I'm not
the head coach of the guys signing the paychecks. So
but yeah, I mean that those are the kinds of things, um,
you need. I believe because in the NFL today. That's
the kind of defense in my opinion, you need to.
You need to be able to play. You're not gonna
be the seventies six Steelers and line up and you know,
give up twenty nine points of the last nine games
(44:17):
with six shutouts or whatever ridiculous um string that unit
put together. You have to maybe you bend a little bit,
but you know, you make a key play on a
possession down to either force a punt or make a
team attempt to field goal and scores instead of scoring
a touchdown, you take the ball away. Uh. And then
(44:37):
all of those you know, when you take the ball away,
if a team drives from its own ten to your
ten and you take the ball away, that eight yards
of offense means nothing. You know, it's just you added
to the stat book and it means nothing. So that's
the kind you have to be opportunistic on defense, I
think a little bit more then you can depend on
(44:58):
being you know, the immovable object and so um that's
my approach to it. Uh. And I like the fact
that you know, Mark Robinson did make something happen in
a critical moment. He you know, and again a lot
of times you'll see rookies or new because not only
(45:19):
is Mark Robinson a rookie, but he's relatively new to
the position that he's playing, and he had the the
wherewithal the foresight, the presence of mind. You know, he's
coming in for that sack. He got the ball out too.
You know that's he didn't just oh my god, I'm
gonna have a sack. You wrap up his legs and
bring him down. You know, he was he was attacking
(45:41):
the football trying to get it out. And you know,
those are the kinds of things that awareness that you
hope for. You try and teach it, but not everybody
learns it. And for a guy to show it his
first time out like that, I think really bodes well
for this guy's promise as a professional. Practice today starts
at one fifty five at St. Vincent College for your
(46:02):
Pittsburgh Steelers Labs. Safe to say, there's no such thing
as a victory Monday when it comes to training camp,
Tom and will still be getting after these guys today. No,
no foot off the gas because you you pulled out
a win against Seattle. No, I don't think so. And
you know, on the schedule of the team meeting was
between eight and nine fifteen. You heard Mike Tomlins say
a few times during his postgame remarks, will comb through
(46:26):
the video, will comb through the video. I'm here to
tell you, boys and girls, he did that all day yesterday,
and I'm sure he was able to put together a
real of mistakes and um, you know that's a lot
of times that's the teaching tool that has preferred in
the NFL instead of a lot of ada boys pats
on the back and stuff. Um, you know, you get
(46:48):
the odd blanks. You should have done this instead of that.
So um, I'm sure there's some of that. I'm gonna
be interested though, to see what kind of practice it
is today eight uh, because if they feel anything like
I feel, it could be very ragged. Well. We'll be
(47:09):
back again tomorrow at nine am to recap today's practice
again starts at one this afternoon. You only have a
few more opportunities to get up to St. Vincent's and
take a look at your Pittsburgh Steelers before training camp breaks,
so make sure you get up there and do that
if that's what you're inclined to do. Thanks to Bob
Labriola as always, and thanks to you guys for giving
us a listen. Wolf and Sarks are in the locker room.
(47:29):
Coming up next, giving you their thoughts on the preseason
win against the Seattle Seahawks. Back again at I am
tomorrow here on the Steelers Training camp Report right here
on SNR
Man, We're really excited to be here. It's awesome to
get stuarded, and so now we take off. She's the
training camper report what Tom Opperman and Bob Labriola on
Steelers Nation Radio. The Pittsburgh Steelers opened up the preseason
with a thirty two to victory over the Seattle Seahawks
this past Saturday at Aker Shore Stadium and labs. All
(00:29):
of the question marks we had going into this game
have been answered. All of our worries for two season
have been put to bed. I don't even know why
we need to analyze anything, because the Steelers are perfect.
Not only do we have one good quarterback, we have
three great ones. Gunnarol Schefski is going to the Hall
of Fame. George Pickens isn't far behind him. Uh. It
just looks like this team is going to go eighteen
(00:50):
to know easily. Oh, then you're not counting the playoffs?
How dare I? Um? Yeah, you know? Or twenty want
to know? Whatever? Yes? Yeah, um, you know you know
you met. You started off by saying all the questions
are answered. You know, I my and I know you
(01:12):
were kidding. Okay, let's get that. Yeah, yeah, I didn't Um, Actually,
no questions were answered when it comes to the quarterbacks.
I don't think no. I mean, what whatever you um,
there was no separation in my mind. I mean, if
if you went't into the game, UM liking say Trabinsky best, well,
(01:36):
there's nothing happened that should dissuade you from that opinion.
If you went in liking um Pickett best, there's nothing
that happened in the game to dissuade you from that opinion.
And for those uh low brows in the stands who
booed Mason Rudolph um for getting sacked when uh, my
(01:57):
recollection was the Seattle player just blew past Dan more Like,
who did not play a bad game overall, but he
got beat badly on that play. Um, But that's the
quarterback's fault. I mean. So if you went in hating
Mason Rudolph, and there were some people in the stance
who did, they can still hate him because you know,
(02:19):
he had the audacity to get sacked when a opposing
defensive lineman came in clean. So, um, yeah, there wasn't
a lot of separation among the three quarterbacks. And you know,
if Mike Tomlin wants to continue this week, in the
(02:41):
using them in the order in which he has used
them pretty much throughout with the occasional flipping of Rudolph
and pick it. Um, you know, there's nothing that happened
in the game that would you could argue that that
rotation should be changed, or you know, the depth chart
should be changed, or or anything. I mean, it's just
(03:02):
everybody did something good. Um, and three quarterbacks finished a game.
