Watch Steelers training camp practice on Monday, August 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers

Watch Steelers training camp practice on Monday, August 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers

You know, it was really a good evening’s work. Uh we got put in a lot of situations and got a chance to watch people perform in them. Um two-minute drive before the half kind of highlighting uh some of that. Um I thought we did a nice job of not beating our own butt. Um, we kept pre- snap penalties virtually to a minimum. I think we had one. Um, we we played a pretty clean game for the first time out. We gave a lot of people a lot of opportunities, and that’s what this is about. It was good to see some offensive players tackling on special teams, defensive players blocking on special teams. We’ll comb through that really closely. Um, and to top it all off, man, we kind of got through the game virtually injury-free. Hi everybody, welcome to training camp live presented by FedEx. That was head coach Mike Tomlin following the Steelers 3125 win in preseason week number one over Jacksonville on Saturday night. We are back here in Latroe at St. Vincent College for two more days of practice today and tomorrow. Then they break it all down and head back to Pittsburgh to the southside and to Aasher Stadium. There will be a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. are going to come into town a little bit early, but we finally have a game to talk about. Not just Steelers on Steelers, Steelers, maybe not the whole squad, uh, verse Jacksonville, but there were a number of things that I feel like we did learn about this team. Things that maybe we thought that were then confirmed. Yeah. I I think the biggest thing that we learned is depth is good. Yes. And depth is present here for the Steelers. You’re thinking about how Jacksonville came out with their ones. Essentially with what I’m going to say they had about I think 10 out of their 11 starters on Jacksonville’s offensive side defensively for the Steelers. We had two starters in. Right. Right. Peyton Wilson, Keano Bidden. Everybody else sat and I will say this fared well offensively for us. Seven starters out. Only four offensive linemen in against the number one squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not a problem. Head-to-head one to one, seven to three. We won that game. But the depth that went on for the next three quarters, Missy, was pretty fantastic to watch. And you felt good throughout the mo majority of the game. Nobody looked completely out of place. It was a good competitive matchup. Yeah, I think too even, you know, Pton Wilson started, but he was playing Patrick Queen um in that situation as the Green Dot, the defensive quarterback, uh getting a chance to do that and fairing well. Uh Coach Tomlin said it, Peyton felt like he did a good job with it as well. He’s getting a chance to do it every time. Number six is not here on the fields at Latroe. And I think too, uh Beanie Bishop, guys that we have seen before taking those steps. Um and on offense, I think the O line, we can start there with you. Isaac Seumalu did not play. Of course, he’s a vet. One of the laundry list of guys that got us over 20 due to vet status or injuries. So, the two tackles, Brderick Jones, Troy Fatanu, what did you make of their first performance? I thought it was a really good performance to start out. I thought what Troy really came and showed us. He showed that he’s over the knee, the knee is behind him, and that he is a physical run blocking dude, but his pass protection, he’s silky smooth with the feet. I don’t know if he took some Fred to stare dance class sessions or whatever, but his stance and the way he moved out of that and got into position, very physical at the point. Then for Brick, the speed, the history, and the mental reps that he’s taken over the years, coming back to his natural position, I thought was really well um shown and indicated. And he he had a really nice game as well, going out and and uh and setting the edge early. You know, getting a tough task against Trayvon Walker who’s a werewolf. And then you got Josh Hines Allen who’s like a Wolverine and you know he he he fought that battle and you didn’t see really a lot of pressure at all while Mason Rudolph was in especially and especially at the beginning of Skyler Thompson and very limited number of pre- snap penalties. Coach Tomlin talked about it during that press conference following the games. Not kicking your own butt was something he wanted to see from the entire team offense and defense. Also not a lot of injuries. There was just one guy um on defense, Cameron McCutchen, who left the game a little bit early, but as we’re taking a look, it’s a get-right type of day here in Latroe of the offensive lineman. Getting prepared, practice getting underway in just about 10 minutes, but no pads on today. Uh kind of makes sense with what you’re looking forward to for the rest of the week. Two more games left as well. Um in terms of Zack Frasier and Mason McCormack, two guys we we saw them do it in year one last year. What did you like about what that tandem those guys did in Jacksonville? Well, I think I think the biggest thing that I liked is they continued where they left off and that’s the best compliment you can say for young guys, especially in the interior offensive line. They played together all last year. You knew that there was going to be that that that confidence, that comfortability, but were you going to take the jump? Were you going to go to the next level in the send? And I felt like their communication on some of the twist pickup stuff in the run in the pass game was just really nice, really awesome. And I’m really excited about how they’re going to be working together moving forward. I mean, it looked like a seamless kind of, you know, continuence, I think, is the best way of saying that. And the one thing I love, nasty at the point. They’re nasty at the point. Yeah, I think they uh they bring that tenacity definitely for sure. as we’re seeing players still coming down the hill uh getting ready for practice. I saw just a bit ago when I had a chance to turn around quarterbacks out there as well. Uh Aaron Rodgers did not play obviously in Jacksonville, but we did see Mason Rudolph get the start. He’s a been there, done that type of guy, not just in the preseason, but in the NFL regular season in playoffs. And Skyler Thompson, uh making the most of his opportunities. What did you like about both of their performances? Oh, the quarterback performance was was awesome. I mean, I loved what Mason did. I mean, he went nine to 10. 