Watch Steelers Training Camp Practice Sunday, July 27 | Pittsburgh Steelers

Watch Steelers Training Camp Practice Sunday, July 27 | Pittsburgh Steelers

You are looking live at St. Vincent College in Latroe, Pennsylvania in Steelers Training Camp 2025. It is Sunday, July the 27th. Day five on campus and day four on the practice field. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to training camp live brought to you by FedEx. I’m Mike Pursuda joined by Max Starks. We are here to uh kind of review what we’ve seen so far here at St. Vincent and get you prepared for today and toward that latter end. Max, uh we may be uh quitting sooner than usual today. As you can see, it’s sunny behind us as we speak, but there was rain this morning and there is more weather anticipated. So, uh, no matter how much momentum we build up, no m how compelling our insights and analysis, no m how no matter how entertaining we are, we may have to shut it down early and quickly. And and that’s one of the things that we kind of saw, you know, I was on air on radio earlier and we were sitting there and it looked fine and then all of a sudden it wasn’t fine. And then you had just this torrential downpour for like 30 minutes and then it stopped. But we knew that there there is weather. There’s also lightning apparently later on that they’ve been monitoring. So we’ll keep an eye out um as we bring this show to you about if any changes happen because they said weather was supposed to roll in around 2:30ish today. So we’ll see. But we’re going to get what we get. And you know, most importantly, as long as we get seven shots, we’re pretty good. I feel like that that’s the main meat of the day right there at the beginning. I could live with seven shots. Uh, you know, that’s the trade-off that uh the Steelers have made. They wanted to practice later in the day. This year, the practices were earlier a year ago, and it’s hotter and thus more conducive to sweating the guys into shape later, but you risk the Western Pennsylvania thunderstorms rolling through. Yeah, you you risk the weather. I mean, because a year ago when they did that, remember there was this whole talk and topic about, you know, the farmers almanac and the time of day to get if you want to get the most amount of work in, it’s better to do it in the morning versus the afternoon. And you know, Mike, you’ve been you you’ve been a part a lot of these training camps and and 39 of them. See, 39. So, you know better than anybody like some of the worst case scenarios that have happened up here in the past. when the power went out uh on all of the campus one year and we actually had to move and send everybody back home until they got the power back another time where these fields were just like flowing with with like just it looked like a waterfall down there and we couldn’t practice. Then we had to move it indoors and then we had to move it over to a to a gymnasium across town at at Lro Area High School. So we’ve gone through these and that was the reason why they wanted to move to the mornings. Well, the problem is the mornings it’s cool, it’s predictable, and it’s not really stressful. This, we heard Aaron Rogers on numerous outlets and numerous occasions talk about how hot it was and trying to push through the heat and still trying to function. And that’s what Mike Tomlin wants. He wants as many kind of siloed stressor environments as possible to get the guys ready for the season. And I think that’s been the the most fun thing to watch out here cuz you know when it gets hot you know guys start to get a little pushy and you know your irritability rises just a little bit and you know come Tuesday we’ll have pads on it’ll be high irritability that day. Yeah it has been hot. I mean you know this just in. It’s July in Western Pennsylvania news flash. But this this is a different brand of hot and I’m not going to go heat index or or what it feels like. To me that’s like exit velocity in baseball. I can tell when a guy hits the ball hard. Yeah, he hit it really hard. I don’t need to know the miles per hour. It It is steaming down there and we’re hot up here. We’re sweating under this tent and then uh I go down on the field for the second half of practice and you’re down in that frying pan. Uh it is stressful and it is challenging and we did see a little scuffle yesterday that threatened to escalate. Yeah, a little dust up. A little dust up. I think Tuesday, did you catch the uh particulars or did the crowd uh the crowd kind of let me know? Attack it attack it too too soon. I I couldn’t tell who started it or who the main two guys were. I couldn’t tell either cuz you know it’s one of those things where it just it swarms in. Like we knew last year like the Landon Roberts, Mason McCormick SC. We knew exactly who it was cuz you saw the crosshairs, you saw the hit, and then you saw just beline. So that one was more like guys kind of got tussled up together so you couldn’t really tell what it was. And that and also it’s in shells, so you can’t really It’s like how hard did he really push you, you know, is is a difference in my mind. And I’m like, if we’re going to fight, you know, I want it to be like, hey, we we just we just got out of like a first down run period. And uh and you cut me or you slapped me in the back of the helmet type of deal. Not not not this stuff and spider shells. Guy slapped you in the back of the helmet during run drills. Uh Rodney Bailey did. Rodney Bailey hit me in the back of the head. And that that’s how that’s how I got this finger right here was because Yeah, cuz let’s just say I blacked out for a second. I might I might have thrown thrown thrown my right fist at him and uh he still had his helmet on. Yeah, that’s probably not uh not the way you want to go. But don’t hit me in the back of the head. That was that was the moral of the story. He started it. You ended it. Yes, exactly. Well, let’s take a look back at how practice started yesterday. Uh seven shots. Yeah, the meat on the bone. That’s right. Out here. And uh four to three defense yesterday, Max, after four to three offense the day before. Another bad snap to start things off, but this time they counted it. Yeah, which they should have the first time around. That’s just me. I’m like, listen, if the play is ready, somebody messes up in in in the function. Just if a guy jumps offside, guess what? We’re not going to start the play over again, right? You’re either going to move it up or you’re going to give us the point. So, I think today it was like, yeah, we need or yesterday it was like, okay, we need to stop making this a habit and we’re kind of glaring on it and making it a thing. And I think by by, you know, restarting the drill, you kind of put more emphasis on it. But if you count the point, move on to the next drill, it kind of becomes a lower thing and that can get settled out a little bit later. Um, but yeah, Zach Frasier is having a little bit of issue on that first play of seven shots, getting the snap off, which I’d rather it happen now. Get it out your system now in camp than have it something uh bleed over into the season. I’m going to agree with you on that. I I I think, you know, part of the uh responsibility of the offense in seven shots is to actually get the play started. Yes. And then you see who wins the rep. If you can’t do that, you lose. So, uh defense led uh one to nothing there. Second play uh getting a little repetitive here. big guy Aaron Rogers to DK Metaf. Uh this time at the expense of Joey Porter Jr. Yeah. And it was a beautiful slant on the right hand side like just coming right in. Boom. Pop to the chest. Aaron hit Aaron hit the four on DK’s chest and it was a quick point right across the goal line. Just a nice quick slant. Uh it’s it’s occurring to me that uh when Roger starts a drill, he’s looking for Medcaf first and then he’s probably looking for Medcaf second. And I have seen him kind of work the progressions, but if he has any chance to throw it to DK, he’s throwing it to DK. Are you seeing it? Oh, I’m seeing the same way. Like if he’s there, if he’s the first read, Aaron’s trying to figure out how fast can I get because he also understands that when you get the ball in his hands, no matter how far from the line of scrimmage he is, he’s going to make good things happen after that because he’s already, if he’s going to hit him, he’s already walled himself into a position where the defensive back’s going to have to crawl on his back, right? You know, that’s one of the first things. And secondly, if the DB jumps and misses it, he’s got a clear route for at least another four to five yards. So, it’s just doing that simple math. Like, I’m not trying to throw the 40 yard home run ball every time. It’s like, but if I can throw the three- yard quick slant