Three quarterbacks on the same team finished the game all
with pass ratings over a hundred. I don't know that
I've ever seen that myself. Yeah, it was an incredible
performance really from all three. Like you said, they all
really had good things. You could point to Mitch clinical
(03:24):
first opening drive led to a touchdown that was really
good to see. Mason Rudolph, Yeah, he got booed for
no reason because that was not his fault when he
got the ball, you know, stripped from him and he
was able to pick it back up, so it was
nothing more than just a sack. But man, I think
he had maybe the best throw of any other three
than of the night when he dropped that back corner
of the end zone deep ball to George Pickens. Great
(03:44):
play by Pickens as well, to get his feet in.
But what a beautiful past that was from Mason. And
then Kenny comes in second half wins the game for you,
and he only had two in completions in his fifteen
attempts passing the ball in the second half. For Kenny,
I mean, you can't really find an negative when it
comes to any of these guys unless you're, you know,
bending over backwards to try to find a negative. Right.
(04:05):
As I said, you know, if you if you want
to criticize in here, let's let me just do it
for you, you know again. And I'm not I'm not no,
I'm not going to claim that any of this is justified.
I'm just saying, if you want a nitpick, if you
want to whoever you want to hate, Okay, let's let's
go for it here. Let's start with Pickett. You mentioned
he only had two incompletions. He only had two incompletions
(04:27):
because all he did was dumped the ball off. I
mean he completed thirteen passes for yards. I mean you
know that, and and that you know the game winning touchdown,
the game winning touched on the game winning touchdown, Tyler
Vaughnes made that pleases he did. He just threw it
out to him. Um, you know he either made the
guy missed or the guy missed too again, who do
you want to blame slash credit for that? And then
(04:49):
Tyler Vaughnes runs it into the end zone. Um, so
that's the artificial picket. Um. Uh, criticism, let's go backwards,
not route off Rudolph he got sacked, how dare he?
And then right and then you know the other the
other thing. I mean, he did put together seventeen play drive,
(05:12):
good for him, but they had to settle for a
red zone field goal. So there you go. What's he
doing cutting um and trabisky? Um, you know he did
take the team down the field on the first drive,
but they didn't do anything on the second drive, so
he's obviously you know, it wasn't worth the money, the
fridge of money that they gave him the sign So
(05:34):
you say, they have three. You know, if you want
to be negative, a contrary and a painting the butt
on a Monday, if you're cranky in the morning like
gun Low me and you, you can find something to
hate about them all two. So um, there you go.
It's it's uh. As Mike Tomlin refers to it, Ebb
and Flow. Um So, but again I'm gonna go back
(05:57):
to what I really think, which is the guys all
played well enough that there's nothing really to separate them
more than had separated them when the game started before
the game started. So here we go back to the grind.
I think Jacksonville is going to be um a more
(06:19):
intense test, a better test for a couple of reasons. Uh.
First of all, they're gonna have to get over the
fact that they played all played well in the preseason open.
I'm sure Mike Tomlin will help him get past that,
and he's yeah, the next few days. Uh. And the
heat down there, I think it's just gonna be uh.
(06:40):
You know this is it's almost chilly up here today.
Um So, the heat of the day thing, practicing in
the heat of the day is gonna be nothing compared
to Jacksonville. I remember, um, back in the day, Jerome Bettis,
who has asthma, use it use it used an inhaler
(07:02):
during games often. He used it a lot when we
would play in Jacksonville. So it's going to be different
even then Latrobe, when Latrobe is hot, So I think
that that's gonna be a factor. And Hey, the Steelers
have been teams that played in championship games and played
(07:23):
in UH and and um won a Super Bowl and
struggled down in Jacksonville. So that's just I don't know,
if it's the weather, whatever it is. All teams have
their places that it's like the Steelers Bermuda Triangle. You
don't want to get down there. Bad things just get
down there, bad things, man, bad things. Um. So I
(07:47):
think that we may learn a lot more um this
coming Saturday. And who knows, I mean maybe after this game,
the second game, it'll be the other way around where
rather than praise and them all, you're ripping them all, um.
But you know, again, we'll have to see yet. And
as I said many times, the thing about the NFL
is you got to do it more than one in
(08:08):
a row, no question. One thing I didn't hate about
the quarterbacks though, is some of that mobility that Tomla
and Colbert omar Con everybody said in the off season
they really wanted out of their new quarterback with some
mobile aspect to his game that was on display. Not
so much, you know, scrambling wise, Kenny did have three scrambles.
He had sixteen yards on the ground, uh during his
second half performance. But I think about the Mitch Drabinsky
(08:31):
touchdown to Gunnar l Chefski. You know, pocket isn't exactly
the best. He breaks out of it, rolls out to
his left, finds a wide open Gunner in the end zone.
It's just that new mobility that you're going to have
with the quarterback this year. And I'm not saying this
is a negative towards Big Ben. He's a Hall of
Famer first ballot, and we all know how mobile and
how tough he was to bring down the pocket in
(08:52):
his prime, but that kind of waned away obviously in
the later years. And it was really good to see
Kenny gets some mobility going in the scrambled Mitch being
able to manipulate the pocket well, roll out and still
find Gunner for a touchdown. Yeah, and you know it it.