90%. Is anybody going to scoff at 90% in the passing game? No, they’re not. And for Skyler Thompson, I think doing almost I think he was almost at 75% completion percentage. So, that right there, the decision making, the understanding of the offense, and the execution, all things you’re looking for um out of your quarterbacks and a second and fourth string quarterback. Let’s think about that as well. Uh Skyler Thompson turned a lot of heads. I’m sure a lot of people in the NFL are paying attention and taking notice of saying, “Hey, how good is my number two? I don’t think my number two is as good as their number four.” Right. Once again, depth, Missy. Right. Depth and options for the Steelers. Well, and it does feel like you mentioned depth at the beginning of the show. Uh sometimes we would go into games or, you know, finish out training camp where you felt like, okay, maybe there’s a position where they needed more depth. It does really feel like it’s a good in a good spot. And I have to stop myself right there. At number 17, Will Howard throwing a ball today. Good to see. That’s always a good thing. And that’s why we don’t overreact, right? That’s right. He was in Jacksonville with the team. Aaron Rogers put Pat Frymouth and DK Beck through a pretty nice workout pregame. Uh they still, you know, checked that box on Saturday. Will Howard did not throw. We did see him cutting or cutting signing some autographs. Uh but good to see 17 out there throwing a football today. Yeah, I mean it’s one of the things that you want to see how your quarterbacks respond and how well they they play together and how well they can understand things. But you can’t beat experience. You can’t beat that physical experience. Then that’s playing on the field. And I think for our team, it’s going to be a really nice thing to see how the other guys respond. No cast there. Okay. No cast for Will Howard. Nope. That’s Skyler. 17 was Skyler. Sorry. Yep. But 18 was throwing two. Yep. And look, there he is. That was a throw. No, he he did he did throw the football this way. I know. I’ve just been so locked into 17 from this past game. But all four quarterbacks, let’s just put it that way. Yeah. Uh throwing, which is what you like to see. Yeah, you like to see that. And then of course the uh the new guy Logan Woodside, who did get in for a couple of reps, albeit handoffs and a rush. But he got in for showing up what 48 hours before a game and saying, “You know what? We’re good.” Yeah, that’s all I need. being familiar with Arthur Smith but still new to the Steelers team and at that point a lot of different players in there. Um but I felt like the game was at a point where it made sense to put him in there. Skyler Thompson, you know, however many snaps he got, like we said, he he made the most of them for sure. Well, we threw the ball, what was that? 38 times, I believe. So, he threw 28 passes in that game on top of the run game. I think we ran 25 total. So, I’m going to give him about three. So, he was in there for a better part of about 40 40 almost 50 plays. Um, and did well. Did not look bad at all. Threw three touchdowns in the game. And look comfortable. That one to uh Keshan Williams. Yes. The snatch from the sky. That was a pretty Oh, man. That That was a pretty play. That was a pretty play. And I wonder if we’re going to Nope. That’s the Max Hurleman one on the seam in the two-minute drill. That was a beautiful play as well. Um, but the execution of the two-minute drill, I think, as we see kind of the in-game highlights, that two-minute drill was methodical. And you ran a two-minute drill with your twos and a four string quarterback. Yeah. And I would argue probably third string receivers and and specialty positions. That’s pretty incredible to finish out a half. I can tell you, uh, coming out of the locker room at halftime, coach Tomlin was very pleased with that. also was kind of like got to give props to the to Little uh the kicker from Jacksonville for that 70 yard um field goal that was it all just seemed to not make sense and then all of a sudden you’re watching it and you you know you can see the fans behind and you’re like oh my gosh it’s it’s going to make it. Yeah. It it like it’s going going good. Wow. We got we got to witness NFL history even though it will not count officially in in the history books but the longest completed field goal attempt in NFL history in a regulation style game where you had referees you had fans you were present right because the next closest was 67 by Justin Tucker and then and that was a dinker that one had to dink off the bottom bar and roll in across on the positive side and then Sebastian Janikowsky attempted 76 but was way way way short. He was about 15 to 20 yards short on his. But that one right there, the Cam little one, that was absolutely drilled. Cam little big leg. There it is. I got it in there. Do you feel like a 70 yard field goal can happen in a real game? I don’t know. I I mean, it’s it’s tough to say that we’re backed up. If you miss, you’re on the 35 yd line. you know, you’re giving up that much leverage unless you have that type of faith in Cam Little. I Yeah. No, I’m sorry, but we got to be in the plus territory as much as we Hey, no risk, no, you know, no issues in the preseason. In the preseason, because it doesn’t count either way, but in season, yeah, we have 50 to 55. There we go. Let’s just keep Let’s just nail it in that range. Yeah. All right, let’s take a listen. Some of the players who took part in the game in Jacksonville. Spoke to the media following the game. Let’s take a listen to that now. How did it feel having the green dot tonight and taking on that responsibility? It was awesome. I only got one drive obviously, but I mean the drive were out there. I felt like the communication was great. Um just glad the coaches trusted me with that responsibility. What do you make of the defense’s performance as a whole tonight? A lot of guys getting chances to put some stuff on tape. Yeah, I mean there were a lot of guys that made some really big plays. Uh I think obviously there’s a lot of things we have to correct and work on before we get to the regular season, but I mean it was a great start. Um, I think you saw a lot of what the Steelers like to do. We like to stop the run. We like to hit hard and play fast. So, I think you saw a lot of that today. Purpose says how this whole offense as a whole just kind of went out there and gelled tonight and Mason just everybody. Um, you know, tonight is just a first step, you know. Uh, we did put some great stuff on film. Did uh not so great uh some bad stuff on film. I I kind of won’t say bad, but you know, just some stuff that we need to work on. uh if