Steelers Training Camp All-Access (Ep. 2) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers Training Camp All-Access (Ep. 2) | Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers have returned to Latroe and training camp is underway. The team is just a few practices into the new season, but there are plenty of storylines. Our crew breaks down the first few days. Coming up next, you’re watching Steelers Training Camp all access right here on KDK TV. Welcome to Steelers Training Camp All Access sponsored by FedEx. Hello and welcome to training camp all access sponsored by FedEx. I’m Rich Walsh along with the quarterback of our program, Charlie Batch, high at top the beautiful grounds here at St. Vincent College. And Charlie, this never gets old, does it? Not at all. Especially when you’re not you don’t have to go out there anymore. Well, it’s been a good practice so far, Charlie. Right, too. First three days are in the books. It really is. And these guys, you can see now they’re as they’re ramping up practice and whatnot. And I think ultimately what you’re starting to see here today as we’re getting into day number four is starting to get chippy a little bit. These guys want to put on pads. So as we get closer to that opportunity, you’re going to see a little bit more intensity. Well, we just wrapped up the third day here at St. Vincent College. And every player is here and accounted for and every player was on time for Wednesday’s arrival day, which marked the official move in day for the players, but several actually moved in a day early like veterans Aaron Rogers and Cam Hayward. It was business as usual this week when Cam began and guys like Patrick Queen couldn’t wait to see what this revamped roster looks like on the practice field. I think we got great additions. Um, you know, I love Mink. Mink was a great teammate. Love the guy, love the player. Um, but we got good players out of it. So, um, you know, that’s how the NFL works. It’s a business at the end of the day. Um, I know both sides going to take care of their business. It’s go time. U, so there’s no more getting acclimated, no more, um, trying to get familiar with each other. It’s time to go. Well, it’s been a pretty crazy off season for this franchise. Maybe one of the craziest in franchise history. Very uncharacteristic of the Steelers. And you know, does that make a difference on the field? It’s been dramaree here despite a crazy off season. And you know, does that help with chemistry? It it definitely does. And I think when you ultimately talk about distractions, you know, one person’s going through something that means the rest of the team has to answer that. And in this case, these guys are focused. All business off the field has been completed. now is trying to figure out the task at hand which is ultimately hoist that Lombardi trophy at the end of the season but it starts up here in Latroe. Meanwhile, Deshawn Elliot is a big part of this Steelers defense after signing a contract extension and he’s primed to have another big season at Strong Safety and they gave our Steelers media production team inside access for his arrival to camp. You’re eight, man. Couple cases of water. Last year I overpacked. Didn’t realize I was going to have like chance to come back home. But this year, I mean, I just the essentials, things that when I wake up, do like things for my ankles for the most part. Bro, time to play some balls. I already got everything I need. Usually you just go to the facility, go to practice, and go home. Like saying like an NFL team usually does. But like doing this, honestly, it makes you appreciate your life a little bit more. I think that it’s not for the weak. And this is why Mike T does it because this is not something that’s for the weak. This is for strong-minded individuals. He wants guys who who can withstand the toughest of toughest situations. That’s that’s what it means to be a Steelers. Somebody who can overcome something. This this city has been overcoming multiple things for the longest time. So, you know, I’m excited to get back to patrol, man. The the the history they have and us being able to be in front of those fans. It’ll be cool again, man. Can’t wait. It feels like I’m back in college. I don’t know. It’s different. It’s like a It’s an experience that you that you want to that you enjoy, though. It’s weird to It’s hard to explain, but you know, and then you pull up and you see everyone’s outside, whether that’s the media or with your teammates, guys. You haven’t seen him in for a couple weeks. So, it’s pretty cool, bro. And our thanks to the Shawn and Steelers Media Productions for that access. And Elliot wasn’t the only Steelers defender to sign a big contract extension. The big one and most notable of course was team leader TJ Watt who became the highest paid nonQB in the NFL with his recent extension. He rolled into camp with a big smile on his face and has looked great over the past few workouts. Watt spoke to us this week and the vibes were high. It’s a insane life that I live. I get to do what I love for a living. Um I’m living the absolute dream. I don’t take that for granted one bit at all. uh the money side of it is hard to really wrap my head around it and I’m sure one day I will but right now it’s still all crazy to me. Um but more than anything I wanted to play football. I want to play football. I want to continue to give everything that I possibly can to this city, to this organization. All right, so Charlie, the watt extension was obviously huge news up here and nationally. No holding in, no holding out. And what does it mean to the rest of the guys on this team that you know they were able to pay up and pay Watt and keep him here as a one helmet guy potentially for the rest of his career? Absolutely. He’s very deserving