and get seven, that’s better than throwing that first down run or any type of play. You want to get the distance because the name of the game is three tries to get 10 yards and then rinse and repeat. And so, he’s understanding that concept and just trying to work that rapport. And to me, that’s almost more of Metaf’s strength. I know he can get down the field, but I don’t think of him as a, you know, Terry McLaren deep ball guy. I think of him as a catch and run guy. And especially in the fray, like you’re thinking about his strength is going to be guy playing press jam or what we call cover one or cover zero. That’s where the corner’s pressed up on the line of scrimmage. Or it’s going to be he’s coming across the middle of the route and he’s having to weed through linebackers, safeties, and he’s able to make himself big, present, and available. and he’s going to catch that traffic ball, you know, type of type of thing. That’s where he has a strong. That’s why he’s such a big physical presence. You want to utilize that to your ability because mo usually most of the times the guys that’s going to be paired up against him are not going to be the same size as him. Yeah, it seems like an obvious matchup problem for defense. Speaking of which, third rep, Aaron Rogers to Mount Washington, as we like to say here in Western Pennsylvania. Darnell Washington, the big man. Uh, have we mentioned he’s maybe got some red zone potential? Is that does that come up on these shows? I maybe maybe once or twice I think in the last three years. Yeah, but it’s like no, it’s like a segment it seems like when we get to red zone. Um it was a beautiful pass. They came in in 13 personnel which means three tight ends and they lined it up. Darnell was lined up at the left attached tight end position. You had the you had the uh the Hback position was Janu Smith on that same side and then you had Pat Fry move split out to the slot on the right side which would look you know when you look at you’re like oh that’s just 21 personnel right? two tights and and uh and two and two uh two receivers and one running back. But the way they ran it, I mean, it was beautiful. You calling John uh Johnny a receiver there? No, no, he’s the Hback in that one. He’s hback because he was in the three-point offset off in a wing position. So Pat was the slot on that one. So they used 88 as the slot position and 81 sat in the Hback and he was a move guy. So he did a short motion to the middle and then back out to his position. They ran the play. Janu ran ran the shallow out right at right at the sticks and then you had Darnell going up and out um running running which I thought the shallow was open too. Shallow was open actually but he wasn’t across the line of scrimmage or he wasn’t across the goal line so I I think that’s why Aaron didn’t throw it to him and Darnell just ran and to and dragged the safety Elliot was in toe with him just put the hand up and Aaron hit him right in the hand easy catch. He had four yards of runway before he hit the uh the backline corner. Yeah, because the big guy’s not going to be Tony toe tap. You wouldn’t think. No, no, you’re not. You’re not giving him like he’s gonna go up, but the feet need to be where they are. Yeah, exactly. I mean, if you throw it nine feet up, he’s still standing, you know, with his just putting a hand up at that point. And uh it was just easy pitching catch. I mean, it was beautiful. I’m like, that’s what he should have been doing since a rookie was that play. So, it was good that Aaron IDed him, got him the ball, easy score for the offense. Fourth rep, Mason Rudolph takes over at quarterback as they begin to uh sub in. And Rudolph dropping back and hold the ball, holding the ball, didn’t find anything he liked, ended up bootlegging, right? And then just threw it away, which, you know, I I maybe in practice you take a shot and don’t worry about the pick, but maybe he’s building habits for the season, too. Sometimes sometimes you have to live to fight another day, and you have to recognize when that time is. And I think for him is it’s just going through the motus, right? the modus operandi of how am I going to operate in season like I want to do what’s more natural than getting out there and trying to freestyle some of the things and he’s an established veteran he’s been there done that at many training camps out here so he’s probably like I don’t want to risk it I’m not trying to make a highlight reel for anybody but I think it also score it kind of overscores I won’t say underscores how good the competition and depth is this year you don’t have those kind of layoffs like from first to second team you know I think second to third might be a little bit of a drop off, but what we had a year ago, it was the ones and then we were done essentially with the second squad. And now you’re starting to see quality depth and more competitive depth, especially in these seven shots. Rep five. Rudolph knew where he wanted to go with the ball and he hit his target, but he led Connor Hayward just a little bit too far. Uh corner fade to the back of the end zone and Hayward made a nice catch, but he was out on the wrong side of the end line. Yeah, he caught he caught it. Second foot stepped out. First foot was in, second foot was out. So it would have been a touchdown of Michigan State. It definitely would have been a touchdown at Michigan State. Yeah, you guys would have counted that because it’s only one foot. You only need one foot there. College is a lot different than pros. So, but Connor, I mean, I thought a good thing about Connor, he kind of released and kind of went up in before the fade. So, he kind of carried the safety and then broke off at the last second and now corner had to make a decision. He had the shallow underneath or do you take the guy on the fade, made the play, but but yeah, just sailed a little bit on Mason. Should have got it down probably about a yard or two out of the sky. You know, I talked to Mason Rudolph and I thought he had a real good day after seven shots. Mason Rudolph, he was really sharp. He was seeing it. He was delivering it. And he said, “Yeah, you know, if I if I had one throw I would want back, it would be that one to Connor. I got to give him a chance to make that play.” Yeah. And I got to get it in bounds. It struck me that Mason Rudolph Max is holding himself to a high standard uh in terms of what he expects from himself. And I asked him about his confidence level and he said, “Hey, if my number’s called, I’m going to play well.” I mean, we’re still we’re still in the development stages. Everybody’s got work to do, but I don’t I don’t think we haven’t seen Mustache Mason here. Yeah. This this is a new Mason. This is a new Mason. He is a confident guy. Super Mario mustache worthy. And I I you know, there was a time before uh the Aaron Rogers saga finalized that he was the guy. And I I don’t think that’s uh the worst thing that could happen to the Steelers would be to send Mason Rudolph in to play quarterback. I mean, a guy who got you to the playoffs, right? Yeah. I mean, so it’s not like this is just some guy that’s had spot start, you know, garbage duty. No, he had to go in and he had to win about four games to get us in position to be in the playoffs and then lead, of course, the Steelers into Buffalo um as a starting QB in the wild card round. So, I mean, he’s got a lot of he’s got a lot of play in him. He understands what the fans demand of him, what the organization demands of him, and there’s a certain maturity now coming back this second time around and kind of knowing what the expectations are. And you know, I I give him a lot of credit. You know, my first year here as a sideline reporter, it was that Detroit game, I don’t know if you remember, in 21 and Ben caught COVID and they told Is that the tie? That was the tie. Yes. And the Lions were winless. I think there there were zero wins and they got their first tie under the Dan Campbell era. But he came in cold after Friday practice and had to all he had was a Saturday walkthrough to go through the game plan and we’re thinking it’s rain, it was windy that night. We’re like, “Oh, we’re about to run the ball 70 times in this game.” You’re going to miss that stuff, by the way, aren’t you? I am not going to miss it. Not by any stretch of the imagination. You’re going to miss not being down there in the rain, in the cold and the snow. I’m I’m going to miss the people on the sidelines. Like, you know, I I’ve been kind of having this farewell tour with like the equipment crew, our security staff, and the PR. Like, I’m going to miss you guys, but I’m not going to miss it. That was the thing. You miss the people, you don’t miss the situations uh that are involved. But that you know what you’re going to