Watch Steelers Training Camp Practice on July 25 | Training Camp Live | Pittsburgh Steelers

Watch Steelers Training Camp Practice on July 25 | Training Camp Live | Pittsburgh Steelers

You are looking live at St. Vincent College in Latro, Pennsylvania in Steelers Training Camp 2025. It is Friday, July the 25th. Day three on campus, day two on the practice field. Well, good afternoon everyone and welcome to training camp live brought to you by FedEx. I’m Mike Pursuda joined again today by Max Starks. We are here to talk about the opening of camp yesterday, at least the onfield opening of camp yesterday and also what we might expect today as uh the Steelers begin to gain a little bit of traction, Max, but uh maybe not more than that. No, it it’s still the acclamation period. It’s still a time where the team’s still getting to know each other, right? This is still I got to wear my hello, my name is name tag to meet everybody on the team and get to acclimated to what the Steelers are trying to be for the 2025 season. Yesterday was a good start, Mike, where we saw guys move around and do footballike things and we’ll get further. I love that phrase, footballike things. Yeah, because let’s face it, I mean, spider shells and shorts, you know, Aaron Aaron Rogers had his head hat on backwards at certain points. So, I think we’re still in that friendly phase where everybody’s trying to get to know each other and kind of get a feel for the coaching staff, how this is going to play, and we’re still in the install period for a lot of these rookies and newcomers to the team. So, it’s a slower pace, but it’s just a from a snail’s place to now a sloth pace. You know, moving a little bit faster than before. Right there. There’s pace. I like how I roll usually. Uh, you mentioned it’s, you know, they’re just starting to install. Well, the one thing that jumped out to me at least, uh, we had spent a lot of time yesterday talking about Jaylen Ramsey and where he’s going to play. Yes. And I listened intently upon my arrival here at St. Vincent to Mike Tomlin, uh, talking about Jaylen Ramsey in his camp opening press conference, and I I went back on the transcript, Max, and counted. Five times he mentioned the word cornerback. Well, I guess slot corner is technically a cornerback, but I didn’t I didn’t see him outside yesterday. I saw him at safety and I saw him in the slot. Yeah, I’m hoping the outside stuff is to come and I think that’s what it is. You’re still this once again sloth like you said, right? Sloth pace to get guys acclimated. I think you have to fit a guy where they are. Darius Slay came here first, right? So, he’s going to be the guy that they put on the outside first. I think for Jaylen Ramsey late ad and you know that when you have a void like Aminka Fitzpatrick that you’re now trying to say, okay, well, how do we get these three guys on the field at the same time? Like, what does it look like? I think the easiest thing is Jaylen Ramsey is a very physical guy. There we go. Getting the crowd hyped up already coming down. Janu Smith. Yep. That’s Jonnu and not participant yesterday, but here he is today. Yeah. Yeah. Uh Bert Lton and I gave him a ride up to the dorms. He was getting ready for practice. So, you know, it was good to see him out here. And as you saw, the Steelers youth camp was out here earlier on the turf field on on field number four that we rarely ever used. They were out there doing a little football camp before practice today. They’re easily distinguishable from the actual team. You, you know, because one has youth, one is, and a lot shorter and smaller and non-developed yet, but so seeing those guys come down and now we get the hill, you know, that hill, it’s great when you’re going down, it is it is hell when you’re going back up and especially for if you’re a rookie like trying to get back up the hill with like everybody else’s shoulder pads and helmets and everything that they take off on the field and tell you, “Hey, rook, get it up the hill.” That hill is is a lot of a lot of laughs going down, a lot of crying going back up. This is a a tremendous little Steelers tradition. And I’m sure every camp has its uh idiosyncrasies or it’s its noted traditions and the like, but that path Joe Green walked down those steps. Yeah. I mean, Joe, you think about Joe Green, Terry Bradshaw, right? The great Dwight White, Ernie Holmes, Lynn Swan. I mean, we could just go on. And the one thing that I love that Max Starks, Max Starks once walked those uh hallowed grounds, but every Steelers Super Bowl championship started here and started down there. And that’s one of the things I think that makes it tradition unlike a lot of other places because a lot of other places have now switched back to being at home at their training facility or they go to their stadium and practice. This has been the summer home training camp site for the Steelers for over 50 years. And there’s a lot of tradition that comes with that. And seeing those guys walk down that hill now. Maybe it’s got some new asphalt painted on there since they I think they actually walked down grass, but the path has not changed. Gravel or something. Yeah. The route is the same uh down the steps. I can remember uh a couple years ago uh we were getting ready to go to Friday Night Lights here and uh you know they lined the school buses up at the top of the hill and Sal Antonio was here. here. I think he was representing ESPN and he was looking out across the fields at the at the Laurel Highlands here in the mountains and the sun beginning to set and he was just blown away. Uh he was just babbling about this is so perfect. This is Western Pennsylvania. This is football. I love this. You know, he uh I I always get a kick out of people that come here a for the first time or b uh some guys I know that come every year. Jared Bell from USA Today. He always makes sure he comes back here because and he’s right at the beginning too. Every year it’s not going to be a football season to him. Yeah. Until he sets himself right like, “Hey, before I go out on the road here, I got to touch base at home cuz this place feels like a home for a lot of sports riders and then you go out into the field and disperse.” So, it’s a great tradition. Like you said, the setting, it can’t get any better. Um, and it could get a little cooler and I wouldn’t compare. It can always get cooler. I mean, this morning I thought we were going to have rain. I thought I saw it. I didn’t I didn’t come out here and do my full-on rain dance, but I should have. And it literally dissipated in like two hours. So, it is one of those days where you wish it was just a little bit more overcast, but you appreciate the sunshine because it brings the fans out. Now, you mentioned it’s fun to walk down. Yes. Uh how much fun talk about that a little bit. I mean, these people, they’re lined up before the camp is open to the public. Yeah. They’re lined up out on the road and then they’re standing in those spots where they can just stick their hand out and get a high five for a long time. Yes. And there’s not a lot of shade there. And they’re just relentlessly enthusiastic. Yeah. I mean, I I I love it. It’s it’s one of the things that I’ve like truly enjoyed. Um when I think back about it and even now, you know, even at the end of practice when I’m walking and fans are kind of coming back around and going back to their cars, you know, the fervor and the love that Steeler Nation shows to the players, we hope as players, when I was a player, to just give that back. Whether it’s just that high five, whether it’s a hello, you stop and you just answer a question or sign a kid’s t-shirt or terrible towel and you go through your day. You don’t I don’t realize how much that impact is until now I’m much older and you hear people come back to you say, “Man, Max, I remember when you were at training camp, you were sweating. It was a hot practice and I c and you came back out of the locker room and you signed everybody’s autographs.” Like hearing those type of stories, it’s like, “Well, man, dude, you come out here every day. You bring your kids. you probably took off time from work if it’s during the week to come and make this a special occasion. How could I not want to pay that pay that back to you and spend just a little bit of time? 5 minutes of my time is not going to really hurt my day because I know I can still go get my treatment and everything. It’s not like I’m out there 9:00 at night. I mean, it’s 4:00 in the afternoon. Why not take the extra 15 minutes and do it? And the guys do it. I mean, they drop their pads at the end. They walk around, you know, the base of Chuck Null, the press box there in front of Chuck Nullfield, and they go up and down and they sign or they go up