I always looked at it um from how those kinds
(09:12):
of quarterbacks would impact the Steelers defense when they didn't
have a quarterback like that themselves, you know, Josh Allen,
guys like that, even Baker Mayfield. I remember, you know,
Baker Mayfield was not a running quarterback, but uh he
was able to uh sometimes break down the defense, you know,
(09:33):
by getting outside the pocket and being on the perimeter,
you know, those kinds of things, and um, you know
that's that's a part of the NFL. Now I understand
the value of a pocket passer. And we're going to
see instances here, if not immediately in Jacksonville, but certainly
(09:54):
then as the schedule we get deeper and deeper into
the schedule on into the regular season, where you know,
quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger, who you know, maybe you can
describe him as a statue you know later in his career,
you know, but his arm strength and accuracy and some
of the other tangible physical assets that he brought to
(10:14):
the position, um, I think have maybe to some degree
fans came to take them for granted. And you know
you're gonna see sometimes when uh you know, because look
when can you pick it? And again, I'm not trying
to be overly critical, but we're comparing him to Ben
Roethlisberger here for a minute. When he throws those long
(10:37):
out patterns, man, I hold my breath because they just
don't get there as fast. And that's not you know,
that's not necessarily a rip on picket as much as
it is. You know, there aren't too many guys who
have the arm strength at Ben Roethlisberger, so you get
used to that, get used to seeing that. You know, again,
(10:59):
there are um too many guys who played with Ben
long enough to have become lulled into thinking that, you know,
this is the way it is with every quarterback on
your team. So I don't know that it's going to
become a problem necessarily with within the locker room in
terms of you know, the receivers knowing how to you know,
(11:21):
deal with this new um kind of quarterback that the
Steelers are gonna have. But you know, fans are paying
attention and are going into it with an open mind
instead of you know, we like this and we hate that, uh,
and refusing to you know, be swayed by stuff that
slaps them right in the face. Um, you know, you're
you're gonna see some things where uh, you know, the
(11:44):
the arm strength, the accuracy maybe isn't what it had been.
But you know, these guys I think are able to
get things done in a different way. So again, they're
not who they're not, And I think everybody should understand that.
I certainly believe every you one associated with the team
understands that, and you just don't ask them to do
(12:04):
things that they're not physically capable of doing. Everything will
be fine, well QB one Mitch Rabinsky spoke to the
media following his Steelers debut against the Seattle Seahawks. Let's
take a listen to what Mitch had to say about
his performance offense. Going down there and get a touch
on the first drive. Um, and we executed well. I
would like to go down the second drive and do
the same thing. Go to for two. But I feel
(12:25):
pretty good about where we're at and um, overall execution.
So oh, I did a great job just communicating and uh,
it was good to be out there. Um live, it
was a lot of fun. You just think you might
get more than two series. Was that kind of wanted out?
We didn't know, to be honest, So we were just
going out there. I had the idea I was just
gonna play first quarter, maybe into the second, and then
(12:48):
after two series got the got got taken out. So
it's it is what it is. And um, when we
scored in the first drive, so just go back and
look at the second drive, see what we couldn't have better?
And uh, but overall, it was good. How well do
you feel like what you guys have been working on
able to trub translated onto the field. Yeah, it was good.
(13:08):
I think we got a lot of our base concepts
down running the past, and UM we executed those well tonight.
So the guys know him and we're able to go
out there and execut So it doesn't matter what we call.
The guys are comfortable with everything that we've been repping
up to this point. So it's good to see. And uh,
not just the first group of the twos and the
threes and the young guys up there and guys who
just got here this week. We're able to go out
(13:29):
there and execute well. So it's uh, it's definitely translating
from practice into the game, and that's what you want
to see. The emotion like the first drive, first opportunity
here at the stadium. Yeah, it was. It was awesome.
I was excited all day. I was waiting all day
for for the opportunity. UM had to wait all around
for the night game, and I was just amped up,
are you to go? And wanted to lead a team
(13:49):
right down the field and score right away. And it
was a good way to start the game and uh
set the tone so uh and we finished strong as
a group. So it was a fun game to be
a part of, and it was it was awesome. We
got a good connection with Gunner and he was the
guy that didn't get a lot of opportunities to be
a receiver in New England. What do you like about
what he brings to the table. Yeah, he's shifty, he
gets open, he's very quarterback friendly, and when he gets
(14:11):
the ball in his hands, he has great run after catch.
So someone that you can rely on. He's gonna know
he's gonna be in the right place. And um, like
you did on that third time and made a guy
Mason was able to extend to play. So UM, I'm
glad he's getting the opportunity and he really showed out tonight.
What was learning process just tonight and carrying this into
the next week? Yeah, for sure, I think you enjoyed
(14:31):
the win as a team. I thought we played well
in all aspects. And then you go back, you'd be
critical on the film and see what we can get
better at and work on that in practice this week
going into preseason two? What was the lake for the
older guys watching Kenny have some fun there. It was awesome.
It was awesome. I told him before the game, you
always remember your first preseason game, so um, you you
(14:52):
They all kind of blend together after that. But I
told him it's gonna be a memorable one tonight, and uh,
we finished strong as a group, and you gotta be
happy for him and and the whole team. So that
was awesome. It's only two of the line in front
of you. How they play, Yeah, they did great. We
I thought we did a great job with communication and
just giving me time and we're able to convert a
couple of third downs and we had some big runs
(15:12):
there as well. So they're creating holes for the backs
and uh, we had a couple of explosives. So um,
we're just gonna keep getting better as a unit, and
that that group up front did a great job. The
backup court or backup running back. We're your thoughts on McFarland,
what he's brought tonight. Yeah, all the backs are running hard.
I think I was going live in practice really translates
(15:32):
to the game. I mean, those runners are they run
so tough, and um, they take care of the football
and they they're hitting the holes when they're opening, so
the old line is doing a great job creating them
for them, and those backs are making some great plays
and open space a macw he's running hard tonight. He's
tough to bring down and he's so quick and shifty. Um,
it's fun to watch him with the ball in his hands.
