Steelers Camp News: Aaron Rodgers & Roman Wilson DOMINATE + Jonnu Smith & Will Howard Get INJURED

Steelers Camp News: Aaron Rodgers & Roman Wilson DOMINATE + Jonnu Smith & Will Howard Get INJURED

Another [Music] day and another practice in Latroe at Steelers training camp. And today we got our Tuesday practice report for you guys right here on Steelers Talk. There was multiple new injuries for the Steelers today. We’ll cover those at the top of today’s show. And then Aaron Rogers, Roman Wilson, and the Steelers offense had their best day yet. I can’t wait to break down what happened in the Trobe this afternoon with you guys right here on the show. But before we get into the content today, earlier today, we did put out a video where I reacted to the first unofficial depth chart that the Pittsburgh Steelers put out uh in preparation for their Saturday night preseason game versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. There’s some interesting uh takeaways that I had from that. So, if you want to check that out, I have the link to that in the comments and description of today’s show. I’m also going to put the chip in the top right. So, if you want to check that out, you guys can do so. And make sure you guys click that subscribe button and join us here on Steelers Talk this season for daily and in-depth Steelers coverage, every injury report, uh, every big story, every trade, everything that happens this year. And of course, we’re going to have our live watch parties every single Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, make sure you guys click that subscribe button to never miss a video and never miss a watch party. So, first, let’s go over some of the injury updates that we have for you guys today. And there was a couple of new injuries to discuss uh there in Latroe at Steelers practice today. Uh John Smith, the tight end, left with some knee soreness. Head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t sound too uh concerned about it. I think he’ll be back at practice. If not tomorrow, then later in the week. Then we got Will Howard, the quarterback. Apparently, he injured his throwing hand on a quarterback center exchange today in the second team period. He had to leave practice uh and he’s currently being evaluated. So hopefully Howard’s going to be able to play uh in Saturday’s preseason game. And then Ben Scorronic, uh he was being checked out by trainers at some point during practice. I can’t remember uh if he was if he left practice or if he stayed in, but that’s another one to keep your eye out for because that’s the second time Scoranics uh had to be checked out by trainers so far in camp. Some other players uh that did not practice at all today, Calvin Austin the third, the wide receiver, had sat out his third straight practice. Alex Heismith sat out his second straight practice. Jaylen Ramsey had his first vet day uh today. And then Cory Trice Jr., Dante Kent, two corners currently dealing with injuries. And then Calvin Anderson currently dealing with an injury at the offensive tackle position. Then Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay were both on the practice field today. Now Slay isn’t dealing with an injury, but they were both limited today. And you know, that’s okay because we’ve been seeing some of these veterans, Cam Hayward, TJ Watt, get some limited reps to give uh some other younger players uh some opportunities to play with the first team defense. And that seemed to be the case today for both of these guys. Joey Porter Jr. and Slay are both uh relatively healthy at this point. It’s nice to see Joey Porter Jr. get back on the practice field after a couple of days off. Then we get to uh the seven shots breakdown today and it was the best performance for the offense during seven shots throughout the entire camp. Aaron Rogers was three for three throwing touchdowns to DK Metaf, Janu Smith, and Roman Wilson. He had the scramble on that second one, the Janu. And apparently he threw a really impressive sidearm touchdown where Roman Wilson had a sliding catch for the TD. So three for three for Rogers today. Then rookie Caleb Johnson had a rushing touchdown as well with the second team. JJ Galbrath was tackled short out of the line uh by Chuck Clark who made a nice play. Uh Will Howard threw a touchdown to Brandon Johnson. And then Jack Sawyer had a stuff and a forced fumble on the final play of seven shots today, meaning the offense won today’s period 5-2, but the defense still leads the the battle in terms of the camp uh 5 to3. Uh so now let’s go over to the offensive side of the ball here with some takeaways. Uh I thought it was the best day for the offense yet, guys. um running the football, passing the football, it just all seemed to click for this unit from one-on- ons to the team periods to seven shots. It was the best day that we have seen from the Steelers offense in training camp to this point. And it’s nice to see that this unit is starting to gel a little bit and starting to really progress and get better as these weeks go on. And that has been something that we have seen from this offense is that it has continuously gotten better throughout the course of Steelers training camp so far. And you know, granted, you know, when you don’t have Jaylen Ramsay out there and then Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Sle are limited, uh, in terms of the reps that they take in the team periods and you have guys like James Pierre out there, Brandon Eckles, you know, so, you know, your backup corners out there. Um, it certainly helps the first