that’s technique, if that’s um communication um you know definitely like in the run game and things like that and just like just the details just to add a little bit a little more detail to our stuff. But I mean once we clean that up then I feel like you know sky’s the limit. Um it’s only you know our first preseason game so we got a long long long ways until you know season and things like that. I know you guys had a really big emphasis on playing clean and mistake free, penalty free, that kind of stuff. How does that marry with actual execution, being able to go down and score a touchdown that first drive? It’s big. You know, uh we talk about pre- snap penalty, that’s jumping off size, that’s uh you know, things like that. Even post snap penalty holding, you know, like all that stuff can come back and bite us, you know, in the butt at the end. So, I feel like that’s probably the best the key thing if you want to be a good offense is elim eliminate all the penalties and things like that. So, we can’t execute the plays. So, we don’t got to worry about, oh, we just got a big play. Oh, well, they’re calling it back because of this. So, feel like once we clean all that out the hour game, then you know sky’s the limit. What’s the feeling like get the first one out there and have some success? Yeah, you know, um had a lot of fun today. I think that summarizes everything. Um, I was excited to get out there and get some opportunities and and go play some football. Uh, and just had a lot of fun. Had a lot of fun today. What do you feel like was clicking for you guys with some offense? Man, I I thought it started with Arthur um just getting the plays in efficiently and being able to operate. I thought we had a good rhythm and tempo uh in and out of the huddle all day today and I, you know, I think that kind of starts starts everything off, you know, and kind of felt like we got into a good rhythm and guys were just clicking and we’re on the same page and guys were making plays. Obviously, the plan was just to come out and work on the passing game on as much as possible, man. you know, whatever coach was going to call, I was I was going to execute, you know. So, there was no playing like to say we’re going to throw the ball today. No, no. I mean, like I like I said, I think we were, you know, this uh Arthur did a great job of just calling calling the game today. Uh, you know, we had a lot of our base stuff in stuff. We’ve been running for a while and got the guys to feel confident in and uh guys made plays. How much extra confidence does it give to you knowing you went up against the first ringers for the Jags tonight? You know, to be honest, I didn’t even didn’t even know. I mean, I I I I say that, but like saw Travis Hunter out there my first drive. Um, you know, it’s kind of going into this didn’t really, you know, matter who was on the other side of the ball. You know, I I was very confident in um what we what we had planned and my guys and just knew I just had to go through my reading and execute and make make some plays. All right. And the Steelers just announced some roster moves, so I’m going to read them off my phone here. Don’t mind that. Uh DB Mikey Victor has been signed in tight end Kevin Foolish who was here before. He is back in a corresponding move. Pittsburgh has waved tight end DJ Thomas Jones and waved injured Cameron McCutchen who as we had said earlier had left the game uh due to an injury. So still in that point where you have 90 guys on the roster, 91 for the Steelers with their international exemption. don’t have to get to 53 just yet, but still two more games, lots of practices left. And unfortunately, this is the part of the business that sometimes happens. Yeah, it is. And you know, it’s unfortunate like you said, Cam McCutchen had an opportunity, you know, he gets injured in a game. I mean, nobody can predict that happening. Uh DJ Thomas Jones obviously coming off of an injury and trying to get ready to play for game day. Um just didn’t quite get there. So, you know, you wish them well, but another man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. So, we’ll welcome Victor and back Polish uh to to the fold uh so to speak and body, you know, and you need guys that want opportunities to come because you have a scrimmage Thursday, game Saturday, then game next Thursday. That’s a lot of action in a very short amount of time. So getting guys in here that are healthy, ready to go to get out there and compete because there’s going to be opportunities to compete over this next week and a half. So take advantage of every opportunity you get. No doubt. And that game Thursday is in Carolina. So that means you’re traveling on Wednesday. Um so that is going to be a tighter week almost like a Thursday night game in the regular season. In terms of the scrimmage with Tampa Bay, do you expect that to be more gamelike? Uh because it is close to the public. Um, it is more a chance to maybe do things that we won’t necessarily see on Saturday. I think I think you can expect the bulk of the work for the starters to be in that in that practice. And also, it’s a team that they’re not going to see in the regular season. So, that’s why you can do a little bit more as opposed to what you can do in a stadium when you have fans and you have eyes and you have scouts and everybody else dissecting your game. So, you can get a little more creative. You can mimic what a regular season game is going to be, some of the regular season situations. So, I expect it to be more intense, more nuanced, and more gamelike for regular season for both of these squads as they prepare on Thursday. And then Saturday will be the formality where the young guys will get to play. Want to see a little bit second act for some guys that prove themselves in game one, but most importantly, depth. showing off the depth and figuring out who’s going to rise above, what cream is rising to the top. Um, in terms of the Steelers down here, as we see getting ready for practice, not in pads today, which makes sense as Max had outlined what is ahead on the schedule. The the journey that is wrapping up training camp and the preseason, even when you leave Latroe, it’s still training camp- like until that final preseason game next Thursday against the Panthers. Um, what did you make in terms of Darnell Washington? We just heard from him there uh getting the ball again. Uh nice to see. We saw a touchdown in Denver last year, his dunk celebration. And then Max Hurlman with the backflip. Well, I think you know I have to say welcome back Mount Washington. This is where we thought when he got drafted two years ago, right? This is what we said