And he's just gonna keep doing those things when giving
(15:53):
those opportunities anyone else confidence you guys have a George
what he's been able to do with just a few
weeks as a prole, Yeah, for sure. Um, I mean
he's standing out, he's making plays, and he's definitely a
guy you want to go to. And uh, anytime the
balls in his area, it's a big play opportunity. So uh,
we just gotta keep getting rest with him, keep giving
(16:14):
him opportunities, and he's going to continue to do special things.
So he's he's been really impressive up to this point.
That's Steelers quarterback Mitch Dubiski speaking to the media following
the Steelers win over the Seahawks on Saturday and Labs
before we hit the break here. He talked about the
offensive line at the end of his questioning there, and
it wasn't a perfect performance. From them, but especially what
he said about the running game I think really jumped
(16:36):
off the television screen to me. They were really given
McFarland and Warren and the backs a lot of room
to operate, and that was something refreshing compared to what
we saw a lot of last year. Well, you know,
I don't, UM, I'm not a real expert on offensive
line place starts and Wolf take care of that when
they come on after us, right and they're on next,
(16:57):
so um, but it's seemed to me, you know, here's
the numbers seven at the Steelers rushing numbers twenty seven
attempts eighty five yards six point nine average. So you
know you'll take that, you'll take half of that? Um Uh,
you know in a in a a go on a
(17:18):
game by game basis, I think, and it would be
an improvement over last season. And let's not forget number
twenty two to not play against the Seahawks eithers um.
You know what I think is and and I don't know,
maybe this is premature to be saying this, you know,
drawing a conclusion to early um, but hey, you know
that's what we get paid to do on this on
this hour. I think bread and water. That's what I get.
(17:43):
What do you get? Um So, But I think that
what we're gonna see is maybe, you know, the Steelers
don't have the offensive line to line up play smash mouth,
you know, the way Steelers fans like it. I mean,
it's not gonna be Jerome bett As the way the
team would run. Then put a fullback in Dan c
Ryder and you know, just knock people off the ball
(18:06):
and you know, game four yards six yards on a
consistent basis, I think that there's gonna have to be
you know, maybe some a little bit more creativity. Uh.
And again, as it's gonna be with the quarterback play,
you know, it's going to evolve a little bit. It's
not gonna be what we're used to, but that doesn't
mean it still can't be effective. And it seemed to
me that um the line did a decent job in
(18:30):
creating some openings for McFarlane and even Jalen Warren and
Master Tige even there at the end of the game,
you know, between the tackles and then they use some misdirection,
you know, they use some a jet sweep Steven Sims
at a thirty eight yard run, you know, with a
little reverse action, you know, get the flow going one
way and um come back the other way, you know,
(18:54):
and you know that can be effective too if it's
blocked correctly. And you know, those kind of kinds of
things you don't allow penetration. So you know, the offensive line,
I'm not going to uh start nominating anyone for the
Pro Bowl or anything. You know, there's a long way
to go and there's a lot to see yet. And
(19:14):
this is also, um, it's gonna have to um survived
the test of time. And by that, I mean you know,
Seattle didn't watch a second I guarantee you a second
of video and trying to get ready for this game.
I mean, they're just worried about themselves. That's the way
it is around the NFL. So what you saw there
(19:36):
was you know, Seattle trying to adjust on the fly
to what they were seeing for the first time. And
you know, once we get past who knows, maybe even
Jacksonville spend a little time watching what the Steelers did
in this game. But certainly comes September eleven, the Bengals
are gonna be prepared, at least prepared to the extent
that they can be based on the video that they're
(19:58):
able to see from the preseasons, so things are gonna change,
but I liked what I saw from them first time out.
Some skill position players that have been popping at St.
Vincent really made their mark in the first preseason game.
We'll get into that on the other side of the break,
and of course we'll hear from coach Tomlin in his
postgame thoughts after the win against Seattle. That's all on
(20:18):
the way here on the Training camp Report right here
on SNRDC start Training Camp Report with Tom Opperman and
Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio. Steelers practice today get
started at one pm on the campus of St. Vincent College,
(20:39):
Chuck Nolfield. If you're headed up or if you want
to head up and see a practice before training camp breaks,
you best do it soon. You only have a handful
of practices remaining before camp breaks, so make sure you
get up to Latrobe and take in all of the
wonders of a Steelers training camp practice labs. One guy
that you've been bringing up a lot when we talk
about practice, this has been the wide receiver gunner Rolschewsky.
(21:02):
You've been saying how good gunners look, not just in
the punt return game, not just as a kick returner,
but he looks like a legit wide receiver. And I
think everybody in Pittsburgh and across the country saw what
you were talking about when he had his first drive
with Mitch Robinsky on Saturday. He looked really good and
he did all those things that you were talking about,
(21:22):
you know, those little New England type wide receivers, those
Edelman esque kind of routes. It really shown on Saturday night. Yeah,
And you know the thing about Gunner Rolschewsky is he
was signed to be a returner um. But what you know,
except for catching the ball out here on kicks and punts,
(21:43):
we haven't seen him. You know, there's no tackling ever
on special teams. The Steelers do do live tackling drills,
but none on special teams. And he did not return
nor was he even back to return any against the Seahawks.
So you know, the kind of the thing that he
was signed to, we haven't seen him do it yet.