like about the booth? Oh, halftime. There’s food. There’s food. A lot of it. Yeah. And I’m like I’m like, listen, I I I every time we a little chilly, you get a cup of coffee, you know, cookie to maybe get the energy up. And then sometimes you get the the wedding soup here at Acrasure in the winter time. I was like, man, I was like, I used to like have to snip smuggle it in like a coffee cup down to the sidelines and find a space to put it. But now I’ll just be able to go ladle it and uh go right back to my my climate controlled booth. So it’s going to be really nice. You know, one of the other things uh Mason Rudolph and I talked about yesterday, Max, he is so appreciative of the interactions with Aaron Rogers. Yeah. and and Aaron Rogers. Uh the teammates are raving about him in terms of now it’s it’s all over the board what the what the biggest impression he’s making on people. He’s sarcastic, he’s witty, he’s snarky, he’s a regular guy for an A-lister, but uh the mentoring part is is legit and is consistent throughout the board. He’s ready to to share his knowledge and uh makes him real appreciative was the word he used. Well, I I think you know, you come to different points in your career. There’s there’s that younger phase where there’s a lot of bravado and machismo in there, right? Like I’m not gonna help him. He’s either gonna sink or swim just like I had to do. But then there comes a certain point in maturity where it’s like I need to get this guy ready in case in case of, right? Like we put fire extinguishers around. You buy you buy insurance in case something happens. You don’t plan for it to happen, but you need to have something in place if it does or when it does. And so I think that approach, you have a shift midway through your career where you’re like, “Okay, I need to be more approachable about these things. I need more open because he’s going to be running my playbook, right? It’s not going to be, they’re not going to change the playbook for the new quarterback coming in. That new quarterback’s going to have to fit what the starting quarterback did.” And I think understanding that early and being able to share amongst that group, whether it’s Will Howard, Mason Rudolph, Skyler Thompson, like Aaron Rogers knows that everybody’s looking to him in that room. He’s the elder statesman. So, you want to act accordingly. You know, I liked how Rogers put it. Uh he said, “It’s not necessarily the responsibility of the starting quarterback to help the the rest of the depth chart or really any position.” Yeah. But it’s an opportunity. Yes. And it’s one of the things he wants to do. He was speaking in this uh context uh in related to Will Howard and how he was going to work with Will Howard. But, you know, share the wealth, right? Yeah. Exactly. I mean, listen, if you got open ears, you have an opportunity, right? you know, somebody wants to hear what you have to say. So, value whatever th whatever those opportunities are and make them count, right? Because you never know what impression you’re going to leave on somebody else or what nuggets of wisdom that you can pass on that ordinarily you would not have known had you had you kind of been more tight lipped about it. So, I think that that’s a really good thing especially in this environment. In season’s a different story. Like you got to learn because I’m trying to figure out myself and how to get guys winning. But in this environment, a little bit lacks, slower installation process, more time to be be around each other because you have nowhere else to go, right? We have about a handful of restaurants that you would maybe attempt, but still at the end of the day, it’s like, nah, I don’t feel like going. So, you’re going to be on campus almost 100% of the time. So, might as well take advantage of those off times when you’re not in practice or in meetings and get to really know guys and also give those guys something. If they have questions, go ahead and answer it. What What’s the worst that could happen? Rep six of seven shots. Uh Will Howard uh takes over under center and uh nice aggressive slant touchdown pass to tight end JJ Galbreth, a rookie from South Dakota, undrafted. But you know, uh Galbreth Max, he he seems to be showing up. Yeah, he making plays. A decent amount of regularity in the first couple days, but boy, there’s 38 tight ends here. I mean I mean there’s 38 of every position it feels like we look out there, right? I mean, and this is and this is something we didn’t have this a year ago, right? We didn’t have the depth that we have. And I think that’s the biggest difference from last year to this year, if you ask me. It’s the depth and the quality of the depth that we have out there that you can have a JJ Gold running with the threes and he’s standing out in those moments. And you know, we we just talked about 13 personnel. We had three tight ends already in there and we hadn’t even mentioned Connor Hayward yet. So to have five to six guys in that room and you know it’s only going to be about three maybe four at the most that you’re going to keep. So anytime you can shine four, right? It’s got to be four because Arthur Smith loves three tight end sets. So I’m like but traditionally most teams usually keep three. We will be a team that keeps four. And they’ll keep four, but he’s not traditional tight end. Yeah. You’ll move him into like that X category just athlete right on the offensive side. Guy who will catch the ball. Yeah. Exactly. Ball catcher. Call him a wide receiver. Call him a tight end. Call him whatever you want. But uh just make sure you call him. I don’t I don’t think we’re going to see a ton of him putting his hand in the dirt next to uh Broadick Jones and double teaming guys. No. No. He’ll be in that position I was telling you. He’ll be that Hback move position where it’s not like he’s moving back to fullback, but he’ll be that wing. He’ll detach out into the slot and he’ll give you support stuff whether it’s coming across and cracking the safety for the eighth man in the box. There’ll be creative ways of utilizing him, but his job here, catch ball, run with ball. Those are that that’s the job title. That’s the job description. So that uh Howard to Galver touchdown. And by the way, the crowd reaction to Will Howard yesterday was Oh, yeah. Yeah. You could tell over the top. You could you could tell they they’ve watched some ball across the state and and the central part of the state, the state capital of Ohio, Columbus, where my wife’s from. Uh spent a lot of time there. You watched some Columbus? Yeah. Never knew that. Yeah. Went to med school at Ohio State, too. So yeah, parents went to Ohio State. So yeah, I have a very Buckeye heavy side of the family that I have to appease there. So if they’re watching, I said it. I’m not going to say the go poisonous nut thing. You do that thing. I don’t do that. I do not do that. Do this thing, right? Yes. Always. Always. Always gators. I mean, if you would saw me at lunch today, had fullon regalia. I mean, you guys saw me back there. The camera crew saw me walking by, bright blue long sleeve Florida Gator shirt with my gray Florida Gator pant uh shorts on. So yeah, I I was I was re I was repping the university today. Seventh rep, the decisive rep. The starters coming back in on both sides. Uh Aaron Rogers is trying to win it as uh he had done as he had done the day before, but this time uh pressure from the number one pick, Derek Harmon, and a pass defense from Nick Herbig coming in on the pass rush. Yeah, defense wins it 4-3. Yeah, defense. That was that was it was a great pressure package. And you know, Derek, it’s always tough to stop defensive linemen in these drills just because you only have shells on. And you know, the hand positioning, the hand fighting is a lot different when you don’t have pads on. But Dererick Harmon had a great swim move up the middle. He he got through the A gap and put pressure immediately in Aaron’s face. Then as he went to turn, that’s when Nick Herbig kind of did his stalk and look technique and jumped up, dropped and knocked the pass down. No. Uh TJ Watt uh yesterday, no Cam Hayward and no Darius Slay. Veterans Days Off. We did see John Smith back on the practice field for the first time. Uh uh that’s uh our wrapup of uh the practice yesterday, but for a little bit more of a inside look at it. Uh we’ll uh take a look back now at yesterday’s camp conversation. I caught up with tight end Pat Fri who had been a star in seven shots the day before. And uh we talked about uh everything that went on yesterday and how the Steelers are dealing with this heat. Max, [Music] our guest today is tight end Pat Frymouth. Pat, I know it’s traditionally warm at St. Vincent College during training camp. It feels excessively so this year to me. How