the hill and they sign and it’s just it’s a beautiful thing when you get to see that because that just ingratiates you and makes a deeper bond and connection, the fans and players together. You know, I think Juan Thornhill used those exact words. Beautiful thing. We’re going to hear from him a little later today. He was our camp conversation. Uh there we see another descent uh down to the field. But uh yeah, another another lumberer in the in the O line crew there coming on down the stage. And you know, you got to love that. That’s Max Sharping, a fellow Max walking down uh the field. Um but it’s fun. Talk about how how much it’s not fun going back up particularly after I imagine there were some bad days over the years. Oh, there’s some So one of the things that’s beautiful also about sitting on the field is you can see the mountain ranges in the Laurel Highlands. There’s three distinct ones that you can see. And you know what type of day it’s going to be based on how many of those are visible. The haze. The haze factor. If the haze if you if you see two instead of three, you’re like, “Ah, it’s going to be a little hot.” You see one, it’s like, uh, oh, I’m going to need to go get some some electrolytes. I’m going to need to go put some salt in my system. And then you get to none and you just do this. You just Please, please, somebody save me here because it’s going to be a torrentially hot day. And you’re looking at guys, I mean, you have body weight, like body fluid weight, like shifts of 6 to 12 pounds that you can lose in a single practice. And so that’s why guys have to weigh in and weigh out because you need to know how much water you lost because cramping will become inevitable if you’ve lost anything, you know, above 5 lbs when you’re when you’re having those shifts. And I have cramped walking up that hill. That’s how bad it hurts that if it’s if it’s a bad day, you will cramp on the way up. And guess what? You want me to laugh at your misfortune, but And we’ll hear that a lot. Cramping going up a hill. Yeah. Exactly. It’s like And you don’t fall up if you cramp. You fall back down. So, you want to make sure that you’re on top of your hydration. Make sure that you’re out because it’s it’s a sunny, it’s a hot day. The one thing about being up here in the valley, the humidity traps, so you don’t know that you’re losing as much because your body’s always wet. So, that’s one of the things I caution and that’s why going up the hill is a precarious situation versus going down. Yeah. You have kind of a in the event people watching haven’t been here before and if you’re a Steeler fan, I can’t imagine that you haven’t been because it seems like everybody gets here eventually. But Exactly. As you see behind us, it’s kind of a natural amphitheater type of topography and that it always reminded me of a frying pan about this time of year. Oh yeah. Yeah. When you get and we call we called it the pit. Literally, it’s the pit for pit. So you get down in there and Yeah. you’re in a bowl and everything just hovers below. And I think that’s something that, you know, you don’t take into account if you’re sitting on the hill, you’re higher elevation, so the wind blows through, but the wind doesn’t hit because you’re frocked on on threequarters almost like a horseshoe of land. So it’s like if you catch the opening side, that lower side street level side, you get a little bit of it, but then you lose it immediately. Whereas everybody else, it just blows through and creates a consistent type of uh wind flow. But yeah, down in down in the pit, you don’t get that that same feeling. Of course, this is exactly what uh Mike Tomlin was hoping for when he moved to practices back. They were earlier last year. Uh that was way out of character for how they had done it for years. He didn’t like it. And now it’s back to 155. And you hear a lot of the conversations. Look at that. Zack Fraser signing a little before Morgan Town Mer before he even goes to work. He’s like he’s like, “Hey, I’m going to get on the front end.” You know, I’ll see you guys on the back side, too. You know, we’re going to be all servicing. And that’s what I love about offensive linemen do that. If you notice, we showed an offensive lineman doing that. I haven’t seen a guy in a yellow jersey do that yet. No, no, I don’t know that you will. Uh, look. See, high fives for Pat Queen as he’s running down and Zack Fraser signed an auto. I’m just saying that’s just a good shot right there. We’re lovable guys. We’re lovable guys. Mike, Mike Tomlin talked about uh, you know, wanting to see guys run to the adversity of the heat. Uh, Aaron Rogers talked about, you know, wanting to see them in stressful conditions to see how they react. Uh, it’s not hyperbole, right? I mean, you’re out there and you start to lose it a little bit. And I would imagine since I had never actually practiced down there, it mental part that goes first or threatens to where you just get so hot you can’t think. Well, and you’re going to lean on what you know, right? You always fall back on your training as they call it, right? So, if unless you cramp up and then you’re just unless you you’re just useless, right, at that point. It’s like move the drill up 10 yards, you know? But that’s what you want to do. You want to create as many of these micro microcontrollable environments to where you can put stress on guys in a controlled environment and see how they respond so that when they get into the real stress situation of a game or you’re in a a a crucial drive in the fourth quarter, but you’re in Miami and a one:00 kick. I need you to not lose your mind and go quote unquote native, right? I need you to stay in do what you’ve taught. do what you’ve been what you’ve been kind of told and kind of assessed on and be able to to kind of go under pressure like right be able to make sure that you are doing the assignment you don’t forget anything no matter how tired you are no matter how battered you feel and your body’s kind of given up on you because like you said you’re fighting the attrition inside your body can you still perform under duress right you know they talk about you know Mike Tom always says this pressure either makes diamonds or it bursts pipes I needed to make more diamonds than pipes being burst in that process. So, this is one of those environments where you can kind of micromanufacture it. Let’s uh take a little look back at yesterday from a players perspective. We’ve got a new feature this year on training camp live. We’re calling it our camp conversation. And I was able with new arrivals, one of the recognizable names, uh Juan Thornhill, two time Super Bowl champ in Kansas City, played recently down the road. Yeah. In uh Ohio. Yeah. Not Cincinnati. That place. That place. But uh he’s here in between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Yeah, that place. He’s with the Steelers now. And uh he spent a few minutes yesterday with me down on the field talking about day one. [Music] Welcome to Camp Convo here at Steelers Training Camp 2025, day one in the books. And our guest today here at St. Vincent College, safety Juan Thornnehill. Juan, got to start with the obvious. What do you think of your new summer digs here? I mean, it’s nice, you know, being able to get away, you know, away from, you know, Pittsburgh, coming out here with our teammates, you know, building that relationship and everything. I think it’s it’s great. The environment is amazing. A lot of fans coming out here to support us. It’s it’s truly beautiful when you got people and fans like that behind you. Second obvious question. Uh we dealt with this a little bit with Patrick Queen last year coming from the Ravens to the Steelers. You’re coming from the Browns to the Steelers. I know the NFL is all about change, but really Browns to the Steelers. How’s that working out? It’s great. I’m on the better side. That’s all that matter. I’m on the better side now, you know, to the dark side. So, I’m excited about this opportunity. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Not difficult to flip that switch at all? No. See, the thing is like I’m always where my feet is, you know, like I’m here. I’m not worried about anything in the past, you know? My past is my past. I’m just focusing on it now. You’re a recognizable name. They’ve brought in a lot of those this off seasonason. How is that kind of coalescing process going here in the early going? I mean, got a lot of new pieces, you know, like we all trying to figure it out, learn how to play together. Um, you know, day one I feel like we did we did pretty well. So, it was a hot one for sure, but you know, all the bigname guys, you know, Jaylen stepped up. Uh, like a lot of guys stepped up and made some plays today. Tell us about your day. Uh, looked like that secondary is going to be kind of rotating, fluctuating. Uh, how do you how do you feel like it’s going to sus out before September? You know, like we got guys that can play multiple positions. You know, when you got guys like that, it’s it’s hard to like figure out what’s really going on. You got guys that can play nickel, you got guys that can play safety, can play corner. Literally can mix and match everywhere. So, I think it’s just going to make it a little more difficult for teams to figure out what we’re doing. You know, as we started practice today, we had uh Aaron throw throw us a pick, first play. So, I mean, I I guess we’re doing something right, you know, with a great disguises. He’s seen a lot of football. And I’m surprised he actually threw that interception, though. What’s it like being on a team with that guy at quarterback? Oh, it’s amazing. You know, playing against uh one of the best each and every day is only going to make you better as a defense. You know, like I said before, I said it yesterday, if you’re playing against a quarterback, you know, that’s that doesn’t have a lot of experience and things like that, it’s it’s pretty easy to read them and things like that, and you’re not going to be prepared for the game. But when you got a guy like Aaron, you know, uh, out here that’s seen a lot of football, played in the biggest games, made a lot of big plays, and you see him every single day, is just going to make the game easier. And, uh, center field, you did some of that today. Uh, that’s just part of the job, or is that going to be maybe most of your role? Um, literally, like I said, I’m just going to do what what they ask of me. It just I guess today was a little more center field. I had some opportunities to get down and uh I’m just going to take advantage of every opportunity I got. Juan, we really appreciate you taking a few minutes. Welcome to St. Vincent College. Yeah, thank you so much. Appreciate you. That was safety Juan Thornhill and training camp convo 2025. He did say truly beautiful. Yes, he did. Wonder how it’ll feel in a week and a half. Yeah, exactly. He’s like he’s like it’s truly dreadful. It’s like it’s hot again, you know. But there is a dynamic to it. There’s excitement at first and then when you get to uh the pads that gets uh everybody going and then the first preseason games like oh finally a game and then somebody else I get to hit. You just want a real game after that. Yeah. He’s like I need this to start counting cuz I only got so many. You start ticking off the rep count of your of your quote unquote season life. And I think that’s one of the things and I love hearing that from one thrower like a guy who’s been to multiple places. He’s seen what success looks like, but he also knows what the AFC North is. And I think that’s another thing when you come in and you kind of know what it is when you get into those division games. You’re playing Baltimore, you’re playing Cleveland, you’re playing Cincinnati, you know, he has that feel cuz he’s played them in a different capacity. But I was also happy to hear that he’s so much happier to be quote unquote. I think it’s the light side, not the dark side. We can talk about Star Wars references, but I’ll save that for a different show. Yeah, I kind of always rooted for Vader. I mean, listen, I mean, the voice The voice was outside. Yeah, but I I’m sorry. I mean, you can’t you can’t go past Luke. I mean, you know, Yoda and Mace Wendu. I mean, he had a purple lightsaber for God’s sake. I mean, that was pretty cool. This is football. What? I don’t want the nice guy. I don’t want some little guy giving me philosophy. I hit him. Yeah, but you could still hit him. I mean, they destroyed the Death Star for a reason. I’m like, so there are the highlight moments, but yeah, you’re right. It it is one where the dark side did come with more manpower. Plus, he’s a defensive guy, so Yeah. So, you you understand he would see it from that perspective. He is on the dark side. Check and he has a darker jersey too. Is that it is it’s curious to me and I know you know it is professional football and uh his point about I like to be where my feet are is very well taken but couple guys coming from Baltimore last year, a guy from Cleveland this year. What’s going on here Max? I’m just saying we’re just hey we’re taking the collection and just getting the best you know that we can. And sometimes little information gets shared you know a little telephone action between guys. Nothing big but let’s just face it. Cleveland did it for years. I remember when Cleveland when we used to have final cuts, they would go get like two guys from each side of the ball and bring them on the practice squad for just two weeks and then after they played Pittsburgh and realized it didn’t work, they’ fire them. Cuz I remember one of my good buddies, you know, Bo was one of those guys that he went over there and he was like, man, they just pumped me for information and then came back. Bo Lacy, I’m sorry. Bo Lacy, six round draft pick from Arkansas, class of 2004. How could I forget? I mean, yeah, how could you remember? Bo didn’t play a single game for us, but he was he was on our P squad. Well, now that you mentioned his name, I remember him. But yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, so so coming up here since ‘ 87. A lot of guys have come and gone. How about this one? Scott Paxton, aka T-Rex. Oh, I remember him. He was another one that was that was that was a transfer back and forth, a trial because he didn’t have the great his arms his arms weren’t as great as you’d want, but great personality. His ar his personality was way better than his arm length. Uh Juan Thornhill mentioned that first play uh pick thrown by Aaron Rogers. Uh we’re going to hear from Aaron eventually today. Yeah. Uh he put that in perspective, but I’m curious your perspective. Uh the media likes to chart what goes on out here. Yes. And of course there was a certain amount of excitement even though there was no pads yesterday. What what was going to happen on the first Aaron Rogers snap because he didn’t take any 11 on 111 back at mandatory veteran mini camp. And uh I wasn’t expecting a pick by Patrick Queen on a ball intended for DK Metaf. No. No. Was not anticipating it. But you know what? I I think let it get it out your system now. Get it out your system now. And also it’s not that big of a deal. I can see if Will Howard did that and we’re like, “Oh, this is going to be the starter. He’s a rookie. He’s first time in the NFL.” Like a Kenny Picket type of situation, but I’m like, “It’s Aaron Rogers.” I’m like, “Okay, he misread Patrick Queen on that.” Which Patrick Queen’s is is no just chump out there. No. Like he is a bonafide dude. and you’re throwing to DK Metaf who you’ve thrown on air against, you know, and thrown with and done seven on seven stuff, but to go in a team environment, see the full 11 out there, it’s a little bit different. So, you’re trying and he’s trying to figure out what his window is on those routes. So, I’m like, that’s an information gathering thing. I know everybody made a big, oh my god, that’s the first one, but I’m like, it’s training camp that doesn’t go on the stat sheet, you know? I would love to have asked Juan throwing, hey, how many picks has Patrick Mahomes thrown in practice? You know, like that would have been a good followup. Yeah, that would have been for your next combo tonight. You know, I’ll go down and do the camp convo, but I only if I get to hold your DV radio mic, too. That was a great job kind of double dutying there. I appreciate that. Well, you know, you got to you got to get it done somehow. Uh I mentioned at the outset uh nickel and slot or safety, excuse me, for Jaylen Ramsay. Uh I I expect we’re going to see him outside at some point, but yesterday it was Joe Porter Jr. and Darius Slay outside for the most part. Uh Ramsay in the nickel and then Thornhill and Deshaawn Elliot at safety and and the safety positions Max look like they’re trying to make those somewhat interchangeable. Yeah. Free and strong. There’s not a thumper and a center fielder. It’s I mean one guy is usually deep, but uh it can be a number of candidates to to play that role. And uh that secondary uh here’s my one concern about it. Versatility is great. And I saw one play where Ramsay was in the slot and the receiver went in motion and rather than follow him, Ramsay sprinted back to center field and Thornhill came up. Yeah. The rotation and played the the motion guy on the other side of the offensive formation. Complexity is great until it gets too complex and then you got a bunch of guys standing around going, “Uh, was that me?” So, it’s a Spider-Man meme. Was that you? That