team offense, you know, identify open wide receivers, uh, and stuff like that. Um, so, you know, I think that it’s still a good thing that you see the Steelers, uh, offense, you know, kind of have a good day today because if you don’t have Joey Porter Jr., Darius Slay and Jaylen Ramsey out there, you should have a good day as a passing unit. But it was also the run game that was doing some good things out there as well. But I want to stay focused here on the passing game with quarterback Aaron Rogers who really found his groove today. All right, Rogers, we’ve been covering it on the show here. He’s had some inconsistencies with accuracy and being on the same page with his receivers. Uh but we’ve also said to not panic about that because it’s still early in camp. He’s still developing chemistry with his new guys here in Pittsburgh. And today was Rogers’s best day from an accuracy perspective. And honestly, it wasn’t really close. And he was uh just dealing all day long down the field shots on digs, on fades, on corners, on all these different types of routes to a bunch of different guys. He was getting the ball to Scotty Miller and Roman Wilson and DK Metaf and Pat Frimouth. He was distributing the ball extremely well. He was reading the defense very well. Um, and it’s exactly the type of play that you’re expecting out of Aaron Rogers coming here to the Steel City here in 2025. And if you don’t just believe me, even Ryan Clark, uh, ESPN host, that’s a former Steelers, Super Bowl champion with this football team, one of Mike Tomlin’s best friends, is even starting to believe. And he has been a big-time critic of Aaron Rodgers in the past. But today, he visited Steelers training camp in Latroe, and he tweeted this out during Steelers practice. I can confirm it. Aaron Rogers can still really throw the football. It’s crazy in person. And then he even talked about how there’s shades of football of Super Bowl that he remembers back in 2011 uh 2010 2011 where he says that he had some flashbacks to that. So, if Ryan Clark is talking optimist optimism when it comes to Aaron Rogers and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, you know, uh, that there’s a lot of optimism in that building with Mike Tomlin, with Aaron Rogers, with all these guys that they have assembled on this offensive unit this year. And guys, I Rogers just keeps getting better throughout Steelers training camp this year. And this is what you want to see from him, all right? Because he’s coming in, he didn’t have an offseason program. I mean, not really with the Steelers. He showed up to mandatory mini camp and he only did the individual stuff. So, you know, he’s really taken his first team reps, his real first real football reps uh since January in this training camp. And you know, what you want to see from him is that as the camp goes on and the more reps he takes with these guys, the better that he gets. And that’s certainly been the case specifically with DK Metaf here, Alex Kazora from Steelers Depot had this really nice breakdown here uh of the stats that Aaron Rogers and DK Metaf have been able to do through the first two weeks. that first week, the first four practices, they had four receptions on 10 targets for a 40% completion percentage. Just nine total yards on those four receptions, two touchdowns. Uh, and both of those were during seven shots. And then the last four practices, not including today, by the way. This is just last week, 12 receptions for 19 on or on 19 targets. That’s well over 50% completion percentage. 176 yards and four touchdowns including 40 and 55 yard scores between the new quarterback wide receiver one pairing here in Pittsburgh. And then you know outside of DK Metaf you can just take a look at the training camp stats here for Aaron Rogers. And guys take these with a grain of salt. It is training camp of course but you guys can see the growth because week one for Aaron Rodgers was pretty rough. You know 23 of 40. He was kind of dumping it off a lot. Uh wasn’t getting a lot of stuff downfield. just 123 yards in four practices, six touchdowns, and two picks for 3.2 yards per attempt. But then those numbers jump and they get a little bit better in week two where even though the completion percentage goes down, but that’s actually because he’s throwing the ball down the field more often, he gets a lot more yardage, he gets the same amount of touchdowns, and he protected the football uh in week two with no interceptions throughout last week’s slate of practices for 4.9 yards per attempt. And then, you know, also Rogers, this is not even uh, you know, taking into account what he was doing today on the first day of week three of Steelers training camp practices, which in my opinion was by far his best day in Latrobe so far. So now, uh, Rogers is really off to a great start here in week three, and that’s what you really want to see. Uh, you want to continue to see him get better and better and better as training camp goes on, and I think that’s exactly what we’re seeing from QB1, uh, as camp goes on there in Latroe. Um, so that’s really good to see that from uh one probably a top five quarterback in in in NFL history. Um, and if you guys want to get his jersey this year, guys, you guys can check us out here. You can get this Aaron Rogers jersey when you use our link chatports.com8. If you use that link, uh, you guys can get uh that Aaron Rogers jersey today. And it also helps out the channel because every time you click that link, chatports.com8, that is down in the comments and description of today’s show. and you make a