are you guys holding up in this heat? Hey man, we’re holding up, but uh I think it’s been uh pretty hot out here. So, well, I know it’s been pretty hot out here, so it’s we’re holding up though. It’s It’s good for the team to uh come together in these hot practices and uh you know, see what we got when uh the times are tough. We saw John Smith on the field today for the first time and looked like you guys dusted off the three tight end packages. Uh where do you see him fitting and does he strike you as a traditional tight end or kind of a tight end, wide receiver, tweener? Yeah, he’s uh he’s a hell of a guy. Um hell of a football player. you know, glad he’s part of our team now. He makes the he makes the room that much better, the whole offense that much better. And uh, you know, it was great to be out there with him. Um, seeing the the possibilities of what Art has uh, scheme for, you know, three tight end sets, two tight end sets and all that. So, it’s been great. And, uh, you know, I would say his game is um, you know, more so get the ball in his hands and let him let him work and and get that yak. And so, I think we complement each other very well. The offense uh, lost seven shots today, four to three, but yesterday a 4-3 win for the offense. I I can’t remember who caught the winning touchdown. Dude, it was your boy, man. It was me. Yeah. Uh, no. Yeah. Um, you know, that’s going to happen. That’s the the whole purpose of training camp is competing. And some days it’s going to go our way, some days going to go the defense’s way, but it’s all about how you respond the next day. So, you know, we’re looking forward to tomorrow to to hopefully get the uh W. Have you envisioned that kind of play in that kind of spot once you learned that Aaron Rogers was coming here? Absolutely. you know, just the the the ball releases out of his hand so quick and it’s it’s it’s it’s awesome to be on the receiving end of it because, you know, it gets to you quick and you can get the ball and you can make a move and so he’s very decisive on where he’s going. So, uh it’s been great. He’s been described by several of your teammates several different ways. Sarcastic, witty, a guy who keeps you on your toes. Uh just a regular guy even though he’s a quote unquote A-lister. Uh what’s your initial impression? Oh, all that. You know, he’s he had us out to Malibu. You know, he he he was one of us. He’s one of the guys. It was great to hang out with him and ever since we got to camp. Um he’s been so good to everyone. Um you know, you know, pulling guys aside, you know, telling us what he sees and what he wants and what what he wants us to do in each concept. And you know, he’s been great for everyone and it it’s been great playing for him and I’m extremely excited to, you know, go out there on Sundays and compete with him. Among the things he’s told us is that he liked to use the tight end in Green Bay. Uh you think this is going to be a big year for your group? Yeah, I hope. you know, he uh he you know, he he believes in all of us so far and um you know, the way he visualizes us on the field and the way Art is putting us in spaces that we can thrive. Um I think uh it’s been great and I think he sees the the whole field very well. He goes through his progressions, he knows the defensive coverages and he gets the ball where it needs to go. So, it’s been great. Appreciate the time, Pat. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. you know that uh Yak reference uh we talked a little bit about that with DK Metaf. Uh Johnny Smith clearly one of those guys. I mean he he can catch it in a crowd and then get himself turned up field and keep going especially on those crossers that he like to run in Miami. Um this to me Max seems uh tailor made for Aaron Rogers. the play action bootleg game and the get it out quick, throw it short, protect the ball, keep moving it forward little by little. I don’t I don’t think uh we’re going to see a ton of moonballs out of Aaron Rogers. No, but uh I think he’s going to spread it around and give the guys, particularly Smith and Metaf, a chance to do something with it after they get it. That accuracy of Rogers hitting them in stride and putting the ball where it needs to be placed is going to contribute to that as well, I think. Yeah. And that’s why we we put an emphasis on like when we’re talking about seven shots about how it’s like he’s seeing Medaf first and getting the ball on him immediately. And you heard Pat in the interview talk about when he when he looks at you and he throws that ball, it gets to you fast. He wants to put you in position because he knows he sees it with the split second. He has to get that he has to get that ball there because he sees what the window looks like. And the biggest thing, I mean, what made Tom Brady so great, right? It was the catch and run balls that he threw, the quote unquote yak, yards after the catch. Well, and the percent of passes, the high completion percentages. Yeah. And the the lack of negative plays. Yeah. And what does that do? Throwing the ball out quick puts you in those positions to have more positive plays. It gets the ball and gives space because the defense also hasn’t had a chance to really read the field um and and adjust to whatever is a deficiency when you put it on them. if Aaron recognizes it before them, bad day for the defense and good day for offense. And that’s what he wants to do. And and DK Metaf, John Smith, Pat Frier, Mouthuth, and company all have that skill set that if you get them the ball with a little bit of space, they know how to turn a small play into a big play really quickly. I think another guy we talked about, uh, Kenneth Gwell a little bit yesterday, but I think he falls into that category also. He’s going to be a get it to him in space kind of guy and let him figure it out from there. he’s going to be your screen check guy. Um, so early on if you can get a running back screen in with him, I think that’s where he that’s where he made his hey. I mean, listen, he destroyed us in Philly. And then I think also if a play takes a little bit longer to develop, you can’t get DK, you go through your progression. He’s a guy that makes himself available right in the middle of space and then he can turn around and just get north and south and get whatever he can. He’s a good salvage yard guy in the late checkdown game as well. So, you’re talking about another piece that gets in there. will probably be more of your third down type of back, but those are usually the critical moments, right, where I got to convert to a first down, and he’s been so good and so sure-handed that you’re going to rely on him. We’re just not going to see it early on because these are more first down based plays that we’re going through so far in camp. Yeah. Whatever a Gainwell ends up with in terms of average yards per catch, those yards are going to be gained after he catches the ball. Yes. Yeah. He he might have negative air yards. Yeah. Exactly. like near or behind the line of scrimmage is where he’s going to thrive for initial reception and then after that everything is eat what you kill, right? You know, so it’s going to be a fun thing to watch, but he does it so well, but we don’t get to see really that part of it yet because we haven’t gotten into that part of the install of the day or or I should say of camp so far. Uh, another guy that a lot of eyes are on at the running back position, Caleb Johnson. Uh, he’s impressed Mike Tomlin by reporting in outstanding shape. been good thing because you need to be in outstanding shape to survive this heat. But Caleb did Caleb did a little chatting with the media the other day. Let’s give a listen to what that sounded like. Then the focus on learning from the best. That’s really it. And learning from Coach T and learn just learning from the best. That’s really it. Obviously pads don’t go until Tuesday, but through these first couple days, just how are you feeling? How do you think you’re fitting in? I feel like I’m feeling well. you know, I make connections with people on defense and offense and, you know, just make connection every all around to be honest and just, you know, fit myself in and proving myself that I can be a contributor, you know, first, second, and third downs, you know. What are some of the early lessons you’ve learned from the um the details matter, little things matter, you know, that’s really it, man. Just going in there and learning every little detail that you need to know, you know, to be a first, second down, first, second, uh, third down back to be honest. So, you you’ve broken up off a couple big runs so far, but really got the crowd into it. What have those moments been like just kind of hearing that crowd reaction? Um, yeah, it’s been good. It’s been good, but at