But my opinion, I said this, I will continue to
(22:05):
say this. I think this guy is an upgrade over
Ray Ray McLeod. All due respect to Ray Ray McLeod,
I think Gunnar Roschewsky is a better receiver. Uh, and
for some of the reasons that you know you just
mentioned that, I've talked about the mit Robinsky said and
in that postgame presser, and Trabinsky called him quarterback friendly,
(22:27):
and you know that's the kind of thing. Uh. And
I'm not comparing him at this point now with Ray
Ray McLeod, but going back to the New England esque
kind of things that the Edelman stuff, uh A Mendola, Um,
you know those are quarterback friendly receivers as well. And
you know that's a big deal, especially because the way
(22:49):
it looks I believe the way it's going to evolve
here as we get more into the preseason and then
into the regular season. You know, Gunnar Roschewsky's role as
a receiver and probably going to be in situations where
the Steelers have more than two on the field at
a time, and usually when you have more than two
on the field at a time, it's a possession down,
(23:10):
you know, third down, fourth down if you're going for it,
maybe red zone, you know, those kind of situations. And
having a guy whose quarterback friendly on the field as
a receiver in those situations is a big help. Excuse me,
and certainly a bigger help. You know, when the quarterbacks
are all gonna be new, they're either new to the Steelers,
or they're gonna be or they're new to the NFL
(23:32):
in the case of Kenny Pickett, or you know, new
to the role that they're going to be asked to
fill um this regular season. So having a quarterback, friendly
guy with good hands um who gets open is reliable
that that's a big help for the quarterback and so
(23:53):
um I I like, you know, Gunna Roschefsky, I think
is gonna be a nice addition to this offense. Well,
one guy that everybody was looking forward to seeing was
number fourteen, George Pickens, and once again he did not
disappoint Labs. The touchdown passes obviously in the front of
everybody's mind, but the sideline catch that he had from
Mason Rudolph where he just kind of jumped up and
(24:14):
snatched that ball out of the air, tapped two feet
down and got him in and he even got up
and started feeling himself a little bit after that catch.
That's the kind of catch that you see from someone
and go, wow, this dude is really special because that
kind of body control and that kind of ability to
snatch that ball out of the air like that that
doesn't come around too often. It's not very common amongst
(24:35):
a lot of wide receivers, it is not. And you
know you've heard me use this um phrase to describe
Kenny Pickett. That's an NFL throw, that's an NFL catch. Um.
And you know what we hadn't what we didn't see
Pickens do you know against Seattle that we've seen a
bunch of times at training camp. You know, I don't
(24:57):
know if his hands are huge or whatever it is,
but his ability to snatch the ball and control it
with one hand, um is amazing to me. That might
be his superpower when it's all said and done. We
didn't see that against Seattle much. But yeah, that his ability,
you know, the combat catch thing. We see that a
lot out here in Latrobe to that's certainly going to
(25:19):
come into play, uh in the NFL in games because
you know, combat catches, what what's open in the NFL
is so much different than what's open in college. You
so rarely see guys get open in the NFL where
they're open when you the way that you see them
get open in college and so even if um, your
(25:43):
quote unquote open and the quarterback delivers the ball goes
to you, targets you. Sometimes by the time it arrives,
you're gonna have a defensive back or two in the
neighborhood where it's not going to be a clean and
easy process, you know, for you to catch the ball,
secure the ball, and then complete the catch either start
(26:03):
to run or get your feet in or whatever the
situation might demand. And I think Pickles is going to
excel um in those situations. And you know again his um, hey,
he's a free quick can I tell you? He's big, strong,
he's fast, right, he has the good awareness, you know,
(26:24):
the toe tap Antonio Brown thing. Impressed with that seeing
you know, he's just fresh out of college and you
have to add that extra foot down in the NFL,
and it seems like it's just so natural to him.
He has no problem getting that second foot in. Yeah,
I mean everything he does impresses me, seriously. I Mean,
you get kind of getting numb to it a little
bit after you watch it every day over the course
(26:44):
of two or three weeks, like we have been able
to do up here. But still there's always something It
seems to me every day when you go wow, you know, wow,
look at that. Wow that was impressive. Wow that was
what or whatever? Um. And there have been some plays
up here where you know, he'll make a play at
(27:07):
the pylon, so you're ready at the pylon. You need
to get over the goal line, but stay in bounds,
you know, And and he does stuff with one hand.
That it is just the body control of the awareness.
It's it's unusual. It just is. I I don't even
know that Antonio Brown was that as a rookie. And
so this guy, um, you know, the term let me
(27:31):
say this, the term number one receivers thrown around a lot.
And I've talked to Mike Tomlin about this, and you know,
the the actual you know, number one receivers are like
franchise quarterbacks if there aren't that many. I mean, people
talk about it like there are a lot of them,
like every team has one, but really that's not the case.
(27:52):
And last year, for example, I don't know that the
Steelers had a number one receiver. Based on what the
true definition of it is, I think that George Pickins
has the ability to be that, uh, and he's on
his way to being that already. Yeah, the hype train
is full steam ahead for George Pitkins. Really excited to
see him continue to work his way through his rookie year.
(28:13):
Coach Tomlins spoke to the media following the win over
the Seattle Seahawks. Let's take a listen to coach Thomlins
postgame press conference right here on the training camp report.
But at first, I'd just like to thank the fans man.
They were really into it and and we appreciate their presence. Uh,
created the type of atmosphere that we desire here and
acting sure and so Um, that was good to get
back in front of them. Um. A lot of good
(28:35):
efforts and things to learn from, some positive things, some
negative things. Um, that's probably the nature of the first
week out. It's good to learn those lessons and explore
those things with the win. UM. I don't care what
time of year it is. We play and play to win.