purchase, we get part of the proceeds of that. So, thank you guys so much for all of your support. And then also, uh, Fanatics usually has a couple of, uh, back to school deals. Usually, if you use promo code class or dorms, you guys can get 25% off that jersey. So, if you guys want to go to chatsports.com8 today and pick up this jersey for 25% off, you can do just that. And something that was really encouraging today, guys, that wasn’t just Aaron Rogers and him finding a connection with all of his receivers and his tight ends today, but specifically with Roman Wilson, because Roman Wilson, there’s a lot of expectations being put on him heading into his second NFL season because he really didn’t do anything in his first year. and without going out and getting, you know, another veteran wide receiver after they traded away George Pickkins, you know, Roman is really expected to step up into that true kind of quote unquote wide receiver two role, specifically on early downs because he is a really good run blocker. But to this point in camp, Rogers and Roman really didn’t have much of a connection at all. Just a couple of completions together and both of them were within five yards of the line of scrimmage. But today, multiple downfield receptions from Aaron Rogers to Roman Wilson. Roman also had his first touchdown of camp today uh in seven shots on a nice sliding catch that we talked about earlier. Uh they had a 30-yard dig route today, which was awesome uh to see that those two were able to connect on that. And apparently Roman was cooking people on the one-on- ones today. So to see Roman Wilson really step up into that quote unquote wide receiver two role, especially with Calvin Austin the third not practicing today was really good to see. And after being ranked the wide receiver four or wide receiver five or wide receiver six, uh depending on where you interpret where he was on that first unofficial depth chart for the Steelers, I think that’s really good news for Roman Wilson that he had his best day of camp so far. And I think that we can get back on this kind of train where we’re talking about Roman Wilson as a potential wide receiver too. In terms of, you know, being the guy that that’s out there in your 12 personnel sets, the guy that you can trust to run block because I think Calvin Austin III is the second best true receiver on this team because he’s less than 170 pounds. You can’t really trust him out there on early downs as a run blocker. Now, Roman’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he uh, you know, he’s very strong. He plays with a lot of functional strength and he’s a really good run blocker. He did it a ton at Michigan. That’s one of the reasons why the Steelers really like him. And if he can continue to build and foster this relationship and that chemistry with Aaron Rogers and he continues to make these big plays down the field as camp progresses and if he can show out a little bit in these preseason games, it’s not crazy to say whatsoever that Roman Wilson could be the second leading snap getter in the wide receiver room for the Steelers this season. So, where are you guys at? Let me know down there in the comments section. What is your confidence level in Roman Wilson at this point in training camp? Put it on a scale of 1 to 10 for me down there in the comments section. And with that, let’s move over to the rushing game here where I thought that the run game had the best day of camp at least in pads to this point in Latroe. All right, because it was obviously a fully padded practice today and guys like Caleb Johnson, Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, all of them were putting together some really nice runs. Of course, Caleb had that touchdown and seven shots today. Um, and to see Caleb Johnson with his vision and seeing this offensive line start to gel a little bit better as well, it was really a positive sign where, you know, this this run offense to be quite frank with you before today was especially in the padded practices were kind of getting their butts kicked. So, see them kind of bounce back today and really start to show uh some growth in that area both offensive linewise and with the running backs, you know, finding these open lanes and uh taking advantage of opportunities in front of them. I’m really excited uh about this rushing game this year, guys. And I can’t wait to see guys like Caleb Johnson play in the preseason games this year. And then the final offensive takeaway here for me is that Troy Fa Otano is getting sharper because um you know, the guy that he’s going up against every single day in practice, TJ Watt, is one of, if not the best at what he does in the National Football League. And I think that this is a true iron sharpens iron type of situation. uh with Troy Fawutanu going up against TJ Watt on a daily basis in Latroe. All right, I I’m I’m somebody that’s an advocate for iron versus iron, but in order for that to happen, um both sides need to be good. All right, you can’t just have a bad player out there go up against a great player and that bad player all of a sudden gets better. Like that’s not the way that it works. You know, the way that iron sharpens iron works is you got two great players going up against each other and they’re trading wins and they’re and they’re challenging each other. All right. You have to have a challenge for TJ Watt out there to get the most out of him. And you need to give Troy Futano a legitimate challenge. And I can’t think of a better challenge for a young offensive tackle than putting him up against TJ Watt every