he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be the red zone threat. He was supposed to be the guy that when you throw a jump ball up there, he’s coming down with nobody’s coming down with it at all. We kind of lost that over the last two years, but to see Mason Rudolph find him, hit him in stride in the scene, and he literally was tackled at the three yardd line, by the way. Yes. And then just just like a redwood that falls in the forest, he fell into the end zone, scored a touchdown. Now, I will give him this. for a big man to get up and raise up like that. I gotta give him a 10 out of 10 on the dunk, but then I give him a one out of 10 on understanding the situation in the game. Situation awareness is alltime low and getting that 15yd penalty and putting building Sauls in a very precarious position to kick a 48, you know, 48 yard uh extra point, but he accomplished it. He did. He accomplished it. But and then of course, you know, Max Herman, we’re watching the play right here. Here it is. One, two, three. Cir to Sole. Ah, just missed it. Oh, they just missed it. The best part the best part of it. I mean, yes, the route was nice, the catch, it scored, but we’re we’re here for the sideshow, act as well. We’re here for the sideshow. Well, it was funny after Darnell caught that touchdown. Your your good friend uh Raone Foster was down on the sideline filling in for me uh for radio sidelines and he’s looking around, he’s like, “Oh, Darnell is going to get it. He’s going to get it.” And then he go he walks back down. He goes, “Danny Smith is the most mad.” He laid into him cuz Yeah. Um Alfredo Roberts went over. Coach Tomlin went over, but you know, Danny probably didn’t say it in the nicest way possible because in a real game that that’s a difference. That’s a big difference. That’s a difference. Yeah. I I think he maybe uh got the message on that third one. And and and if you were listening earlier, you know, Steelers Nation, you heard Darnell Washington talk about when we get to clean up the penalties and everything. I was like, he is talking about himself right there like nobody else included. It’s an audience of one and he’s just repeating it out loud for his own, you know, recognition. Absolutely. But good to see him, as you said, uh especially I feel like even last year during training camp in seven shots, we’d see him involved. Yeah. Um and it just was not something that necessarily translated. I thought also the middle of the field uh in Jacksonville is it was open for business which is what we were missing a little bit last year and something that we’ve seen them work on here in Latroe and good to see it trans translate into a game. Yeah. Better part of four years I think for us. Fair. Fair. Yeah. I mean, you know, listen, listen, as much as I love, you know, the country of Canada, the Canada offense leaves a little less to be desired. So, we are well beyond that point now. Yes, we are. And our and our growth here, but I thought it was great to see the middle of the field. I thought attacking it, like you said, the Darnell Washington getting that seam route, you know, looking at the comebacks that were ran. Robert Woods had a really nice one across the middle. Roman Roman Wilson, yes, had a nice little deep over route that uh that he caught. So the middle of the field being open, being deployable, and being useful, I thought was a really nice thing to have. And we saw quarterbacks not afraid of that zone. It didn’t become the no man’s land. Um, but I think also the amount of receivers that we have that caught passes, right, in this game. I thought that was also tremendous. Um, because Rock Taylor had actually he had one. He was running this the slant and caught one in the middle. So I mean it was just now I’m naming like all these names and people are like who? Like trust me, we got a lot of guys. That’s why I said at the beginning of the broadcast, depth is the key word here. And the Steelers have a lot of it. And no interceptions either. Nope. Not one for putting the ball up 38 times in the air, not getting not getting an interception. Pretty good job by your second and your fourth string quarterbacks. Just want to point that out one more time. Second and fourth string. Better than one and two of Jacksonville. You’re like one and Yep. Yeah. And we were taking a look uh at the quarterbacks just a little bit ago and it was not Will Howard uh as our our reference monitor is not um the closest and we also are not Max and I are not great at uh you know dealing with a little bit of a glare. We’re going to talk about it not being age but saying it’s age. Okay. Let’s just let’s just say yeah. Well, it could be that too. And height. Height. You know, we’re tall. We’re both tall. We’re both really tall. So the almost as tall as Max. I’m just about at like an inch or two. Yeah. And I’m sitting up in my chair. And that’s why I look so tall. But it was not uh Will Howard that was throwing the ball, but he was catching at one point. Um not dressed in his uniform today. Just want to make sure that we correct that as we’re, you know, giving you the live look down on the field. Sometimes it’s a live look for Max and I seeing it for the first time. We do try to turn around and see things. Um in terms of Arthur Smith though, let’s stick with the offense for just a little bit more. What did you learn about what he wants this offense to look like this year opposed to last year? completely different weapons and personnel and quarterbacks obviously, but did you learn anything about that? I think I learned uh a little bit because I still think that what he really wants to do, he’s not going to show it to the rest of the NFL. Let’s just let’s just be fair. You’re not going to see it till week one. But what I did appreciate was the amount of two tight end sets that they had, couple of three. And then of course when you took Darnell out. I don’t know if a lot of people know but Dylan Cook got in there and he he was he was I won’t say what we call it here that but he was the eligible type of receiver. Yes. Um so you know it’s definitely going to be an emphasis of getting guys with multiple tight end sets deployed out here this offense and the intent to run and throw out of those sets I thought was really nice to see. Um that running back room. Mhm. man, you got a lot of options. And Lou Nichols put on a show. He had he had the longest run of the night. Physical running downhill. Trey Surman had a nice night as well, especially in the return game. So, you’re looking at that and then you still got other options. Evan Hull wasn’t bad at all either. We thought we were going to see Kenneth Gainwell. We didn’t end up seeing Kenneth Gainwell’s a lot