the same time, we don’t got no pads on. So, we start Tuesday, so that’s really what we going to see and what I really going to be expecting. So, speaking of Tuesday, what have you heard about? Uh, you have what do you heard about the backs on backers drill? N I heard it’s a big thing and, you know, I’m working every day to get get better and get to that, you know, get to that role. So, you know, they can trust me and be reliable. So, yeah. How important is it for you to show up in that drill? You talked a lot about pass protection. That’s the main thing I’m focusing on right now. everything else fall into place. But that’s my main thing is basketball protection, working at it every day. Are there any linebackers you’ve looked at, you’re like, “Yeah, I want that guy.” Anybody? Everybody, you know, everybody, whoever puts in my face, I’m I’m going to go. So, you look natural catching some passes, you know, from Aaron and you know, catching hitting the yak afterwards. That wasn’t something Iowa asked a whole lot of you. Is that a hidden part of your game or is that something to be honest, I feel like my hidden part of my game was my speed and my catching ability. And I feel like I really can really contribute in the catching ability and catching uh detections and stuff like that. So with A-Rod and just all the quarterbacks, they I feel like they they trust in me now and trust that I can make really good plays from a passing perspective of it, too. So, how’s Eddie Faulner been just working with him now that you’re at camp and not mini camp or anything like that anymore? I’ve been loving it, you know. I’ve been loving him and I’ve been loving the relationship we’ve been building and stuff like that. It’s been really good and he’s been showing me the little ins and outs of stuff and really how to get things done and how to get things done in Pittsburgh way and Steelers way. So, I love it. Caleb, we’ve seen you during offseason drills like redo drills. Is that something that that Eddie’s been telling you? That’s No, that’s something I’ve been doing. That’s something I’ve been doing and me and Jaylen, we’ve been even been talking about, you know, after practice just focusing on punching the bag and working on my explosiveness and working on my punching and stuff like that. So, next next Friday you guys are going to do the Friday night lights. I’m not sure if they told you about that, but you take the yellow school buses down to LRO Memorial Stadium. I’m curious. Do you have a favorite story or memory from your high school football career? It’s going to come back when you guys go down there. N I just I really in high school really have my headphones in. I already sleep on the bus and just wake up and get ready to play. But not really, man. I’m just ready to go in and just focus and do my best. That’s it. But departure is what they do here from what you guys are doing in Iowa. Um, you know, it’s a lot of it’s a lot of things that they do here that’s really similar to Iowa. But the thing that’s different here is the details and you know, always going 100% because the hoes closed 10% faster than, you know, in college. So, you know, just always getting my all every time that I get the ball and showing what I can do. An example of a detail that maybe just working on just working on my pass detection skills and just, you know, just doing the little things. That’s it. Vince Scor just said that you guys were working out together in the offseason. How did you connect? Where were you working out? Uh we was working out in Arizona, helmets on was like 110 degrees every day and you know just really adapting myself to that heat. So when I got here it was nothing, you know, it’s easy. So that’s really what I be focusing on. Just always being in shape and always be ready to go and I’m here. So the humidity isn’t affecting you. There’s none of that in Arizona. Nards to your pass protection. Steelers are using a lot of defense is using a lot of moving around guys lining up here and there. Is that adding it challenges like you’re learning playbyplay like okay when they do this way it’s like giving you more experience how to react to different blitzes? I mean, yeah, at the same time, but at the same time, every day I’m learning different things and everything I’m learning just to get better and taking notes and really listening to what coach Faulner and Jaylen and all the vets are saying because they know what to do. They’ve been in these situations. So, just listening and learning from them and really adopting myself on the field. What kind of example is Jaylen set for you? Awesome example. I love that guy, man. All around, you know, me and creating relationships, you know, on and off the field. You know, me and him just chilling outside, just talking and, you know, really on the field, is working. You know, he’s always telling me what he sees and what what needs to be done the right way. So seems like you have somewhat different body types and slightly different playing styles within that back field. How do you feel like you guys compliment each other? I feel like we all compliment each other in a good way. You know, speed, you know, explosiveness and first down, third down, second down, back. And I feel like I’m all around back and I just feel like, you know, all of us is just we can just really compliment each other off just fatigue and it won’t have to be no problem with taking each other out and always, you know, everybody can do, you know, first, second down things, you know. Gwell’s lining up wide and all these different like sort of receiver positions. Is that something that you’re learning from him at all or is it uh Uh yeah, know he got his own little thing. He he he kind of he built different man. He ever since he was in Philly, I know I saw him he making moves and he just he know how to do it the right way, man. So that’s him. Kayla Kayla, when they drafted you, Mike talked about seeing a lot of Sunday runs from a lot of see a lot of nineman fronts at Iowa. You know what they’re going to do and he was successful anyway. Is it in in a weird way because this offense might be a little more dynamic than what you had in Iowa. Are you sort of like looking might look looking at the box with less guys in it salivating? To me to me I don’t look at it. I look at it as it don’t matter to me. I’m going to go and be myself no matter what, you know. So, why were you guys able to be successful running the ball there even though the defense knew what was coming? Um, because I feel like, you know, I always, you know, my line, you know, and just really everybody just trusting each other and really I’m really building relationship with my line and really just making them trust me that I’ll get it done no matter what and who’s in front of me. So, K, during your pro day, Mike Tomlin said that you you said if you draft me, I’m looking forward to that back on back. Yeah. Is that true? Uh, and and why did you say that though? You know, because I that’s the first thing I saw on Twitter was Jaylen, you know, taking one of the linebackers out and it was I was hype. So, I really I really want to show people what I can do and show people that I’ve been working on pass protection and I’m really ready to get better every day and, you know, just working every day to, you know, to get better. So, you’re eager for that drill? Yeah, I’m very eager. I want to show them what I can do and what I’ve been learning and, you know, just really learn from the best. You think Do you think he’ll send one of his hitmen one-on-one against? I know he is. I know he is and I’m ready for it. So, Is Jayen been good about giving you tips on how to block and not have it in your pocketbook? Every day earlier today, uh, doing work walkthroughs, he was just showing me like after the bag, like I said, we was going to go and hit the bag and stuff like that after practice. So, you know, just little things like that and showing showing him showing me like his ins and outs of what he do. So, really, that’s really it, you know, just learning every day from him, taking it day by day, you know. Interesting uh perspective there from Caleb Johnson. Sometimes rookies maybe don’t or aren’t as aware as they need to be of everything they need to know. But yeah, he wants to be on the field as much as possible. We all know he’s a tremendous runner. One cut outside zone. He burst and big play potential, all that. But if you want to be a pass catcher, and he says that’s a hidden talent of his because they really didn’t throw to him in Iowa. We haven’t seen that part of his game. But if you want to be able to establish that, you better be able to block. Yes. Yes, they’re not you’re not going to be on the field in passing situations if they don’t trust you to protect the