single day. So, Fawutano did a really good job on Watt today. He’s been doing a pretty darn good job on him all camp. If I’m being completely frank with you, and if he stays healthy and if he stays on the field, I have no reservations whatsoever about what he’s going to be able to do as this team’s starting right tackle this season. Now, before we get into our defensive takeaways here, guys, make sure you click that thumbs up icon if you are enjoying today’s show and if you believe in the Steelers offense heading into the 2025 season. Today was their best day in camp. Uh they’ve had a couple of good days. Um but mostly it’s been dominated by the defense. Hopefully, uh today’s showing kind of shows that this team and this offense is growing together. Uh but if you’re with me on that and you’re optimistic about this team and this offense, click that thumbs up icon to like today’s show. All right, so now we’re on to the defensive takeaways here. Starting with Jaylen Ramsay’s impact, uh, which was on full display today. All right, this was the first day in Steelers training camp where Jaylen Ramsey has had a day off, and it absolutely showed. All right, and it certainly doesn’t help that Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. are getting kind of limited reps as well. Um, but the second you take Jaylen Ramsay off the field and you know, you stop putting him outside and putting him in the nickel and putting him at safety, you know, kind of using him as your uh kind of Swiss Army knife, you know, is it a coincidence that the second you take him off, Aaron Rogers and this offense immediately start moving the football better. I really don’t think that’s a coincidence, guys. And I think that that just shows just how impactful Jaylen Ramsay is going to be as a defensive player for this team and in this secondary this year. and he’s gonna help take this team from a very good defense to a truly elite unit this year in my opinion, especially with the addition of Darius Slay, especially with Joey Porter Jr. looking like he’s playing a lot better this year in terms of not grabbing and being too physical uh past the line of scrimmage. So, I’m really excited about this secondary, guys. Uh that that that should be very evident at this point. And Rogers and the offense having a better day with those guys off the field give me a lot more confidence about the offense heading into 2025. Then we get to some defensive linemen that really had some good days today. Keano Benson made some noise, especially early on in practice. He had a sack. Uh he had a he had a TFL. The first two plays of team period today were impact plays for Keano Benton. So to see him kind of show out today, that was good to see. And then Derek Harmon, the rookie out of Oregon, uh was back at it today. Man, the one-on- ones, he absolutely dominated, guys. He beat uh Zack Frasier and Mason McCormack really handily. I don’t think he lost in the one-on- ones today. And then also Benton got the sack on that second play of team period today, but that’s because of the of the pressure that Derrick Henry or Dererick Harmon uh was able to produce and get that quick kind of disruption that the Steelers are bringing him in to do. So Dererick Harmon’s had a phenomenal camp. He’s been a big winner of Steelers training camp on the whole, and there’s a reason why he’s already listed as this team’s starting uh defensive end. Then you go to uh the final one here. Uh the final takeaway, which is that the new guy is showing out a little bit here. All right, Daryl Porter Jr., the guy that they just picked up with all the different quarterback injuries that they’re dealing with right now with Cory Trice Jr., Dante Kent, uh you know, down uh for the count right now. You know, they bring in Porter and he was pretty impressive in the one-on- ones today. He was locking up some of the backup receivers for the Steelers today. And then he had a forced fumble on Robert Woods as well. He gave up the catch, but it was tight coverage and then he poked the ball loose. Um, so really good day, first day for Daryl Porter Jr. in a Steelers uniform. Uh, I thought that he uh impressed quite a bit. Uh, so make sure you guys click that thumbs up icon and make sure you guys click that subscribe button. But of course, if you’re a real one and you made it to the end of today’s practice report, uh, get down there in the comment section and let us know you made it. Uh, type those real ones in all caps down there in the comments section so we can give you some love down there in the comments section. And that’ll be it for today’s edition of Steelers Talk by Chat Sports and our practice report here on Tuesday. Make sure you guys click that subscribe button because we’re going to have extensive Steelers coverage all throughout the week. Uh so if you don’t want to miss any of that, click that subscribe button. Until next time, guys. Here we go. Steelers. [Music]

Pittsburgh Steelers training camp news on Tuesday, August 5th, revolves around an excited Steelers practice in Latrobe where new QB Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Roman Wilson were in a groove this afternoon, and the offense as a whole probably had it’s best day in camp thus far! On today’s show, Steelers Talk host and Chat Sports NFL Analyst Jack Sperry goes over the events of today’s practice & keeps you updated with the latest Steelers injury news with new injuries to Jonnu Smith and Will Howard being added to an injury list that already includes Alex Highsmith among others.

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