of Caleb Johnson. So, it’s just these are great problems to have as I kind of look at this and Arthur Smith has to be ecstatic to have all of these options available to him and getting down to 53 is going to be a tougher job than most people think. Absolutely. Uh, you mentioned Caleb Johnson. Obviously, the rookie, they were not going to be shy about getting him some carries in Jacksonville, letting him test himself against a different team. What did you make of his first performance? You know, I thought it was good. Still looked like a rookie. I mean, you know, still some vision things that he’s going to have to get more comfortable with. An NFL hole looks a lot different from a college hole. So, you’re going to need to make sure that when you see it, attack it. There’s a couple times he kind of missed the opportunity, I think, trying to cut back a little bit too soon or he was waiting a little bit too late and thought the hole was going to open up wider and it ends up it’s like, nope, that was all you’re going to get. You’re going to have to skinny through or else it closes. So, I think just learning and getting adapted to that style of running um is something, but it wasn’t a deterrent. And I thought it was just a learning learning cue for uh for Johnson. Uh there we’re seeing Arthur Smith and Aaron Rogers a meeting of the minds going over some different things. And even though number eight was not suited and dressed in uniform in Jacksonville, those two had a lot of conversations and maybe uh Charlie Batch was saying on our TV broadcast, it’s hey, if I was in that situation, here’s what I would have done. I would have, you know, I like what that was. Uh just trying to continue to mesh uh this ideology of what this offense is going to be, what Aaron likes, what he doesn’t like when Arthur knows what to call with what works for him. Um you really saw those two. It wasn’t just, you know, Aaron helping out different guys or Arthur just being the OC. You saw a lot of collaboration and it was throughout the entire night. Yeah, I was about to say, yeah, Aaron was very, very active with the headset. You know, he had his earpiece in. He’s and like you said, he’s going to other quarterbacks, explaining stuff to them, then talking to Arthur about, hey, what would you like here? What do we do here? Um there’s a couple of uh we’ll say preseason for everybody, including electronics. There’s a couple of times that the uh the headset went out, looked like it, and we’ll just say that there was a lot of lot of creative four-letter words that were used in the process of getting those things back online. Is that the best way to say? I think that’s the most diplomatic way to say for everybody. Yeah. So, we I know we didn’t get to talk I don’t know if you guys talked about those brand new Sony noiseancelling headsets that were supposed to be something proof integrated and yeah, it did not did not happen that way. Uh you could tell Skyler Thompson sometimes was not necessarily hearing things uh just based off of his mannerisms as he was looking at the sideline kind of like, hey, yeah. Uh play play. No, no, you just wanted to Okay, I’m going freestyle this. I mean that happened actually a couple of times in the game and right for the most part it turned out very well yes for the Steelers but that’s the one thing that you have to get you can’t get codependent upon the technology at all times. You got to put faith in your skill set understanding your studies and then allowing that to come into play come game time because there’s going to be times where you know the offense is going to be given cart blanch and your quarterback’s going to have to know what to do in those situations. So for Skyler Thompson, like I said, he operated as though there wasn’t any big issues, still had success in the process. And I will say this, whatever happens with Skyler Thompson, he’s going to end up in a good situation for what he did on Saturday night in Jacksonville. Heck, who knows? The Jaguars might say, “Wait a second, apples to apples comparison.” Yeah, this guy outdooled both of my backup quarterbacks. He might be going back. He might get Red Rover back to the Sunshine State. Well, and you know, I think too, Logan Woodside still out here on the practice field, still helping be the fourth arm uh during these practices. Skyler Thompson might still get more uh opportunities just with the Pittsburgh Steelers uh to continue to put stuff on tape against other teams inside actual stadiums. Yeah. And that that’s the most important thing you can ask for when you’re a veteran guy, you’re a journeyman guy. I just need opportunities and however I get them, however they come, I’m going to maximize those opportunities to make sure I continue it. And you know, for a lot of things that people were talking about, disparaging remarks, whether it’s from South Florida, whether it’s from Steeler fans when we signed him, I think he went out there and proved why we brought him in. And you know, you can understand, oh shoot. Okay, that guy can get us out of a game in a pinch. Yep. Like this guy has more skills than what we saw in Miami a year ago when Tu was injured. they were trying to finish out the season and all the debacle that that went in. Yes, this is a this is a polished veteran backup quarterback that’s been doing it as well. That’s the other thing. He’s been doing it. So, it’s not like this is a new transition for him, right? And he was actually the first quarterback currently in that room signed to a reserve futures contract in January before anybody else in room that we’re currently looking at uh was signed on the dotted line with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, he did almost win a playoff game and you also have to remember that prior uh to Will Howard getting hurt, he wasn’t getting that many snaps even here in Latroe. Um, but as you said, a veteran, a guy who’s been there, who’s done it, who knows how to prepare, who knows what he’s doing in terms of mental reps if that’s all you’re getting. Um, and he showed out, which was great to see for everybody. Yeah. I mean, listen, opportunity, that’s all you can ask for. That’s all you That’s all you can can pray for. And he did the most with it. So, I’m really happy to have watched him play. Like you said, you see Logan Woodside there as well. And I think that’s where it’s going to come down to. We know what Will Howard is. He’s a draft pick. He’s a guy you paid you paid Mason Rudolph. And of course, Aaron is Aaron. But you never know when things get in the pinch. You know, what are you going to need to do? I I don’t think you’re going to be able to stash him after the performance he