quarterback. And that’s where he has to start earning that trust. Backs on backers. Yeah, you got to earn that trust because listen, you’ve got to pay attention to your offensive line when it comes to those pass blocking situations because there’s going to be schematics where he might be thinking he has that guy in the hole, but second that guy walks up into the line of scrimmage, whether it’s shotgun or not, usually you’re going to have what we call a squeeze or a down block, where the guard is going to take that inside gap, the tackle’s going to come to the next, and you’re going to have to deal with that defensive end or the outside backer one-on-one. And it’s not going to be, oh, I’m IDing the inside backer. You might get the outside back, you might get a D end every once in a while. So being in tuned and ready to either go cross motion if there if if there’s a remike ID saying that Aaron doesn’t like it with the mic being to the right, he wants the mic to the left and then now all of a sudden you’re on the left, you can’t shift because the play clock’s down. So you got to be able to as soon as that ball snap readjust and figure out where that guy’s going to be. So these are things that are nuanced that get you on the field. Jaylen Warren, we talk about what made him so special. Backs on backers. him willing to go dig everybody out. We called him the ballard buster. That’s what that’s what Wolf affectionately called him was a ballot buster because once he got in there, you could run into him, but you weren’t running through him and you weren’t running past him very often. He was going to stick to you and he was going to get the block off. And that’s what made Jaylen such a big effective part in the third down passing game. And you hope Caleb can also assume that mantle as well. That’s why he’s kind of sticking in his ear and listening to what Jaylen Warren has to tell him. Yeah. And of course that’s how Jaylen Warren, he was a undrafted rookie. Yeah. And nobody really knew who he was until that first backs on backers drill, his rookie camp. And then Mike Tomlin saw a guy who was willing to uh stick his face in the fan and he wanted to see what else that guy could do. And here we are. Here we are, year three. He’s your he’s your he’s your lead number one running back right now. So, it just goes to show that effort is not does not go unnoticed. And something as small as a backs on backers drill can catch a coach’s eye and can put you on that quote unquote conveyor belt going upwards in the ascending track and getting opportunities. But you got to handle your business at first out here before they can trust you in stadiums on Sunday. How do you sus how do you suspect that running back uh division labor is going to play out? I mean, Warren is number one on the depth chart right now, but a big investment in Caleb Johnson. uh maybe higher upside potential in Caleb Johnson, but uh established track record for Warren. Uh not just but what he’s going to do, but how he’s going to do it. You know, you’re going to get the tenacity and yeah, the allout effort. Uh you think it’s going to play out 50/50? You think uh Johnson gradually takes over or do you think it’ll be sooner rather than later? I I I think it would be I think with Warren still have if it works out have a significant role still and it’ll just be on a I feel like a series by series type of basis. the hot running back at that time. If you’ve got a beat on the defense, I think that guy gets the lion share that week. I don’t think there’s no consistent depth. I think it’s a week- toeek rolling depth because I think there’s going to be certain situations where you’re going to need to depend on a Kenneth Gainwell and get him out there because he’s explosive. He’s a proven playmaker, especially in those sub downs. Yes, you want Caleb Johnson to be able to play three downs, but I think going into it, you assume a Jaylen Warren is your is your three down back. Caleb can build to a three down back. And I think Kenneth is a guy who’s your change up, change of pace, second and third down situational kind of gimmick guy. You don’t want to call it gimmick cuz like screens are not really gimmicks, but screen check down pre-esigned runs. Move him into the slot type of situations. Um, so I see that labor being heavy Jaylen at the beginning and evening out as the season progresses with Johnson. And a lot of that will be up to Johnson, right? I mean, yeah, be up to what he can handle, what his health looks like, and how well he’s assimilating to the NFL game and speed. Uh I’m surprised he ended up going uh low. I thought he would be a second round pick. I did too. But but this was also a draft where you had so many running backs and it was literally like buildback. Um when we were going through the draft process when I was doing the coverage on ESPN, we had a list. Do you know how many guys we had gradable grades on going into the draft? 32 running backs. A lot of them. That’s a lot. and and years past normally it’s 15 maybe 20 of them get graded but we had 32 gradable backs and so really if you were a team you knew the value was going to come day two and day three of the draft early to get a really really good running back and luckily Caleb Johnson falls to us um in that situation but we saw a lot of first round running backs go in this draft so you just assumed the role was going to keep on going but teams also got conscious that there were some thinner positions then you saw kind of the shift of the other positions kind of getting the priority defensive lineman. There was a lot of them that went off the board and so it kind of depressed the running back picks, but to our to our credit, we were able to sit there and wait and not have to go up and get Caleb Johnson. Caleb Johnson fell to us and I think we got a fantastic back in the process. Steelers ran the ball a lot last year. They were persistent. Yes. Uh what has to happen for them to be more effective doing it? Yeah, the efficiency. I mean, the offensive line’s a year older, so I think that experience there is going to help everybody. And with that, having also smart, high IQ quarterback play helps that as well. A quarterback who knows how to get rid of the ball, whether sometimes you’re checked into the run and you need to throw it now because you see the off coverage of a defender that’s not playing press and it’s like, I can get this here because that three technique right here where we’re running the ball looks looks pretty mean and and pretty lthered up. We need to we need to take a little something off of him. So you throw the now to get that and then now teams play more on their heels than they do on their toes and that allows for more effective run plays. And you know having Mason McCory and Zack Frasier a year more together. They’re in concert with each other. Troy Fanu being inserted on that right side. You’re going to see a lot of strong right side emphasis run because Falano is just a big stout. I mean you look at his legs very thicklegged dude that can move people out of place. and putting brick in more a natural position at left I think will highlight his athleticism. So I think all of those things kind of are going to play with the efficiency of the run game this year. Yeah. Some of us uh talked with Troy Fatanu today Max uh during the lunchtime media availability session and a lot of the question hey you guys are kind of short relatively speaking for offensive lineman and you guys are kind of like for offensive lineman relatively speaking and you guys don’t have a whole lot of experience for offensive lineman relatively speaking and uh you know Fotano’s response was well yeah but they’ve been playing football a long time these guys not necessarily NFL football but at the And you know, at the end of the day, to use that cliche, it’s it’s still X’s and O’s. It’s still kind of the same thing. And uh he thinks uh their athleticism is going to be valuable. And uh I tend to agree with him. You know, it seems to me that lines are evolving all around the league into more athletic groups. Yeah. You don’t have those monster mammoth guys anymore. Yeah. McM are not walking around there as much on the field. I mean, they they seem to be on the defensive side of the ball, but on the offensive side of the ball, you’re seeing a leaner guys. And think got to be able to move. Yeah. Well, think about his late 90s, like, you know, Mike Shanahan’s crew at Denver. None of them were the size of anybody of their era. They were all undersized linemen. They used a lot of zone. They were quick. They were slashing. And Terrell Davis, I believe he’s a Hall of Famer running behind those smalish offensive linemen. So, it depends on the scheme, not necessarily the personnel. The personnel is going to fit, you know, whatever’s