And I appreciate the group's efforts, Um, particularly a lot
of the young guys. We held a lot of guys
(28:55):
out and created a awesome play opportunity for guys only
in terms of playmaking and so forth, but just you know,
displaying conditioning and and and seeing Uh, if they're capable
of playing with detail as as you know, fatigue and
so forth sets in. UM, a lot of you know,
awesome efforts. UM will comb through this as big I
(29:17):
just told a group, you know, the big the biggest
thing that we've probably done to this point is the
next time we come together and the analysis of this
tape and the lessons learned and how that guides our
actions as we as we lean into the next in
stadium opportunity, and that's the cycle that is this game.
And so UM it's a big week for us. UM
we're able to stay virtually injury free. I think Carl
(29:39):
Joseph had an ankle that's being evaluated. I don't know
that any of the other ones or of any significance.
You guys didn't see us work on Friday. Uh, so
Calvin Austen had a foot injury that didn't allow him
to play. UH will evaluate him and hopefully he'll get
back to us sooner rather than later. But don't have
a lot of details in that regard pausing and open
it up for questions. UH can't picking what he was
(30:01):
able to do there again, you know, UM, he moved
his group. UM, he played situational football he had. He
displayed a competitive spirit. UM, A lot of good things
to build on. From the first performance standpoint, I thought
I could say the same thing about all three, to
be honest with you. UM, they moved their units, they
(30:23):
did the informal things associated with the position. From a
leadership and communication standpoint, UM, they were engaged. It was
a good first time out for all three. Obviously we'll
comb through it tomorrow and and and and evaluated in
that way. The division of labor with them play out
pretty much the way you thought about, Like what did
(30:44):
you think? You know? I like the efforts of of
of those guys. UM. I didn't like Jalen putting the
ball on the ground. I appreciate his tackle breaking and
contact balance. UM, but but that standard of expectation is
non negotiable. Uh, he's got to get better there. These
are good days provided we take care of the ball,
and UM we didn't do that. Thankfully we got it back. UM,
(31:07):
So you know, we gotta get better. See anything on
George makings that surprise to you to night. We're not
blocking the other intangibles that UM. I gotta look at
the tape to analyze some of those things. But from
a playmaker perspective, he was His performance was was consistent
with what we've seen in practice settings. Play like that
dude from Mark Robinson, a young guy trying to make
(31:29):
the team. You know, it's a big play, not only
for him but for us. Um. You know, situational splash playmaking.
Um to secure victory. We value that. Did Anthony Miller
have an injury? We didn't see him out there. Yeah,
he's got a shoulder. Also, yes, do you give the
run defense a little bit of an asterisk? And he
(31:49):
didn't go with your you know t J and the
first defensive line or a six yards for curious standard
as the standard and we were below the line. Um,
we gotta get better there. Impressions of the offensive one,
you know, we we gotta keep them cleaner. Um. You
know we're capable of that. Um. They brought some pressures
and that was good. We had an opportunity to see
some pressures and have our protection from an assignment standpoint
(32:12):
be tested. But I'd like to see our quarterbacks cleaner,
uh than they were tonight. Um. But we made some plays,
particularly in that position, with our legs and so forth.
And I'm an appreciative of that also, Um, you know
some of those things, Uh, we're able to be revealed
because of it. What do you think about the quarterback
playing particularly that I'm sorry, what do you think about
the quarterback plays at night? The secondary play? Um, we
(32:35):
did some good things. Um, we'll we'll comb through it
tomorrow with greater detail. I thought at the early stages
we were doing some nice communication things that allowed us
to have cohesion. There was less commusic communication as a
game we're on, and it created some looseness, if you will.
And so those younger groups gotta gotta remain vigilant about
about the communication component. We had guys running in the
(32:57):
flat open and things of that nature, and the situational
football it is unacceptable anyone else. Yeah, Mike, you've used
rookies a bunch in the past, Nagy last year, playpool
before that. Is it just as simple as anyone that
can help you win the game is gonna play or
is there more to it? Maybe an energy that they
bring anything. It's just that simple. Um. You know, if
they're playmakers, we we put them in position to do so.
(33:21):
One special team is obviously good getting used because of
other tight ends like that weren't playing. How do you
think Connor Heyward's come on here in the last week
or so. You know, it's good to see him make
some coverage unit plays. Um. You always got questions about
the white shirts. That's what we refer to his offensive
football players. Uh in the special teams game, and I
think he had a couple of kickoff tackles, which is
good for him and for us anyone else. Alright, thank
(33:44):
you guys. That's coach Thomas speaking to the media. Not
very impressed with his defensive performance, and we'll get to
that on the other side of the break. But one
last thing offensively to touch on that he talked about
their labs in this segment. Jalen Warren obviously another guy
it's flashed a lot of camp you've met. Who's that
number thirty? He looks really good when he carries the football.
He had five point seven yards on per carry on
(34:07):
six carries against Seattle on Saturday night. But when Tom
was asked about him, you could tell what was at
the very top of his mind. Putting the football on
the ground. That's not going to do himself any favors.
If you're Mr Jalen Warren, right, And you know, I'd
even go far as to say this, this would be
a warning if you know, Um, Jalen Warren would ask
(34:29):
me for my advice, which he is way too smart
to do. Don't fumble again this preseason. If you fumble
again this preseason, that could be the difference and you're
getting cut. That could be the difference between active roster
and hoping you get picked up for the practice squad,
because as Mike Tomlin explained, that's non negotiable with him.
(34:51):
That is his thing. All coaches have their triggers, that
is Tomlins and especially you know, nausea hair earth. Um,
he puts the ball in the ground once, He's not
necessarily putting himself in a precarious position because of that.