had, right? And get him on P Squad. But injury considerations later in the year, wherever he’s at, how whatever he falls into, you know, I think that’s a great guy to consider of, you know, bringing back to the team if anything should change. Absolutely. All right. Well, we’re talking a lot of offense, so I think it’s only appropriate we had a chance to hear uh prior to practice today from offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Let’s take a listen to what he spoke to the media about. plenty of things we got to work on. Obviously, it was good to see some of the little things that we’ve been points of emphasis, you know, operation. We were pretty clean. We did have the one false start uh leaving early down in the red zone. But I think overall, you know, things have style of play, guys made plays, handled situations pretty well for the most part. That was But we got a long ways to go. just the details and some of the stuff that showed up uh you know in the run game you know it’s a if you know could have would a should have but we it’s like everything you do you’ve got to be in sync and so there’s plenty of stuff we got to work on. What you like most about your time you’ve played so far and how do you think you played? Thought he played well. You know it’s just every quarterback I’ve had different just even the way they prepare and times what they really need to know before you know sometimes you know they can you can drown them with too much information. You just got to get a feel for them. Everybody every one of them is different in there from from Mason to Aaron to Skyler to Will Logan. Um just getting a feel for them and I think that’s what’s important in the preseason. You got to those guys have to play how you want to call a game. You know what they need from the sideline, just the rhythm of things, operation. I thought both quarterbacks uh handle it really well. Darnell with that big touchdown, you know, in that opening drive. Can we expect to maybe see him more in the pass game this season? all these guys. I mean, we that’s always the intent to get everybody involved. I mean, even in a preseason game, I believe every skilled player that address talks the football in some capacity. So, that was encouraging. You know, you want to give those guys opportunities to make the team and guys that you’re relying on, you know, get them going, uh, you know, get ready for the regular season. Uh, so all those guys, we got a lot of playmakers that, you know, was obviously good to see. I mean, it was the read on that play and he made a great catch. Now, what we didn’t like was the penalty afterwards. that’s going to cost some money and it’s a it’s a 15 yard penalty and those are things that hurt us last year. Uh you know going back to the Philly game and then we got a chance to take some early momentum uh if you guys remember we got the penalty actually was slave is now here but you know there’s things you can’t do to beat yourself and uh just overall team wise uh so very encouraged Darnell’s done a good job and it was good to see him make the player you had four of the five starting offensive linemen. How do you feel like they aggreg especially on the tackle? They did a good job. I thought our conditioning was good. Those are two good players. I was I was glad that they played their guys. Uh uh Hines Allen and uh Walker pretty good edge guys. So it was good work for Troy and Brick. I thought the pockets were pretty good. You know, we did the one sack with the a little miscue there on underneath and then you know another lesson learned. The clock goes off. You know that was a drive we took the negative play. We It’s hard to overcome that. I mean that’s a old Tom Moore quote that then we’ll see Tom on Thursday uh looking young as ever and um but it’s true you know the clock goes off and you know okay play whatever second and 10 and take those negative plays and what they do to drives uh so plenty of stuff to learn learn from but uh I thought both quarterbacks overall played really well seem to be targeting the middle of the field a lot more in practice you saw the pass to Darnell pass to Roman early in this is Scotty’s also talked about it seems like you guys are working more concepts to give options to for Aaron to manipulate the middle of the field. What has led to that being more of a big thing this year? Yeah, you go with the strengths of your your team. I mean, it’s plenty of times last year when we tried to do that in different different areas. It’s not one person’s fault, but certainly when you become too oneed one-dimensional, whatever you’re doing, the defense has a say too, and you can’t you don’t have counter punches and you got to make them defend the entire field. That opens up a lot of other things. What are your takeaways from the running game from Saturday that you guys can utilize to improve moving forward in that area? A lot of things. I mean, not just in the running game, even the passing numbers were good. There’s some of our details I didn’t think, you know, as guys get tired and those are the lessons you learn in the preseason. Like I said, I think too many people they look for relief in this business with the end results sometimes. Okay. Whatever you score 31 points or whatever, you know, it’s you can overreact one way or another, especially things don’t go well. People try to overact, try to blame others and other people. It’s like they never looking for relief. We’re just looking for progress to improve. And that’s always been my mindset. And so there a lot of areas. And so you go back to the run game, same thing. you know, at times, you know, late in the game, I thought we had some decent runs, but early on it’s and there’s small things. I mean, it takes all 11, you know, whether it’s the tracks, set up combinations, some of the ball handlings. I mean, a little minutia that may sound boring, but those are things going on while you practice. And, you know, I thought at times we’ve done pretty good here in practice, but it’s got to carry over to the game. And so, those that’s definitely something we got to work on. Going off of that too, Caleb Johnson seemed not the happiest with his performance after the game. Uh, eight carries, 20 yards. I mean, it was his first ever NFL game though and he said the game was, you know, fast. Did you talk to him at all after the game? Eddie and I both talked to him in game. Again, learning your players. Everybody’s wired a little bit different and, you know, some guys are too hard on themselves and sometimes some guys are delusional and make excuses. Caleb’s a great guy and, you know, that’s why it’s important for those young guys to get out there. You don’t