was you. No, you. No, you. And Mark Andrews is in the end zone saying, “Boy, somebody should have covered me on this because I just scored.” And and I’ll say this, I mean, that’s one of the things that’s the great thing, like as an offense, when you have motion like that, that tells you everything you need to know. It’s like, is it man or is it zone? And that was a zone concept, right? That they rotate. And but the problem is, like you said, if you get guys that are playing different positions, given that, how well verssed are they going to be to know where am I rotating to in the zone? If I’ve been at nickel the whole time, the other guys been interchanging, like you said, free safety and strong safety. So, which one’s going to come up? Cuz traditionally, here’s how it goes. Your free safety is a guy who’s mainly your center fielder, right? He plays back. That was Ryan Clark. Troy Palamalu technically was a free safety, but played more strong because he was allowed to go in the box and freestyle and do a lot of different things. So, as long as you know what your clear role is and you’re not interchanging too much, it’s okay. But, like you said, if you got Jaylen Ramsey playing outside someplace, playing inside someplace, playing safety someplace, that’s where it’s going to get confusing. And that’s why you’ve got to be clean communicators on everything. It’s almost like you have to overcommunicate at the beginning to make sure everybody knows what their role is. And I think having a Deshawn Elliott back there kind of as your as your talking guy to get every which was Minka last year. Minka was the guy that made sure everybody in the secretary knew what their role was and tried to communicate. That’s what’s going to be really imperative of Deshun Elliott because he’s the vet here in that secondary with all those new pieces outside of Joey. Joey’s on a corner, so he can’t relay to the opposite corner what he wants to say. Has to come from the safety position. These guys are obviously pros and, you know, changing teams is is something they adapt to, but uh I’m curious. We always hear Mike Tomlin talk about rookies and then the second year guys, he expects a big jump. Yeah. How about a guy who spent some time not here and then came here for a year? How about that second year here? That second year here is always a lot easier. So, and especially when you have the same coordinator, right? TA is still the the defensive coordinator. And I think that’s what really matters is when you have consistency from your coaches because that’s the other part. That’s the other element. You could be here for a second year, but if you get a brand new Dcoordinator, you get brand new defensive backs coach now. You’re like, okay, everybody is trying to learn a new language together. But when the language stays the same and you’re in that system, now you can move more fluidly and now you can work on what we call the nuance of it. Right? Outside of me saying you have to specifically do this by the technical term name. If I’ve been here and we’ve worked together before, now we can create code words. Now we can create our own subset of the language so that we can communicate probably more in our lingo because we’re because at the end of the day the guys on the field are the ones that make the plays. So you have to be able to communicate your own lingo and having a good mix. Now you can bring in those new guys and kind of ingratiate them with kind of how your culture is. So that’s why it’s a big fit. second year in a system makes for a whole lot more progress. And uh talk a little bit if you can about the the challenge of quickly coalesing. You have Ramsay as uh we’re seeing right here. Yes. Uh he’s new to the team. Thornhill is new to the team. Darius Slay, who we saw a moment ago, number 23, is new to the team. Uh these guys are going to play a lot of football together at the same time. Yeah. Uh the secondary is more than half uh remodeled, shall we say? Yes. Yes. Rec reconstitute it. What’s uh what’s the challenge like there to to get that group coalesing as quickly as it’ll have to? No, it’s a huge challenge. But the good thing is like you said with the Juan Thornhill, with the Darius Slay, and with a Jaylen Ramsey, they played in multiple teams. So, it’s not like this is we grabbed a thirdyear guy that only played in one place and it was a completely different system than what they’re going into. These guys have played in a lot of different systems. So, their uptick time is going to be a lot quicker. And they’ve been in this league and they’ve had to do that transition. So, they already know what the ice breakers are, right? To get to know guys. And let’s face it, in today’s NFL, position groups also train together. And there’s more commonalities than there are differences for a lot of these guys. You know, some guys will train in Arizona, some guys will train down in Georgia or Florida or Texas, and they’re training at these big facilities, and they’re training together. I mean, Ryan Clark has DB Precision. A lot of defensive backs train there. You know, the place that I work at in the offseason, AMDG has a lot of offensive linemen from a lot of different teams that work together. So, when you have some prior relationships, it speeds up the process. And then when you have experience on your side of transitioning, it makes it a lot easier, but you still have to put the time in. At the end of the day, this is my group. This is where, like Juan Thornnehill said, my feet are planted here. So, I’m focused on the present and the future, not the past. And you kind of have to just dive tint toes in and work on, hey, what does Joey Porter like to do? What’s his mindset like? What are the things that interest him hobbywise so I can make sure I can make a connection with that guy since we got to spend a lot of time together in the classroom on the field traveling together and then playing on game days. You want to know what that is. So spending this time like we see postpractice that’s really key that gets groups together that gets them going together. And one of the things I think about this is stuck in my head Mike Cam Sutton. Like Cam Sutton last year used to pull all the DBs together and they work drills together as a unit. And Cam Sutton was dealing with suspension. He he was just here. He wasn’t allowed to practice, but he was still a part of it because he knew once I do get in, I need to hit the ground running. I need to know what they know. So I think the important thing is that post-practice and then up at run up in Rooney Hall, you know, at night time guys, you know that coach Tomlin does a great thing of having the tent you get your your evening snack and then you have a lot of games and everything for guys to play and get to know each other. So cards are big up there. Uno phase 10 and your traditional you know 52 card uh you know variety of bicycle cards. But it’s just to get guys to get used to each other. And that’s why I think also by coming here versus doing a camp in the city or staying at a hotel, you can get a lot of segmentation um in the process. But this allows for guys to we’re it’s all sucking together. You know, you embrace the suck, so to speak. You’re you’re you’re in it together. We all got the same four concrete walls in our room. Some have mini fridges, some have TVs. Would you call it Spartan conditions? Very very very Spartanike conditions. And you know, one guy probably has the Xbox room Spartan. Yeah, exactly. But it’s more 300 than the Michigan State variety, but still. Um, but I think the biggest play that on the Jumbotron at the home games, you know. Oh, is that is that what you do? Yeah. Oh, well, I mean, it’s per It makes perfect sense. It’s kind of a Gerard Butler. A lot lot of airbrushed abs on on on the screen to get you hyped up. Very much so. Okay, there it is. I love it. Love it. A lot of conversations uh being had uh by a lot of players to Max’s point. a lot of guys are talking about them uh in terms of the getting to not not just getting to know the Steelers way of doing things, but getting to know their teammates and uh you know becoming uh a close-knit unit. Uh Aaron Rogers had a lot of stuff to say uh including some stuff about that yesterday. uh he spoke uh to the media after that uh first practice of training camp interception that he threw and uh he doesn’t get to that here until uh the very end, Max, but uh stick around uh for it because uh I I found his uh response intriguing. Let’s give a listen to Aaron Rogers yesterday. How was that first day, Aaron? Oh, it was good. Good to be out here with the guys. What’s it like just being out here at St. Hson College and how is this kind of different from your many other treatment camps? Not actually