of that contract. Congratulations to TJ there. But when you’re a young guy watching this and you say you put in the work, the Steelers will reward you for the work that you put in. So he is absolutely ecstatic about what happened in that particular manner. But the one thing I loved about TJ is the fact that says yes, one thing is completed, but he immediately went into the next goal and that is hoisting that Lombardi trophy. So you know, he is hungry. He want to go out here and continue to put that work in because he’s still one thing short on his resume and that’s bringing a Super Bowl trophy here. So, no holding out or holding in for what, which means fans had a chance to see him go all out for the first few days up here at Steelers training camp in Latro. And check out the Steelers practice schedule for the rest of camp, which is free of charge to the public. The team is back on the field just over 12 hours from now. Tomorrow afternoon, they get their first day off on Monday before the first day in pads on Tuesday. Workouts continue next week with the always anticipated Friday night lights practice happening at 7:00 on August 1st. After an off day on Tuesday the 4th, they get back to practice on the 5th before breaking camp to head to Jacksonville for their first preseason game on the 9th. Camp wraps up with the final two workouts on the 11th and 12th. Over the past few days, fans had a chance to get their first look at the all-new quarterbacks on this roster. And coming up, we’ll focus on that group that includes future Hall of Famer Aaron Rogers. Welcome back to Steelers Training Camp All Access, sponsored by FedEx. FedEx, where now meets next. All right, welcome back to the show here at St. Vincent College. And so far, the show for the fans has been Aaron Rogers making his debut as a Steelers quarterback, which did not get out to a spectacular start, throwing an interception to Patrick Queen on his very first pass, but it’s been all arrows up since then. And Rogers said that he’s been working on a few things up here and not really worried about mistakes now, right? Charlie, he’d rather make mistakes now than in December. But, you know, it’s been so far so good for the Steelers new QB. And it’s been great communication between Tom and Matt and Arthur and myself. And I mean, hell, Mike was in the room uh this morning talking to us. So, uh it’s been uh it’s been a lot of fun. It really has. And I’m enjoying uh the process and and things are going to get better and look better as we go. Uh, but I’m excited about uh where we’re at in day one. I think it’s coming together, you know, times like this with these 17 or so practices that we have here and uh finding the chemistry and and hanging out with each other in the lunchroom and snack and in the different times that we have. So, fans were excited to see Rogers up here and for good reason. Check out where he stands among the all-time great quarterbacks. He’s the best ever when it comes to QB rating and ranks in the top 10 in completions, yards, and touchdowns. all while taking care of the ball. Over 8,200 attempts. He’s thrown just 116 interceptions. All right, Charlie, we all know Rogers resume, a future Hall of Famer, but what are your initial thoughts the first few days up here? I think he looked good so far, especially with him missing the off seasonason. So the for him, he’s playing catch-up while the rest of the guys know the offense, but that’s expected this time of year. You’re in development stages at this particular point. The one thing I want to just watch his mannerism at the line of scrimmage, getting in and out of the huddle, those things are spectacular. Now, it’s just you can see which receivers he’s come more comfortable working with than others. But again, that’s part of training camp. That’s why we’re up here. And those type of the things will actually iron themselves out the more we get through training camp. And for more on Rogers and a few other topics, I had a chance to catch up with the most experienced beat writer up here, our Steelers insider, Jerry Dulac. First week of Steelers training camp is in the books and all eyes were on number eight. And maybe my first impression, the one thing that I noticed, this guy can really sling it. maybe better than anyone I’ve seen with the Steelers since Ben Rothosberger. You know, Rich, even at age 41, uh you can see that and I’ve always thought that Aaron Rogers is the greatest thrower of the football I’ve ever seen, and that includes Dan Marino, which is saying a lot. And um you know, we’ll see now once they start playing for real. Um you know, his numbers last year were the lowest of his career as a starter, but you got to consider where he was playing to. Even though his receiving unit was better and his running back was better, it’s the Jets. and you know the it’s not the same coaching staff, it’s not Mike Tomlin, it’s not the same stability of the franchise. And so they’re hoping that quote change of scenery will bring back some of the old four-time NFL MVPs. Well, TJ Watt showed up all smiles and he should after signing that $123 million extension. Uh do you feel like he has to maybe live up to those numbers now? Live up to that money? You know, Rich, I remember when after Minka Fitzpatrick signed his big deal and I asked him that very same question and he seemed offended by it. And the point being, a player sometimes feels that, okay, they’ve given me this other big contract. Now I have to do even more. And I think what TJ Watt has to do is be better than he was last season. The second half of last season, he started off well, but he admitted after the season he needed to find ways to beat double and triple coverage. And uh, you know, is moving him around going to help? I don’t know. We shall see. Um, but I just think he