want that being week one. you know, it’s I don’t care who you are, whether it’s nerves, excitement. Uh, so, you know, it was a big week for him and for all those rookies. You know, we work a couple Thursdays with Tampa and another Saturday night. Are you happy that the ball distribution went without the two starting tight ends, DK and Calvin? Yeah, that’s that’s always the goal. I mean, I think it naturally happens when you’ve got guys like DK, you know, the ball finds him, but when, you know, guys make quick decisions and make good reads, you want everybody to get involved. uh then it naturally works itself out where some of your top guys will end up having you know bigger target share but you just feel the energy. It’s like you know if you’re stalling out and you know only focusing on one guy and then you know it’s you love everybody to get involved I think that’s when you got a good team or is it intentional to attack early and get push the ball down field especially against our starting defense? I don’t want to get into too much strategy, but it was good to see you know get going to a good start and uh you know any drive I think we had six plays over 20 yards. It’s the same thing like when you have negative plays or self-inflicted wounds pre- snap you know your your chance of scoring you know sometimes I and we did overcome Troy’s penalty but a lot of times those sacks and self-inflicted wounds it’s you stall out. So anytime that you can use modern EPA analytics, you can go old school what coaches coaches 70 years ago said when you could get those chunk plays and stay out of third downs and get them on first second down or if you’re in, you know, short yardage a lot. You know, we were in third and short of a decent amount, that was productive for us. So I don’t want to go too much into the strategy, but yes, obviously we want to get off to a better start and we want to hit more explosive plays. Arthur, what’s your initial impressions of Roman Wilson and Max Hurleman’s performance in the first game? They had a pretty strong performance here in Jacksonville. Yeah, I mean Roman’s a guy that’s put a lot of work in. I mean, and obviously it’s nobody wants to go through that and not play your rookie year and uh but he handled it. You know, some guys they just kind of go away and they Roman behind the scenes has done a lot of work. It’s, you know, pretty sure the ball was going to go there, but you never know. The coverage was different. It might have gone to Scotty or could have gone on the back, but that was intentional to get him going early and he deserves that because he’ll be rewarded. uh seen a lot of progress so hopefully it continues. I know you all worked on situational football all the time. Absolutely. What was the breakdown early in the game fourth and one not being able to to get Well, a couple things. One a lot of times you get into the preseason and you know you’re not trying to show everything. So if you you want to package things there, which is pretty standard NFL 101. Most people package those short yardage plays. You know, you see that all the time when people get into like a three-play package right there. You know, we hit we had an adjustment and just it is what it is and it became a one-on-one thing and we got a little bow back and the corner cracked replaced and tackled us for for a loss. Um they had a similar one-on-one. I watched the other day. Somebody else ran one. It just that’s so try not to get too cute in the preseason, but we got to execute better and we obviously can I mean that was the one situational thing that I didn’t think we handled well. Actually two. one when we were uh first to six on the six package play, you know, we didn’t get negative one followed by the false start and that was the one driving the red zone where we stalled out. So those situations it’s the margins in the NFL are so small. Uh try to eliminate those negative plays especially you got the ability to get out of things or or maybe want maybe package things different. So uh and that’s not I don’t want anybody think that you’re blaming the player, blame the quarterback. I mean, play me ultimately all me and what you want to show. So, those two situations things that we can improve on for sure. Where are your confidence in this offensive line compared to last year? Just the added experience this group has and seems like they are more coordinated how they’re picking up different blitzes in practice and in the games. Well, that helps when you’re able to sometimes a little bit of luck. You know, you hope to play with the same five all year. Obviously, last year was one of those years where we had an injury bug and we had a lot of young guys playing for the first time and you know they’re going through like any rookie and so we had a lot of mix and match lineup. So when you have some consistency there that helps for sure and that’s what you want to see. So obviously I got a lot of confidence. I have guys whoever we put out there got confidence. I mean that’s if you’re going with the guys you got and uh uh that was encouraging. You know we got four young guys playing and then obviously Isaac didn’t play but love to see that consistency. Arthur, we saw you with Aaron a lot on the sidelines. What can you guys learn about each other? What what’s the value of that time together watching plays as they’re having just talking through things and just know he’s not out there, but obviously he and I have never been together and you know Aaron, what’s fun about talking football, he’s got a lot of uh experience, you know, 20 years been a lot of you just talk through things just like the question we’re asked about situation. There’s a million ways you can handle situation. The best thing is everybody’s on the same page. And so it’s, you know, he’s just trying to make use of his time. He’s not out there. And I thought he did a great job on the sideline. You know, some guys try to do that for the camera. He’s actually doing it for, you know, real reasons to to be involved. And he’s been fantastic in that regard. Uh so that’s just another opportunity. he wasn’t out there and so just try to get him involved and just he and I would talk if Tom or he was helping the other quarterbacks and that was good to see. Great. Thank you. Thanks a lot. All right. Good to get Arthur Smith’s perspective on Saturday’s game and things kind of going forward. Uh I liked when he was asked, you know, were you trying to be aggressive on that first drive? And he’s like, well, we always want to score early. That’s always our, you know, prerogative. Uh we’re not going to talk strategy, but we are glad that that worked and how uh it started to unfold as