But when you're a down on the depth chart kind
of guy hoping to grab onto a backup spot who's
(35:13):
not exactly a special team's ace, which Janlen Warren is
not so far anyway, Um, two of those, two of
those in a three game preseason, I mean that that
might be it. Just like you know, we've talked about
what does it take to make the roster as purely
as a returner, and I've said you better take one
(35:34):
into the end zone. Well, if you want to make
the roster as a backup running back, you're better not
fumble it more than once because once you know, you
get the lecture, especially if it's the first preseason game,
you get another chance. If that happens again, I don't
I don't know that you can come back from that now.
So Jitaln Warren certainly is on a bit of thin
ice when it comes to ball security. Make sure you
(35:55):
protect that rock for the next couple of games and
maybe you'll have a spot on the fifty three man roster.
One more segment to go here on the Training Camp Report.
Gonna flip things over to the defensive side of the
ball and talk about some of that disappointing performance that
Mike Tomlin reference there in his postgame press conference. So
that's all on the way here on the Training Camp Report,
right here on Steelers Nation Radio DC start Training Camp
(36:23):
Report with Tom Opperman at Bob Labriola on Steelers Nation Radio,
rapping things up here on the Training Camp Report before
Steelers practiced today at one pm. Just a few more St.
Vincent practices to go before training camp breaks. At the
end of the week. We've talked a ton of offense
today so far, naturally, that seems to be what everybody
(36:45):
wants to focus on. No one seems to really care
about the defense too much. And I don't want to
say that the defense was abysmal and you especially Labs
have to factor and that they were missing some pretty
key players on that defensive side of the ball. But
you heard coach Tomin and his postgame press conferen and
that was below the line when it came to especially
the rush defense. And that's something that everybody has their
(37:05):
eye on this year when it comes to the steel
or something that I think most people would say needs
to be the most improved from two and uh so
far out of the gate looks a lot more like
one again caveat not as many stars out there as
they usually will, but still, you know that doesn't matter
to Tomlin, right, and let let me just put some
names to um, you know, the missing stars, Minka Fitzpatrick,
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Alex high Smith, Larry Ogan, Joe b t J Watt, Tyson,
Ali Wallo, and Cam Heyward. Now, however, it's not like
you know the Seahawks were running Marshawn Lynch eat. You know,
you have and again due respect to the Seahawks, but
you know, let's put this in perspective. In my mind,
d J Dallas average seven point three yards of carry,
(37:51):
Travis Homer average ten point three yards of carry. I
mean I personally, I'll just speak for myself. I've never
heard of either one of those guys. Um. Well, and again,
I'm not making fun of him. I'm just saying that
these are not household names that were running the ball either.
And the numbers that the Seahawks were putting up were
really really unacceptable. D fifty nine yards rushing overall, six
(38:14):
point one average per carried. So um, you know, it
needs to get better. It has to get better. Uh.
And and again I don't I'm not good enough to
be sitting here or have watched the game and say, Okay,
the line was getting pushed around, or the inside linebackers
were weren't weren't weren't where they were supposed to be. Um,
(38:37):
it didn't seem to me. There were a lot of
mis tackles. But again, I wouldn't hang my hat on
just about any of the instant analysis I was able
to come up with, you know, sitting in the press
box watching the game through binoculars. Uh so, uh why
it happened, I'm not so sure, but that it needs
(38:58):
to get better. I am pretty sure about that. Do
you expect to probably see maybe a little bit of
more reinforcements come Jacksonville's the game on Saturday? Maybe Ogan
Job gets a run, maybe Cam even gets a couple
of plays. Just you know that second preseason game. Really
treat that as kind of a dress rehearsal or do
you think it will just be more of you know, Hey,
these stars aren't gonna be out there. We need to
(39:18):
see some of these depth pieces come through and help
stop this run because I think it's gonna get a
little harder against Jacksonville. You know you mentioned the running
backs that Seattle was running out there. Jacksonville is gonna
have Travis at ten, first round pick from last year
who didn't play. He's now working himself back in the field.
He played in the preseason game against Cleveland for Jacksonville
last weekend. James Robinson has rushed for a thousand yards
in this league before, so if you see him on
(39:40):
the field, that's someone that's certainly you know, been there,
done that established himself as a pro so it's gonna
be a bit of a more formidable running game I
think against the Jaguars than you saw against Seattle. So
do you think you see maybe some more reinforcements from
the Steelers to help, you know, see what they got
or do you still think you hold off on that
and just let these depth pieces ride. Well? You know
this this will be Mike Tomlin's first ever season with
(40:02):
only three preseason games. You know, last year it was
the Hall of Fame game, so he still had four.
I don't really have a good feel with how he's
going to treat the final preseason game, whether it's gonna
be that the dress rehearsal. You know, some teams do
that now because then you have almost a full two
week break between then and the start of the regular season,
(40:23):
you know, or you know how he's gonna treat it, So, um,
I don't think that. Um. You know, Mike Tomlin is
going to adjust his kind of plan for to stop
the running game based on what Seattle did. And you
know he's not going to react to one preseason game
with how he handles the second one. I mean, he's
gonna demand better performance from who's ever out there, and
(40:45):
I believe that he has every reason and right to
do that based on what we saw Saturday night. Um,
but I really I can't answer that. I mean, that's
a guess. And so I think maybe we'll learn more
about his plans for this upcoming game on Thursday, But
as of right now, I just don't know. Uh, you know,
(41:06):
And again, it just wasn't a situation where it seemed
to me that there was, you know, a lot of
penetration by the Steelers defense and a lot of the
running game. I know Arthur Millette had two tackles for loss.