has to be better than he was in the second half of last year. And whether he feels pressure to do that, well, that’s up to him. All right. Thanks a lot, Jerry. Good stuff as always. Coming up, we are throwing it back by taking a look at the newly released Steelers uniforms to be worn later this season. Stay tuned. Welcome back to Steelers Training Camp All Access, sponsored by FedEx. FedEx, where now meets next. Welcome back. Much like the quarterback position, the Steelers made wholesale changes in the secondary, and one of those big changes is adding safety Juan Thornhill, who’s hoping to take over for Ma Fitzpatrick. Mike Pazuda had a chance to catch up with Thornhill after Thursday’s practice. Welcome to Camp Convo here at Steelers Training Camp 2025. Day one in the books, and our guest today here at St. Vincent College, safety Juan Thornnehill. Juan, got to start with the obvious. What do you think of your new summer digs here? I mean, it’s nice, you know, being able to get away, you know, away from, you know, Pittsburgh, coming out here with our teammates, you know, building that relationship and everything. I think it’s it’s great. The environment is amazing. A lot of fans coming out here to support us. It’s it’s truly beautiful when you got people and fans like that behind you. Second obvious question, uh, we dealt with this a little bit with Patrick Queen last year, coming from the Ravens to the Steelers. You’re coming from the Browns to the Steelers. I know the NFL is all about change, but really Browns to the Steelers. How’s that working out? It’s great. I’m on the better side. That’s all that matter. I’m on the better side now, you know, to the dark side. So, I’m excited about this opportunity. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Not difficult to flip that switch at all. No. See, the thing is like I’m always where my feet is, you know, like I’m here. I’m not worried about anything in the past. You know, my past is my past. I’m just focusing on it now. You’re a recognizable name. They’ve brought in a lot of those this off seasonason. How is that kind of coalescing process going here in the early going? I mean, got a lot of new pieces, you know, like we all trying to figure it out, learn how to play together. Um, you know, day one, I feel like we did we did pretty well. It was a hot one for sure, but you know, all the bigname guys, you know, Jaylen stepped up. Uh, like a lot of guys stepped up and made some plays today. All right, our thanks to Mike and Juan there. The Steelers also added Chuck Clark earlier this week. So, you know, they have a couple guys, a couple options to replace Mick Fitzpatrick. How do you think this is going to unfold? They have Chuck Clark, Juan Thornnehill. Also, you can maybe add Jaylen Ramsay in the mix there too, right? You can. And I think when you look at where Thornhill is at at this particular point, he’s running with the ones at at this point. But Mike Tomlin always loves to create competition in each group. So, he’s going to highlight the safety position. He’s not giving it to anyone. So, when you see just the rotations that are there, he’s going to give every opportunity to someone out there to prove that they actually can be a starter in this defense. And it’s not going to be uh ending anytime soon. And I think this is going to all go all the way up to the start of the regular season. While most everyone was focused on the opening of training camp and watching guys like Juan Thornhill up here, the Steelers also unveiled their throwback unis with a flashy video. Check it out. Take a trip back to a time when Pittsburgh earned the name Steel City. Born in that same era, a football team. A team that would define and embody a city, a region, and its people. Now we honor that time period. Presenting a uniform that harkens back. A uniform forged in Pittsburgh, defined by legacy. All right, Charlie. I think they look pretty cool. What do you think about the new uniforms, the throwback uniforms? I think they were worn something similar in 94. Uh I think you wore the Bumblebees. What did you think about wearing throwbacks? Yeah, at first you have to warm up to it, right? That that year we actually wore them for the team pitcher and then we didn’t wear them again for a few months and then ultimately when you put them on you can see people in the mirror looking a little longer as it relates I look good in these Bumblebee jerseys. So, it was just funny all around, but ultimately when you have a chance to to dawn that jersey, players don’t take it for granted. All right, thanks Charlie. The Steelers will wear those uniforms in late October when they face the Packers. Here’s a look at the full regular season schedule. They open on the road against the Jets. They head to Ireland in week four to play the Vikings before an early by week before three of their next four games at home. They head to LA to take on the Chargers for their second Sunday night game in a three-week span, then face a tough twoame stretch with the Bills and Ravens backto back. They also have to play the Lions on the road. And just like the past few seasons, they wrap up the regular season against Baltimore. And coming up, the Steelers announced their latest Hall of Honor class this morning. Charlie and I will give you the full list when we come back. Welcome back to Steelers Training Camp All Access, sponsored by FedEx. FedEx, where now meets next. Welcome back to the show. The Steelers announced this year’s Hall of Honor class. It’s a smaller class than usual, only three guys, but a special group led by Ben Rothosberger, who helped the Steelers win two Super Bowl championships, and arguably the greatest quarterback in franchise history. Fittingly, his longtime center, Maris Pouncy, is also in. Those two spent 11 seasons