uh way different. We were at the dorms at beautiful St. Norbert’s College for 14 years. First 14 years of my career. Um and uh and in those years I had to go from the third floor to the second floor and finally about year six or seven I was on the first floor. So I’m on the first floor here which is a good start. I got DK as my sweetmate. So, we’re sharing a toilet and a shower. Um, but I love I love actually I love this uh this idea, this opportunity to be out here in the Trobe and and to uh stay here and connect with the guys. Is that your choice to have DK as a sweetmate or is that a Mike Tomlin assignment? No, I was I was surprised. as I was here Tuesday night and not many other guys were here other than the rookies. And when I got in the room, I realized we were sharing something. I was I was, you know, secretly kind of hoping it wasn’t a big lineman or something. Maybe somebody had, you know, cared about their hygiene a little bit. So when I walked in, I saw like a standard suitcase. I said, “Oh, I think it’s going to be good. This is probably DK.” So, have you had roommates before in training camp? I have. Yeah, I’ve had a lot of different roommates over the years. Uh Brett Good, our long snapper forever. He’s probably my favorite roommate uh at St. Norbert’s. Um we used to play a lot of pranks on some of the guys and uh had some pranks played on us as well, but uh yeah, it’s good. How would you say the relationship between you and DK is developing on the field and maybe how things went the first day? Uh yeah, you know, we I think we completed one out of a couple that we had uh his way, but you know, DK and I have worked out in the offseason together. Got a good relationship. We talked about uh you know, a lot of football stuff. We facetime, we texted during the offseason, uh after mini camp. So, we got a good relationship. It’s going to just keep on growing. One thing that’s happened since you signed on was the trade for John Smith and Jamie Ramsey. throughout your career, have you had rosters or moments where you had dual tight ends like you might have here in Fri and Smith? I mean, what do you think about those two? Um, how you can work with them? Yeah, I mean, we always value the tight end in Green Bay. Uh, we had, you know, we kept four many times over the years. Um, but these guys, you know, the four that we got, the top four all have unique skill sets and all can do different things. So, you know, I like it. you know, the tight end position uh like the fullback position has been uh undervalued, I would say, the last few years, but being able to have uh you know, being able to go in 12 personnel can be an advantage with so many teams playing nickel to 12 uh these days. So, if you got guys that can block and also run routes, you got an advantage there. Do you have yourself for this team? Sorry, one more. Do you have expectations of this for this team and of yourself? I do. Yes. And they might be I’m not telling you. Eric, can you tell us what you’ve been doing since OTAAS till now to prepare for the season? Uh, I’ve been working out. I’ve been hanging at the beach with my dog as you can see by getting stocked by TMZ. Um, yeah, I was in Tahoe for a week, but other than that, I was uh working out at Proactive and spending time at the beach. Anything different? You know, you joined them later than you have been previously. Is there anything you had to do different to be ready for the season? Uh, well, the guys came out for for a few days. We had a good time. Uh, you know, Calvin hadn’t seen the ocean before, so that was cool. Uh, we had nice couple nice throwing sessions, good workout sessions. Uh, we had a nice dinner at Nou. Uh, the dolphins kind of went by right at the perfect time. And one of the guys, I won’t embarrass them, asked if they pay the dolphins to do that, uh, to go by a certain time. So, we had, you know, we had a lot of fun. That was a good time, uh, to have those guys out. But other than that, you know, there’s been uh just the conditioning part’s been important in the in the and the weights part, but nothing nothing out of the ordinary. Omar Khan said yesterday that he feels like this team is built to win a Super Bowl, to make a Super Bowl run. When you see the moves this organization has made, do you feel like this team is headed in that direction? I think most of the 32 teams would probably say something to that accord. Um, but I think that, you know, there’s really only six to eight that really have a legitimate chance. Sometimes it’s 10 to 12 and there’s teams that surprise you. But, um, I would say on paper, we’re probably one of those 10 to 12. How do you go from being on paper to being one of those legitimate 10 to 12? I think it’s coming together, you know, times like this with these 17 or so practices that we have here and uh finding the chemistry and and hanging out with each other in the lunchroom and snack and in the different times that we have and and uh you know growing together through our practice. Mike, you know, wants to practice at the hottest time of the day, which you know is interesting. Uh but uh I love it just because it’s it’s a stressor. You know, we see how guys uh respond to adversity. You mentioned that chemistry. How do you kind of build that with guys throughout this process? Some of the guys we talked to on offense this morning really highlighted your communication. Is that a big part of it for you? Yeah, that’s the most important thing. You know, you got to be saying the right message. Art has done a really nice job of giving me the opportunity to speak up in the meetings. Um, so I’m always just trying to let the guys know what I’m thinking. It’s been great communication between Tom and Matt and Arthur and myself. And I mean, hell, Mike was in the room uh this morning talking to us. So, uh it’s been uh it’s been a lot of fun. It really has. And I’m enjoying uh the process and and things are going to get better and look better as we go. Uh but I’m excited about where we’re at in day one. Obviously, it’s still very early, but what is your first assessment of Will Howard and what impresses you most from? I just like his approach. You know, he’s a good kid. He cares about it. He works hard. Uh he listens. Uh he’s a good notetaker. Uh he’s been picking my brain. I told him last night, he was in the room. We were talking about signals. I said I said, “What can I do for you?” You know, because I want to be I want to be a support uh system for him and uh pass on anything I can. I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but if he wants to learn anything or pick my brain or be in my hip pocket, I’m all for it. So, I’m I’m looking forward to uh uh to growing that friendship. But he has, you know, he has all the ability and the talent and uh when his time comes, I think he’s going to have a great chance to be a long-term guy in the league. Guys, two more. We gota get coached. You said on Mack recently recently. Oh, I wish you a week or two ago this might be look at this as it might be your last season. You go into the season thinking like this might be the last ride or do you sort of just that is that a decision you’ll make maybe at the end of the process? Yeah, I might go into the season like that. Might not. Is it last surprised you? Was it any kind of omen in your first throw in teams picked off by Patrick Wayne? What is that? What what goes through your mind? And it’s good to get that out the way. It’s good to get it out the way. I mean, anybody that’s watched me practice over the years, you know, you like to try certain throws at certain times. And um anybody that’s watched me in the games knows I’m I’ve been pretty stellar taking care of the football over the years. So, uh there’s going to be picks for sure. I’m going to try to fit certain things in. Uh, you know, you got to got to deal with some some sweat on the ball from time to time. So, I’m It’s going to be a good challenge for me uh throwing this heat every single day. I look forward to it. But, I’m going to throw some picks. Uh, but I’m going to throw some touchdowns, too. You know, I really like the way he uh ended that interview, Max, and uh the way he reminded us, you know, I’m pretty good at protecting the football and I’m going to throw some touchdowns, too. Uh uh that struck me as subtle swagger. Yeah, it was. It was. And I think that’s the confidence that you want. That’s something we’ve kind of been missing the last couple years since a certain guy, you know, has chose to retire and move on. A guy that wore the number seven. Ben something. Yeah. He had a sandwich, right? He had a sandwich the the Ruffalo. Burger. Yes. That guy. No. No. Ben Ben had a similar and it’s cool to see that kind of swagger come back, right? like, “Yeah, okay. I