asked of them. But I think this crew is one that can run man gap and can be power at the point of attack. But I think they’re athletic enough that they can do more zone concepts. And I think that’s where Jaylen Warren plays big. That’s where Caleb Johnson’s going to be really big with his speed, the onestep cutbacks. And of course Kenneth Gainwell as well. He’s more of a scat back type. So when you look at the running back personnel, this line kind of fits a lot of those principles that they should be able to run now. It’s going to be outside zone more than anything else, right? I think outside zone. I think a little bit of uh uh of influence zone where you kind of have that one guy coming back with the one step predetermined uh cut back and I still think there’s going to be a good amount of gap power with Mason McCormack pulling around to the left side. So I think a lot of weak side power um is going to be the strength of this team as I’m just looking at it. I think Isaac Camalu you know albeit he’s an older veteran can still get the job done but the power comes from the right side. So I think I expect more weak counter than strong side counter coming out of this group. And uh you touched on this briefly a minute ago, but uh educate me a little more if you can. Uh they call a running play in the huddle. Yeah. And Aaron Rogers gets to the line of scrimmage and he looks at the defensive formation and he says, “Okay, this run is not working against this look. What happens next?” Next step, I mean, you usually you would know on the sidelines, you would have talked. So you can either send in what we call a double play which you know they’ll send you in two run plays and it’ll be a either or right or left style run based on where a three technique is for instance right we want to run in the B gap with a three technique sitting in the B gap be a lot harder to run that play correct so now we need to shift it to the opposite side where you have a a nose that’s that’s in between the center and the guard and the B gap between the guard and the tackle is free so now is either what we call a kill or a switch play or you send in a run and then you throw a quick pass because based on their schematics, there’s a mismatch to the weak side, so you want to take advantage of it. So, you’ll switch to that type of play. But that’s usually how you handle it. Now, two-minute situations, there’s a whole menu in the twominute, right? And the no huddle situations, you have a menu of plays, and it’s up to the quarterback’s discretion in those type of situations. But traditional call-in plays, if there’s an issue, you’ve ran it before, it didn’t work. Usually the next thing that comes in is what we call a quick a quick a kill switch or double play that comes in to account for that. How much more do you think that’ll come into play this year? I know last year when Justin Fields was playing, he told us a couple times, hey, if Arthur calls a running play, we’re running that play. Uh wasn’t a lot of deviation and sometimes they uh you know, ran into a brick wall. Yeah, that won’t happen this year. Now, now not now with number eight at quarterback. Not sure how much Russell Wilson changed things up when he was playing, but you think a little bit more freedom, not you know, not to make it up as you go along, but to maybe color outside the lines or at least on a different page. We just call that latitude. He gets a little bit more latitude with the offense. And that comes from study, confidence, and conversations. Well, and just having seen it, right? I mean, yeah. Yeah. We just haven’t had the opportunity to know what it is. Aaron Rogers has seen every possible permutation of a defense in his entire career. There’s nothing you can put under the sun in front of him unless you line up 11 DBs on the field or something like that. Something crazy like he’s seen it all and they’ve tried everything. Especially in that NFC North, you know, you don’t think Green Bay’s tried every type of way to figure out how, you know, how to how to attack him because Chicago and and Minnesota and Detroit are going to throw it at him. He’s seen it in practice. Then he goes out and he sees it in games and even when he doesn’t necessarily see it, he adjusts it quickly because you know if a team has success once, they’re going to try and run it to death against you and he picks it up really quickly. So I don’t see this being something where they’re like, “Hey Aaron, this is our playbook and that’s it.” They’re going to say, “Hey Aaron, here’s what we’re thinking. What are your thoughts?” And he’ll be able to add his two cents. Like you said, well, I think I need we need to carry a a second play into this huddle if we’re going to call this play. Let’s let’s plan on worst case scenario and let’s send in a different play whether I’ll be at a a a pass to the backside or a run to the opposite side just so we give ourselves the best chance of success. Yeah. And I don’t think he’s going to go out there and want to throw it 65 times game. Not at this point in his career. But just that you’re right, you know, and yeah, it’s a it makes a big difference. And sorry about that. Um, but you also you carry code words into every single play that’s already a part of the offense. If you do get overload type situations, right? You know, you’ll get different ones and you know, I know you’re going to love this one. Orange and blue. I like one of them. I mean, but both of them, both of them together is immaculate, right? But orange and blue was something that we called because the second letter obviously in those words R and L, right and left. So you wanted to pick a word that had pretty complicated. Guys can pick up on that. Yeah. Yeah. No, they don’t. No. Defensive linemen are not as smart as offensive linemen. But you know, you carry an orange and blue or they, you know, there’s other code words you’d use because it’s for overload left, overload right, and there is a full slide that goes on and a different package that comes in. But you have that deployable at any play. There’s certain trigger plays and trigger situations where you’re going to have time to be able to adjust on the fly and account for those unfortunate situations where you get overload blitz or you get something that you don’t feel comfortable with um on the field and you can adjust on the fly that’s always carried and then you like I said you’ll do the kill switch or combo plays that will come in as well if you see something and we want to stay within rhythm uh for for the game flow. another guy that was on the uh well I shouldn’t say on the practice field for the first time because uh Chuck Clark made it here on Friday. He got he got into uniform after they acquired him. He got down onto the field, didn’t get any reps, but uh yesterday he got a lot of reps and uh one of the guys who knows Chuck Clark really well is fellow Steeler safety now Deshawn Elliott who spent some time playing with Chuck Clark in Baltimore. Deshawn Elliott also spent some time playing with Jaylen Ramsay in Miami. So, who better to ask about Chuck Clark and Jaylen Ramsay than Deshawn Elliot? A couple of us did that uh this week. I know it’s early, but what do you what have you seen from Chuck so far? Uh he’s smart. I’ve been on Chuck for seven years now. So, he’s smart. He works hard. Ask questions. Uh fast, physical guy. You know, we got I’m ready. I’m I’m ready to see him play. Honestly, he came out here yesterday, started off the plane, did what he needed to do. So, I’m excited to have him here. Honestly, that’s one of my best runs. Having Jaylen Ramsay’s versatility, what is Jaylen Ramsey’s versatility? What’s that add to this secondary? What does it add to that? To the secondary, man, a lot. I mean, you know, last year I was doing a lot of moving around. So, we got a couple guys who have that ability. Obviously, he’s a potential gold jacket. Him playing nickel, safety, corner, dime, whatever it is. So, whatever you ask him, he can do it. He’s extremely smart. Y’all know his physical intangibles. You see, he had a pick today. He made it look easy. So, I’m happy to have him here. I play played with him Miami. I know what he’s going to do. I know what he’s going to bring to the table. So, he’s going to make our defense that much better. Pass game and run game. That was Deshawn Elliot on uh Chuck Clark and Jaylen Ramsey. Let’s start with Ramsey, Max. Uh Deshawn Elliott referenced the interception yesterday. It was a uh play action bootleg left by Aaron Rogers. And uh from what I’ve seen in the brief window I’ve had to watch Aaron Rogers, I think he’s going to be capable to bootleg to his left or to his right and throw on the run. And in this particular instance, I thought he made a pretty good throw, but Ramsay just sniffed it out and attacked it. Yeah. I mean, aggressive play. That was a really good interception as opposed to a what are you doing throwing that pass. Yeah, exactly. He he didn’t throw it’s not like Aaron threw a wounded duck out there which we’ve seen plenty of those out here in the training camp over the last couple of years. We’re just like what is that ball doing in the air like somebody should at least pick that off. This one was what it was like hey this play is about to be really good for the offense and all of a sudden Jaylen Ramsey just comes swarming in and makes it a great play for the defense instead. That was for Johnny Smith by the way. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was it was a it was it was a shallow it was a shallow what we um now I’m trying to it’s called um not a fade route but um it was a leak out like he kind of went in and kind of came out down the line. Um I’ll get into game mode and and pass I had to go read my route tree all over again but it was a shallow cross play that was supposed to flow with him and be a dump off intermediate and create layered play behind it. Um but yeah Jaylen Ramsay playing it sniffing it out veteran. You’re talking about a top 100 NFL player there. uh you’re not going to fool him for very long and he has the makeup speed to be able to catch up to anybody. That’s why you heard Deshawn talk about whether we have him at dime, nickel, corner, safety, you name it, he can do it. I mean, it sound like he was, you know, I mean, there was there was all superlatives there and he’s a guy that he’s played with him in the defensive structure. So, he knows what he brings to the table and uh Jaylen Ramsey continued to make plays out here, which is why you brought him in. you you know Mike Thomas I’m not going to get excited about those type of things because that’s what I expect them to do and he did what he was expected to do and there you get a good look at Chuck Clark who practiced yesterday for the first time and uh from what I saw Max I saw him on both sides of the field so I’m guessing that means he played both safety positions uh I saw him blitz on at least one occasion from the box and I saw him even spend a little time in center field uh I’m envisioning that he battles for the third safety job and and with the amount amount of experience he’s bringing to the table. If he is healthy, and he insists, Chuck Clark does, that he is healthy, that he is the player he was before that knee injury that cost him the entirety of the 2023 season. Uh there’s, you know, 100 something games and 75 starts, give or take, in the NFL. Yeah. It brings a lot of knowhow to the table and 12 and 12 starts last year, uh with the Jets alone. So, I mean, when you’re talking about that and we’re talking about the structure, right? I mean, we’re not going to get it down into breaking this down to a 53man roster already, but you need at least four corners. Need at least three to four safeties as well. So, you need eight guys in that room essentially. And when I say third safety, I’m not counting Ramsay in that group. Yeah. You know, we’re not counting him, but that’s the body count that you’re going to need. Eight bodies that can play um those four positions and be truly too deep at every single one of them. That’s what you’re looking for here at camp. So that secondary, you know, we have a we talk about it being a very depthri squad and and position group. They’re going to need at least eight that come out of that group and however that shakes out. And Chuck Clark’s a guy looks like to get himself in the mix early and has shown why they brought him in and identified him as a as a person of interest so early into camp. And it wasn’t like somebody had to get injured and they need to fill a slot and somebody’s off the couch. He was high priority. Came in here. I mean, you’re talking about day two of camp. you know, they’re waving a guy to get him in here and fill that slot. So, um, good sign for that. Hope he continues to stay healthy and continue to put his hand in the pile. Like you said, we’ve seen him a lot over the years when he was a Baltimore Raven. And then, of course, you know, spending his last stint with the New York Jets. I think he’s on the team if he establishes that he is as healthy as he told us he was today. He’s still got to be able to to play, but and pads will be a big equalizer. We’ll see on Tuesday how healthy you are. It’s been, you know, a tough uh year and change for him. uh missed all 23 and he missed five games last year. I think it was a high ankle sprain. Yeah. Uh but he was healthy in his career before that and uh not just the the experience factor, Max, but the familiarity. Uh how far does that go? The Steelers have collected a lot of football cards here and they’re they’re throwing them in the same pile. Guys knowing each other from previous stops. Does that accelerate the the coalescing of the secondary? Yeah, that definitely speeds up the cohesion process, right? the bonding that’s necessary when you have guys who have crossover experience with each other. You know, they can communicate a lot differently because you have past prior experience. You know, you talked about, you know, Deshawn Elliot saying that’s one of his best friends. I think I think when the Steelers were looking at Chuck Clark, they probably said, “Hey Deshawn, what do you think of Chuck?” And he probably said, “That’s one of my best friends, man. He knows me better than anybody else.” Oh, we need that type of guy here, right? If we’re going, especially at the safety position, right? Think about Troy and Troy and RC. Troy and C Hope like there had to be an intimate knowledge and if you have an experience or you have a wavelength with a guy that goes a long way to translating on the football field because you’re going to communicate in ways that not everybody can see and not necessarily going to be verbal because you have to be able to react and when you have a guy you’ve played with, they know how you tick and they know how you you know how they tick and they know how you tick. You know, I think this is kind of coincidental, but uh Steelers seem to be collecting Ravens this off season. Yeah. I mean, it’s bird hunting season, right? I guess I guess is what it is. And uh Ravens, Eagles, we got Falcons, we got it all. We asked uh Chuck Clark about that today and uh he said, “Hey, those uh Ravens Pittsburgh games, quote, they were tough physical games. I remember days after those games, everybody being beat up.” Yes. Both sides, no matter who won, didn’t matter. And he also uh we all lost even even though one side won. We all lost at the end of the day because you know it it was you know what what what one of my friends would call he’s like you wake up with bloody sheets like you find wounds and stuff that you didn’t think about you know it’s like oh man I’m just saying like you got you got cleed and you don’t think cuz you’re in the moment you got adrenaline and you had long socks on but then you wake up in the morning like oh man I was like oh I was bleeding forgot to forgot to cover that up. There’s an off day tomorrow. uh last day of uh the first week here today. How far along are they in terms of uh things being installed? Uh and what uh do you anticipate? Will there be some things today that we haven’t seen yet? Yeah, there’ll still be some things today because I think one of the biggest things, you know, when you get into training camp is acclamation period. You’re taking subsets of of your offense and your defense. So you’ll focus on first down as a more basal concept, but then you’ll break it down into zone run first down, gap run, first down, and then you’ll run into screen game, first down, and then go from there. And I think by the end of this acclamation, you’ll see everything but like goal line and short yardage installed for the playbook as a whole. And then you’ll start to see more nuance where we get more motion, bringing guys in and out. I think you’ll see more of the formation switches more so than actual concept switches. So by Tuesday it should be everything’s on the table. Have at it. Yeah. Except for goal line. Like goal line will be one. I think they preview it at Friday night light. So they’ll build up to goal line and short yardage. But everything else in your base offense and defenses should be there. Run pass and run pass defense. That’s going to do it for uh today’s show. Uh reminder uh no practice tomorrow. So uh we won’t be back here until Tuesday. Hey, until then, thanks for finding us uh on whatever of the Steeler social media platforms you’re finding us. For Max Starks, I’m Mike Pursuda. This has been Training Camp Live brought to you by FedEx. Good afternoon, everyone.

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