You know, I liked the way he seems to be
developing as a successor to Mike Hilton, you know, as
(41:26):
a slot corner who is a guy who is an
effective weapon to use against the opposing running game as
well as what you demand of a nickel cornerback against
the pass. So you know, we'll see how that, you know,
works out. But um, you know, I'm not capable of
evaluating Devin Bush at this point. I know that fans
(41:48):
are really interested in that, or maybe more interested in
pointing the finger of blame at him. Uh. And I'm
sure that there were some instances maybe when that would
be justified, and others maybe when maybe it was not
so uh. You know, I can't really give you too
much analysis of why it happened, but I can't say
that the Steelers cannot cannot continue to give up hunks
(42:12):
of running yards like that and an average per carry
north of five uh and expect to win many football games. Yeah,
especially seeing Homer the four carries forty one yards ten
yards per carry. That really stings when you read that
in the box score. I'm glad you brought up Mallette
having those two tackles for loss. Witherspion had a big
tackle for loss in the running game as well. Because
(42:32):
it really wasn't all bad for the defensive side of
the ball. There were flashes from some players, and you know,
sticking with the theme that we were talking about in
the previous segment with the wide receivers and guys that
have flashed in training camp that have translated that to
the field. In their first preseason game, Mark Robinson, the
linebacker drafted late by the Steelers this year, again looked
really good in that preseason game. Had a real nice
(42:53):
sack late in the game. Five total tackles, three of
them solo. Another guy that you know, as I saw
him ferstanding game action, I went, oh, no, wonder A
lot of the people out covering camp have been talking
about him a lot. Yeah, and you know, again, that's
especially an inside linebacker. I'm not good enough to say, well,
he did this, this and this and this wrong. He
(43:14):
was in the wrong place, here, he was you know whatever.
So but when you let's just say he made mistakes
because he's a rookie. He hasn't been playing linebacker all
that long in his life, and it's his first NFL game.
So let's just assume that he made some mistakes. Okay,
I think we're pretty safe and assuming that. But you know,
(43:34):
when you when you have a game like that where
you probably make some mistakes and then in the end,
when your team needs it, you make a game changing
splash play like he did. Um, you know that's um.
I won't say it makes up for all of that,
but it makes up for all of that in my
(43:55):
mind anyway. But I'm not the you know, I'm not
the head coach of the guys signing the paychecks. So
but yeah, I mean that those are the kinds of things, um,
you need. I believe because in the NFL today. That's
the kind of defense in my opinion, you need to.
You need to be able to play. You're not gonna
be the seventies six Steelers and line up and you know,
give up twenty nine points of the last nine games
(44:17):
with six shutouts or whatever ridiculous um string that unit
put together. You have to maybe you bend a little bit,
but you know, you make a key play on a
possession down to either force a punt or make a
team attempt to field goal and scores instead of scoring
a touchdown, you take the ball away. Uh. And then
(44:37):
all of those you know, when you take the ball away,
if a team drives from its own ten to your
ten and you take the ball away, that eight yards
of offense means nothing. You know, it's just you added
to the stat book and it means nothing. So that's
the kind you have to be opportunistic on defense, I
think a little bit more then you can depend on
(44:58):
being you know, the immovable object and so um that's
my approach to it. Uh. And I like the fact
that you know, Mark Robinson did make something happen in
a critical moment. He you know, and again a lot
of times you'll see rookies or new because not only
(45:19):
is Mark Robinson a rookie, but he's relatively new to
the position that he's playing, and he had the the
wherewithal the foresight, the presence of mind. You know, he's
coming in for that sack. He got the ball out too.
You know that's he didn't just oh my god, I'm
gonna have a sack. You wrap up his legs and
bring him down. You know, he was he was attacking
(45:41):
the football trying to get it out. And you know,
those are the kinds of things that awareness that you
hope for. You try and teach it, but not everybody
learns it. And for a guy to show it his
first time out like that, I think really bodes well
for this guy's promise as a professional. Practice today starts
at one fifty five at St. Vincent College for your
(46:02):
Pittsburgh Steelers Labs. Safe to say, there's no such thing
as a victory Monday when it comes to training camp,
Tom and will still be getting after these guys today. No,
no foot off the gas because you you pulled out
a win against Seattle. No, I don't think so. And
you know, on the schedule of the team meeting was
between eight and nine fifteen. You heard Mike Tomlins say
a few times during his postgame remarks, will comb through
(46:26):
the video, will comb through the video. I'm here to
tell you, boys and girls, he did that all day yesterday,
and I'm sure he was able to put together a
real of mistakes and um, you know that's a lot
of times that's the teaching tool that has preferred in
the NFL instead of a lot of ada boys pats
on the back and stuff. Um, you know, you get
(46:48):
the odd blanks. You should have done this instead of that.
So um, I'm sure there's some of that. I'm gonna
be interested though, to see what kind of practice it
is today eight uh, because if they feel anything like
I feel, it could be very ragged. Well. We'll be
(47:09):
back again tomorrow at nine am to recap today's practice
again starts at one this afternoon. You only have a
few more opportunities to get up to St. Vincent's and
take a look at your Pittsburgh Steelers before training camp breaks,
so make sure you get up there and do that
if that's what you're inclined to do. Thanks to Bob
Labriola as always, and thanks to you guys for giving
us a listen. Wolf and Sarks are in the locker room.
(47:29):
Coming up next, giving you their thoughts on the preseason
win against the Seattle Seahawks. Back again at I am
tomorrow here on the Steelers Training camp Report right here
on SNR
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