threw a pick. So what? I’m going to throw picks in practice, but also I’m going to throw touchdowns in games.” And I think that was the reminder of everybody like, “I’ve been there. I’ve done it and I’ve seen what this is, but I also like the explanation. Like, I’m going to try things cuz that’s what this is for. That’s what training camp’s for.” Like, why do you not come out here and try new things and try and see what you can and cannot get away with? This is the safest place that you can do that because it’s not on the stat books. It’s not going to count towards wins and losses, but it is going to build your rapport to know how I can operate and what I can and cannot do in games and how my guys respond to whatever I do in games. So, it’s all information gathering and that’s why I call it the pit down there, but it’s really the forge. It’s where you figure out what goes together, what kind of blends to make the strongest product. That’s what they’re doing down there. As a Florida guy, I learned about forges. Listen, I read a lot of books. Okay. I read a lot of books. Yeah. Um, Aaron Rogers, I also sensed a little sarcasm in there, a little snark. Oh, yeah. Uh, sometimes he wants to get in depth about football. Sometimes he wants to kind of poke fun at his teammates. Sometimes he just doesn’t want to answer the question. I mean, there’s a lot going on there. Yeah. But the the one thing that has really struck me, Max, and and I got to tell you, I didn’t know what to expect from Aaron Rod. I just had no idea. Yeah. Um, I I know what’s on the back of his football card. I know who he is and what he does. I didn’t know how he was going to come in here and blend in or what the correct protocol is for a four-time MVP. The players are talking about him because we in the media keep asking them about Aaron Rogers and they keep saying regular guy. Yeah. And they keep saying, “Boy, he likes to he likes to joke around and mess around.” Um, now developing story. Uh, it was said today that Ben Skiranic is busting Chop’s back. Yeah. Yeah. Now, Scronic would not confirm that, but he didn’t deny it either. But he’s the kind of guy that just goes in the room and, you know, let’s chop it up. A little Cali attitude, right? You know what it is? Yeah. I mean, it’s just And that’s personality, right? I think when you’ve ingratiated yourself with someone and you’ve been in this league and in the spotlight like he he kind of joked about TMZ watching me on the beach with my dog and everything, you kind of know that. Well, and he noticed yesterday TSN from Canada was here yesterday. I don’t know if they’re here today, but he saw the mic flag. Oh, TSN’s here. Like, yeah. I mean, he’s going to draw a crowd wherever he goes. And I think when you’ve been in that limelight as long as has I mean, going on two decades, right? That you’ve been in this environment. You have to not take yourself so seriously all the time. And you understand that whatever I say, people are going to take it however they want, so might as well say it the way that I want to say it, right? To control my own narrative. But yet know that I’m human, right? I’m I’m fallible in these things. I’m not an infallible person. I’m standing in front of you and everything’s perfect. I’m monumental, but I’m human and I have a life. You know, I I’m private about a lot of things, but people encroach on that. And hey, it’s just a part of the gig. But I, you know, the one only thing I found a little bit offensive was when he said about his roommate and the hygiene and that being because he didn’t want an old lineman. He didn’t want you could have said D lineman. They don’t know what it’s about is what the point he was making. I think I’m just like, you know, it is what it is. I mean, I felt like I was a stellar roommate in my years uh having to share a sweetmate with somebody. Who was your sweetmate? My sweetmate when I first got my own solo room was Willie Parker. Would he concur that you were a stellar sweet? Yeah, Willy Wood. Willy Wood. Cuz I Cuz here’s the funny thing. So, we’re we’re now going wise, you’re pretty good now. I got to tell you. Exactly. I’m I’m good. But I mean here’s the thing that you know a lot of people don’t understand like when you come to a dorm room here you get the standard issue of everything. So toilet paper you know just for an example one ply you had to bring your own after your first year. Oh yeah absolutely. No after the first day I went right up. Yeah. Yeah. Walmart giant eagle. I hit I was like uh we need the Charmin Ultra Toly please. I need something. I don’t want to feel like you know I’m I’m rubbing something else. You know what I’m saying? Like like like scratchboard. But you know I did that. I bought the soft soap, you know, little hand little dial soap instead of the bar that you get. Like I was a very very good roommate, you know, and sweetitemate and I kept my area clean, you know, I kept my stuff. So I took a little bit of offense. I’m like, I don’t know what type of nasty dudes you’ve been around, but most of the guys I know, you know, we’re pretty cleanly to offend the offensive lineman, the very guys who need he’s gonna need to keep him upright. But you know what? I will say this to Aeron’s credit. Yesterday we’re at dinner and where was he sitting? Smack dab in the middle of the offensive line group. He was he was flanked by linemen and he was in there for about an hour and they were just hanging out and I really appreciated that cuz I thought that’s something that a veteran knows cuz many years before like it was hit and miss whether you know that position would go sit with that group. Yeah, they come hang out with us but to go and just sit there and kind of hold court and just hang out and be one of the guys I thought that was a very good move especially to see that first day after practice. Um, you can either relate this to Rogers or just to star quarterbacks in general. Uh, can you be the leader and be that guy and still be a regular guy? And is that a hard, as Bill Coward might say, is that a fine line that that uh a guy in Rogers position has to walk? Yeah, it’s a fine line, but at the end of the day, this is a human business, right? It’s all about human interactions, good, bad, or indifferent. to play this sport. It requ have a time where guys kind of understand where you come from. So when I do raise my voice at you as a quarterback to command your attention, I giddy immediately without any any kind of thoughts or anything illconceived. But yet at the same time, I’m not so resolute and not so much of a figure that I can’t that I can’t be talked to and you I can’t get constructive criticism. I think there has to be that balance of respect but yet approachability that you have to master at the quarterback position and this is a guy who’s mastered that because you think about all the successes there has to be a lot of trust down there. You know, I think of, you know, in my mind when I’m thinking about Aaron Rogers, I always think of the untimed downs that he had in like Detroit and like how, you know, guys, no, what did he do? But the but the rest of the guys know, his line knows, hey, hold up. Aaron’s going to make something special happen. I think you have to have that kind of reparte where you can be fallible, but yet you also have to command respect at the same time. Well, let’s uh let’s keep the Rogers talk going because it is ever present out here and and yeah, part of that’s media driven. We’re asking about it, but he is unquestionably a presence. We we know he’s here. We know who he is. And one guy who’s really uh doing his best not only to get to know Rogers, DK Metaf, the uh the marquee edition at wide receiver. Metaf talked yesterday uh about not just trying to uh glean everything the football Aaron Rogers has to offer uh in terms of passing knowledge along and and understanding and observations, but also kind of how he is in the locker room with the fellas and uh how he is in the huddle. Let’s give a listen to DK Metaf yesterday here at St. Vincent College. Hey, uh DK, how’s Aaron throwing the ball? Man, it’s good. Um I know we first day out here for in a team setting, so uh you know, having a pass rush is a lot different than just throwing on uh on air, but uh like I said, man, it’s the first day mistakes going to happen. Uh he’s going to throw a lot of touchdowns, going to throw some picks, hopefully not many, but you know, that’s the game that we play in. Um yeah, I mean it was just exciting just to be out here for the first time. anything unique about his ball? I mean, his release is unique, but no, sir. I mean, if it comes my direction, I got to catch it. What are the benefits of having your sweet? Uh, I mean, a lot. We can talk about a lot of stuff that we see