together. And the final member of this year’s class is Joey Porter, who was a big part of that Super Bowl 40 team and that win that beat the Seahawks 21 to10. Porter is now watching his son star for the Steelers. Joey Porter Jr. All right, Charlie, you had a chance to back up Ben for all those years. And I think knowing you, I I know that he’s a more than just a teammate, right? What did he mean to you on and off the field? And are you happy that he gets this honor? Oh, I’m extremely happy for him. I mean, he’s like a brother to me. And and when you see just the amount of work that he put in behind the scenes to prove that he belonged number one on this team and proving that value, but also trying to strive for something bigger because he wanted to win Super Bowls here. So to see that work that he put in behind the scene resonating to the success that he had on his I’m super excited and happy for him and you couldn’t be prouder than anybody else, man. Congratulations, Ben Rothosberger and Charlie. I know you were close with Maris Pouncy. I personally think he’s a future Hall of Famer, but this is a big honor for Pouncy. It really is and I had opportunity to talk to him earlier today. But when you have entrench entrenched into the offense in 2010 when he came up here to Latroe, everybody was like, “Wow, this guy is really doing a lot of amazing things as a youngster.” But yet that resonated into the regular season, eventually all pro seasons that he put together. This guy was the voice of that offensive line room. Those guys jailed and they rallied around him and you can see all the success that he’s had. All right. You play with all three guys and Joey Porter, he was a big part and a big voice of that defense and he was a big voice before and after that Super Bowl too, wasn’t he? He really was. I mean, this is the guy that was the voice of the he was the voice of the team, but mainly uh leader of the team and defensive side of the ball. But whatever he was doing, guys rallied around him and those type of things, you made plays when we got into the uh the postseason. And you can see the one special moment that I really like with Joey as he went through it all. He never wanted to take the credit. He always passed it along to everybody else. But to see him get the acknowledgement to what we’re seeing here today, to me, I think it’s long overdue. I thought he should have been part of that first Hall of Honor class, but again, there’s so many great Steelers that you have that just you have to just wait your time. But for him to put it in and now you see everything that he’s looking to do, especially on the 20th anniversary of Super Bowl 40. I can’t wait to see all of those voiceovers, the videos of Joey talking a bunch of smack leading up to that Seattle victory in Detroit. Charlie, awesome memories. And I remember interviewing all three of those guys. I feel lucky enough to be a part uh of the locker room when they played here in Pittsburgh. All right, coming up. Stay right there on Training Camp All Access. When we come back, we’ll look forward to the first padded practice that start next week. Stay tuned. Welcome back to Steelers Training Camp All Access, sponsored by FedEx. FedEx, where now meets next. All right, welcome back to the show. Here’s another look at the upcoming practice schedule for those who are planning to attend in person. All workouts that are open to the public free of charge take place at 1:55 in the afternoon with parking lots opening at 11:30. Tickets are free but need to be downloaded via Ticketmaster app. Camp breaks on August 7th or the team can travel to Jacksonville for the game on August 9th. The final workouts up here at St. Vincent are Monday and Tuesday, August 11th and 12th. So Charlie, the pads come back on in Tuesday. When you played, did you notice a different intensity level? Was that when really things started to ramp up and camp really started then? Absolutely. And this is where the varsity separates from the JV guys, right? So you want to see the Pad hitting. You see the outside rushers, anybody who’s rushing the passer, they’re talking to the offensive line right now. And then I saw Patrick Queen and this guy is sitting up there chomping at the bit at the running backs. He’s saying, “Wait till back on backer drill.” Which is the featured drill of the day. And if you remember a few years ago, Jaylen Warren, he stole the show, caught Mike Tomlin’s attention, and then ultimately we’re seeing him in that starting role today. Who’s going to be the next guy to catch coach Tomlin’s attention in that drill? Why? Because he highlights this in team meetings and all everybody in the room is watching to see what can you do cuz you look good in the offseason, but now with the pads on, let’s see who can shine. Well, that’s it for us tonight. Thanks to Charlie Batch and Steelers Media Production and a special thank you for watching. I’m Rich Walsh. Have a great night and we’ll see you next week.

KDKA’s Charlie Batch & Rich Walsh recap the first week of Steelers training camp and more

#HereWeGo #Steelers #NFL

Like our content? Want more? Be sure to subscribe to the Pittsburgh Steelers YT Channel: https://goo.gl/nAd4J2

Want more Steelers content? Head over to http://www.steelers.com/ or if you want your #Steelers content to-go, download the official Pittsburgh Steelers mobile app: https://www.steelers.com/fans/official-steelers-mobile-app/
To get the latest Steelers content, news and analysis be sure to follow us on social media!
Follow us on X: https://x.com/steelers/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steelers/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steelers/
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@steelers
Download Steelers podcasts: https://www.steelers.com/audio/podcast/