the same on the field. Uh, continue conversations uh that we may not get to talk about in a meeting room. Uh, he he gets to listen to a lot of my music uh taste or hear me yell at the video games sometimes. But, uh, no, I mean, it’s just going to be fun uh having him across the hall from me. So, what does the process look like of building chemistry with a new quarterback? Um, I mean, it’s going to be, uh, tough in the beginning. Uh, just like everything. But, uh, I mean, just just knowing that I got his back. Uh, he has my, uh, he has my back and we we’re all trying to work towards the same goal, and that’s the way football game. So, uh, I mean, yeah, that’s just the the nature of the beast that uh, you know, that we live in. DK, were you excited about that match up when you found out you were going to be sweet with him? Did you know before you got here? No, I ain’t know. Uh he knocked on my door and I I thought it was the front door and it was actually my bathroom door cuz we share a bathroom and he was like, “Oh man, I was hoping it was you.” I was like, “Uh did not think I was going to have a roommate, but uh glad to see you too.” Um but yeah, it was it was a good experience uh just to see his face and knowing that we could uh you know, continue conversations outside the meeting room. DK, how did you watch Aaron for a long time? Uh just watching him from a distance, what are the things that you know about him that you can sort of build upon coming into camp? Uh just his knowledge of the game. I’m going to try to soak up as much knowledge as I can. Uh try to listen to everything going to listen to everything that he says. Uh even the critiques that he has on my game. Uh I’m going to be willing and open, you know, go searching for those answers from him cuz I mean he’s had great receivers in his past and I’m just trying to be another one. You’ve had a lot of matchups with Jaylen Ramsey in the regular season over the years. How much are you looking forward to having matchups with him here at training camp? I mean, glad I don’t got to play against him uh on on Sunday, but uh we’re going to have a lot of battles. Uh him, Slay, uh JPJ, like that whole defense is sick to me. So, just to get to go against them in practice every day is going to be amazing. What was your rea What was your reaction when you saw the trade for him? Um I was excited uh actually. And then I found out that we got rid of another great player, which uh you know is a bummer, but uh like like that’s the nature of the game that we live in. uh got to know Ma for just a few days uh in passing um and had a few conversations with him. A great player and I was looking forward to playing with him, but he’s on the other side of the ball now and he’s going to be looking forward to matching up with him when we play the Dolphins. During you talked about, you know, you weren’t going to try to overimpose as a leader on the other receivers, but when they come to you, you talk to them. Have you had more chances for those types of interactions with guys like guys like Calvin and Roman? Uh yes, sir. They just asked me stuff on the side about uh recovery wise. What do I do during the offseason? how does my offseason uh training look? Um, but I’m I’m looking forward to more conversations uh when we actually get the ball uh rolling during the season or or at towards the end of training camp with how I prepare for the season, how I prepare for a game or what do I do during the week to prepare for a game. Mike talked about the importance of guys being kind of just being pass catchers regardless of the position. So like Pat and Janu being involved in that way. Is that is that something that excites you knowing that like hey you guys are going to have a diverse set of receiving threats out there moving all around? Oh yes sir. Just to have playmakers like that all over the field is always a plus on any team. That’s mean that means you have um a lot of chance to go one-on-one uh get a lot of one-on-one oneonone matchups on the defense. What do you think about J? I mean he’s 6’3 um 200 lb and he’s a big corner that can that loves to hit. He’s physical and you know he he’s very smart, very cerebral on the field. Um and then he talks to back it up. So I mean you you have all those traits, you you’re a damn good player on defense. What excites you most about your opportunity here in Pittsburgh? Uh just a fresh start. Um not trying to, you know, have any expectations towards anything. Just, you know, taking it one day at a time. Uh looking forward to what we can build here. Um and, you know, for years to come. You mentioned that you guys were were able to work out together individually in California. How often were you able to do that? And in your experience, how long does it generally take to develop that chemistry with a quarterback? Um we only got together twice. One uh previously before he signed and then uh one after he signed. Um, but I don’t think there’s a timetable on chemistry. Like it’s just dependent on uh the QB receiver, QB running back, QB tight end of how much work we’re willing to put in on the field, off the field. And plus is the the ultimate team game. So we all have to be on the same page, all 11 people when we call a play out there. O line has to block or um, you know, receivers have to block if the running back uh gets the ball or we have to make sure we iron out all the details about, you know, route depth or how I release or how I want to catch the ball running and everything. So, I don’t think there’s a timet or anything, but you know what better way to do it than out here against one of the best defenses in the league. D, you were talking about being in the dorms. I assume it’s been a while before for that. What do you make of Hell yeah. I ain’t been a dorm since 16. What do you make about being away from camp and this environment? Um, I mean, I’m looking forward to it. Uh, it’s a good experience just to, you know, be around the teammates, the guys. So, um I mean these are all my new teammates. So, it’s just like I get a fresh start uh learning everybody’s names, where they from number, what what they like to do, who likes to play video games, who’s very cerebral, who likes to read books. So, I’m just learn trying to learn everybody. Um so, it’s going to be easy to play uh play with each other on Sunday. Has Aaron had shown any interest in video games? If so, any I thought he did. He walked in my room yesterday and he was like, “Oh, your game.” And I was like, “Yeah.” And he just walked out. I was like, “All right.” What were you playing? uh NCAA, you were a popular guy along the fence there. What’s your first impression of Steelers fans? Oh, yeah. They’re a little rough. Uh there’s some kids in the front that they were really trying to push up against the fence. And you know, I I like to get the kids first um before I get to any grown-ups, but uh I mean what it’s like what 3,000 people out here? 4,000 five. Like it’s a lot of people. I’m not used to used to that at uh training camp. DK, has Jay Porter wanted opportunities against you and and what do you think of that matchup? Oh, he’s a great young player. um looking forward to the matchups we continue to have. Uh but I I think he’s a very good player. Um and I’m going to try to, you know, sharpen him as much as I can and I’m definitely going to be asking him questions about what he sees in my game uh that I can work on. When we talked to Omar Khan yesterday, he said he feels he built a roster that can contend to the Super Bowl. When you look at the numerous m moves and the aggressive approach, what do you see as the potential for this? Um that’s not my job. My job is to run routes, catch the football, and uh block. But um I think we all work together. who who knows what we can be. So, um I’m just excited to be here, bro, and yeah, just looking forward to what we can build as a team. What have you seen in Aaron in terms of his leadership and his presence in the locker room with his teammates? Uh, I mean, he talks to everybody. Uh, he loves to crack jokes. He’s very sarcastic. Um, and then how he commands the huddle when he gets in it, like everybody, you know, is quiet and and listens to him. So, um, I think he he definitely has that presence when he steps in the huddle and, you know, he commands the leadership and respect when he when he’s off the field. Yeah, he covered a lot of ground there, Max. And he’s talking about a teammate who is obviously, you know, well-known figure in football circles, but they haven’t been hanging out together that long. And yet, he can speak to Aaron Rogers about the the wealth of knowledge and how he can glean uh uh things that can help him in his career from Rogers critiques. And he can talk about Rogers being sarcastic and and cracking wise and and that kind of thing. Uh that’s made an impression on me. I again I wasn’t sure what to expect, but uh I find it very interesting the way people are reacting to Aaron Rogers. Yeah. And I think I think and that’s that that’s that balance we talked about, right? You know, you have to have the balance of being approachable but yet being respected at the same time. And I think all of those things kind of DK kind of reinforced what we were thinking, what we were hoping, but you hear it not only from him, but then from others as well that he’s an approachable figure. And I think that’s the other thing because we get caught up in the mystique of a guy because of what we’ve seen from the outside or what’s been reported to us. But now when you get the actual up close and personal and you can actually practically apply it, that’s where we start to see kind of the total picture of who this individual is. And I love it. I mean, the fact that they’re sweet mates, he like he’s like he walked, “Hey, oh, so you’re a gamer.” He’s like, “Yeah, yeah, play it.” He’s like, “All right, bye.” You know, kind of just walked out of the room like I’m not even going to get into this. Um, so I think that that’s another cool facet that we now get to kind of unpack and kind of really get to know so you can create a complete picture about who the guy is is literally leading our team. you know, the quarterback position is that position, whether it’s de facto or whether it’s assumed, you look at the quarterback first when whenever you identify any football team. And and to your point, talking to everybody, I mean, this is going to be an ongoing story. Uh we’re going to be doing these somebody’s going to be doing these shows every day uh when the practice uh takes place out here at St. Vincent. And a couple other guys were asked about him. I mean, Ben Scoric has a lot to say about Aaron Rogers. Calvin Austin has a lot to say about Aaron Rogers. I’m sure whoever we ask is going to have something to uh bring to the conversation. Uh before we get out of here, a transaction today. Uh those uh things can come up out of uh nowhere at any time and one has today. Uh Steelers announcing that they have waved defensive tackle Dominique Davis and signed safety Chuck Clark. Uh that’s a recognizable name. Chuck Clark, 6 feet, 209 pounds. Uh played with the Baltimore Ravens from 2017 through 2022. did not play in the 2023 season because of an ACL and then 12 games played with the Jets last year in 2024. Was was he here in camp last year with the Steelers before he got to the Jets or am I remembering a different Chuck Clark? I feel like that’s the same name. Chuck Clark. That sounds very familiar. And I think cuz he’s a defensive back. Um and so I think he was here. Oh yeah. Safety. Yeah. So and a guy that has a lot of experience. They just traded one of those. Yeah, they traded one of those and now Oh, we need another one here. So, I think I think he’s won. He was in camp, I believe, and then went to the Jets after us because we, you know, we didn’t need that position help. I thought I wasing that. We’ll try to verify that uh before tomorrow. Uh another guy uh that we’ll probably hear from tomorrow, uh Sebastian Castro from Iowa. Yeah, safety again. Max, I was going to say he’s my camp sleeper. I wanted to get that out before the pads came on, but a lot of other people think he’s their camp sleeper, which to me doesn’t make him very sleepy. It’s not very sleepy when everybody’s saying it. Yeah. It’s almost like Jaylen Warren a couple years ago, right? You know, like, “Oh, that’s a sleeper.” That you watched the first linebackers and running backs drill, you’re like, “Oh, yeah. This guy’s not a sleeper. Everybody’s talking about him.” And now we see him a number of years later still doing that and still with the squad. So, no. I mean, it’s okay. You said it first. I think I did actually, but I’m I’m everybody jumped on. Mike, I’m saying you said it first. That that’s going to be my source. When he does do something, I’m like, well, you know, Mike Pursuda called it out. Do you have one of your own that you’d like to uh I I don’t think he’s but I don’t think he’s a sleeper. That’s the other thing. That’s that’s the one thing cuz I feel like Black’s going to be really good. Um YA Black. Yeah. Ya. Black. I think he’s going to be really good. I’m with you. I don’t think he’s a sleeper. Yeah, he’s not a sleeper at all. But that’s draft picks. Hard to Yeah. And I and and I’m most intrigued to watch him when the pad’s on. You know what I’m saying? Like like guys that you’re excited to see. Like I want to see how he does. I also I can’t wait for Caleb Johnson and what he’s going to bring cuz I I really think you mentioned three Iowa guys in a row. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. There’s something about Iowa guys, I guess, this year that that’s that’s our pick. I guess I’m a big tener now. I guess I need to turn up my my my Gator. I’ve been working on you. Yeah, you have. It still hasn’t worked. I haven’t made any progress. No, no, no. But you know what? There’s still time. We’ll put it that there’s still time. I’ll never give it up. But uh your point about YA Black, yeah, I think that’s a and that’s a guy that I don’t think he got the buzz necessarily that he should have gotten because he wasn’t a stats guy in college. No. But there are people on the defensive line they too serve who take up space or you know something along those lines. Well, and I think also because Derrick Harman was drafted first, right? So when you’re talking about D line, like you have to say Dererick Harman first and but that’s a guy you expect sacks out of him. It’s splash. I I don’t necessarily expect splash out of Wyatt Black. I expect uh a black hole. Literally a black hole. Ya black hole. That’s runners go in but they don’t come out. They don’t come out or or blockers try and do and then they disappear, you know. I mean that’s what I feel about it. So I think when I’m looking at guys like that, I don’t like the fact that the 78 is in yellow, but I appreciate the 78 is out there. You know, that’s also another feeling of mine. I I think they should just go ahead and retire it. But yeah, me too. I mean, but not for me. It’s almost a double insult. You got the hygiene thing from the quarterback today. Now somebody’s down there wearing your number. A D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D L Limeman’s wearing my number. Yeah, it’s just it’s tough. It’s tough. But you know what? But I I also walked up to him at the lunchroom today and I introduced I said, “Listen, I’m the old 78.” I was like, “You’re the new 78. I can’t and I’m excited for you, you know, for what you can do.” I said, “Just continue to do what we know you’re capable of and what you know you’re capable of. Just let it happen.” Fine tradition with that number. It is. I’m just saying all all of our Super Bowl teams has had a 78 on it. I can’t say that for every position. Dwight White back in the day. The white mad dog white was the first one that made it famous. Speaking of history, before we get out of here, uh I think you mentioned Troy Palamalo. We saw him walking by. Oh, him and Ike were walking by. His uh Troy’s two sons are ball boying as he put it out here. My nephews. Yeah. For a couple days. Brett Kel was here yesterday. Larry Brown from the team of the 70s. Yeah. And then you mentioned Ike Taylor. Ike’s doing a little work, right? Uh yeah, Ike works in the scouting department, so he kind of has to be here. He’s not a visiting alum like the other guys, but Jeff Harding’s also down on the field. He was doing the Steelers youth camp when I came when I when I went by earlier. So, I saw him. So, I’m looking forward to saying hello to Jeff. And then Willie Cologne will be here tonight. No kidding. Uh he’s going to do a scouting internship as well. So, always enjoyed Willie when he was here. Yeah, that that that’s that’s my little brother, man. So, I’m looking forward to having him here. And, you know, that’s the one other thing that’s great about here, the Steelers legends that participate and still get to be a part of the organization. So, it’s really awesome. That’s going to do it for us today. Want to thank everybody for uh finding us wherever uh you found us, whatever Steelers uh social media platform. Uh we’re going to do it again tomorrow. So uh please uh come back then. Until then, for Max Starks, I’m Mike Pursuda. This has been Training Camp Live brought to you by FedEx. Good afternoon everyone.

Get an exclusive look at Steelers training camp practice on Friday, July 25, 2025

#HereWeGo #Steelers #NFL

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

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