well. Uh, but we didn’t talk too much about defense just yet. And I think to see number 55 Cole Hulkcom on Saturday in the pads hitting people. Uh, sideline to sideline. Yes, we have seen it here in Latro, but to see it in a game, I I cannot imagine. I didn’t get a chance to catch up with him postgame. Uh, don’t love Jacksonville’s locker room. Very tiny. Very, very tiny. We were kind of trying the best that we could, but to see him out there um for everything he’s gone through, the hard work he’s had to put in to rehab back, it was great to see. Yeah. You think about this. I mean, he was out for a solid year and a half. Mhm. You know, from injury, was coming back all last season, present on the sidelines, a part of the team. Oh, yes. But not able to play. I imagine that had to be frustrating, but like I said, I mean, it was worth the wait. He looked good. Moving, running, chasing, tackling, everything you wanted to see, everything he was known for, speed, tenacity, and finish, he showed us all of that in this game. And uh it was fun to watch. Yeah. And we uh talked on the TV broadcast about how his new hairdo, he got rid of the mullet, he cut it. The wife said, “Hey, uh you’re a dad now. You’re a little bit older.” and he kind of liked it. He said it was a chance to, you know, revamp re repurpose this season. Kind of a fresh start type of deal, but it is still weird to see him with short hair. Well, and still perfectly feathered in the front. So, yeah, that’s fair. I mean, you know, there is a little bit of swag there. But you’re right, he’s now he’s now adulting. He’s adulting hard right now. So, you know, that’s good to see. But like you said, he still has a very very visual hairstyle that you can still see when the helmet’s off. Absolutely. So, at least he kept he kept that persona. Yes. Uh, someone not in a helmet on Saturday would be number five, Jaylen Ramsay. I I think we knew that that bubble wrap was going to be put on him. Um, but Max Ramona and I were talking about it down on the sideline. Uh, just how vocal he was to the young guys, getting the surface out, helping them uh before and after every defensive drive. Uh, even going over to other people uh not just on the defense to give them, you know, his thoughts on things. what he was seeing very engaged throughout the game and again we talk about the leadership of Aaron Rogers and what he brings to that offense. I think there’s plenty of leaders as we know on that defense but Jaylen Ramsay I think for that defensive back unit uh just bringing something extra special somebody who knows all the positions uh so he can speak to all of them and he was really doing that on Saturday which was cool to see. Uh it did not matter if you were a first, second, third, fourth string. He was he was helping you out if you were in that game and he saw something. Yeah. And I and I love that. And I think when you think about that, the veterans we brought in, they were the right veterans. Oh yes. Right. Aaron Rogers with the quarterbacks and the offense in general with the OC. You bring in Jaylen Ramsay. He’s with the defensive secondary the entire time. Now granted, we already had a Patrick Queen, but Amalik Harrison who played a lot, Yeah. knows a lot as well. You know, Deshawn and Juan on the back half having that type of persona around there. And then Janu for the tight ends, you have to realize that’s a young tight end unit, right? When Pat was your veteran, when Pat was your vet lead guy, now you have Janu, you know, you have somebody like that. You have a Kenneth Gainwell with a running back. We brought in and of course DK. So, we brought in the right veterans and paired them up, the right position groups that were really youthful and could provide guidance as well as stellar play. And I think that was a big win for Omar Khan and company moving, you know, looking through not only the draft, but the free agency picks that they did and at what points they got all these guys, right? Uh Darius Slay was someone I got to talk to in game and told him, you know, Cam Hayward anointed you, Jaylen Ramsay, and JPJ the three-headed monster. and he he kind of laughed and he was like, “That’s that’s literally what we want to be and we cannot wait to show people what that’s going to look like.” Not that we’re going to see it uh through any of these last two preseason games. Um but I think, you know, he’s another guy and that was Highmith doing doing a little lunging. That’s, you know, also something you love to see. Uh he was dealing with that lower body injury that kept him out of practices, but to see him working his way back, especially in a day like this with no pads. Uh not crazy, you know, contact or anything. Uh we want him healthy for week one. Bubble wrap. Yes, you can’t invest in it on the stock market, but we can sure supply it here at the Steelers. And we have 18 bubble wrapable players. I’m using a lot of bubble wrap right now. I need to stop. I need to slow down. Starting to get a system going. But I mean when you when you I I think you know I listened to coach Tomlin. He was on the pivot with Ryan Clark and his crew and he talked about just the roster that they assembled. Uh the pieces that you have it makes you want to bubble wrap everybody because you can tell how special it can be. Um and health of course as we know is a major component of every season. Uh no matter if it’s week one or week 18 sometimes health can dictate things. We’re talking about Cole Hulkcom. I remember when him and Aland Roberts were like the last guy standing in that inside linebacker room and then he went out and Landon was hurt and playing through things and he still you know he was he still had to do what he had to do. Um and unfortunately that’s how it goes sometimes. That is that is and health is one of the number one things. It’s a nutrition. It’s not a matter of if, it’s always a matter of when. You are going to have to deal with that. And having the depth that they have allows you more flexibility to kind of control your fate within that type of attrition. And the Steelers, I can’t say it again, I said it at the top of this show, I’m going to say it towards the end of the show, depth is impressive thus far for the Steelers. So, bubble wrap it and keep it. Listen, bubble wrap is good. It’s better than being held together by bubble gum and like band-aids, right? Yeah. You know, but if you could bubble wrap band-aids. Yeah. So, it’s like precious things, vintage things all get wrapped in bubble wrap. My Transform, my Optimus Prime, the die cast version, not the plastic one, still in bubble wrap cuz I know how special it is. And once again, I want to make it to the display day. So, you kind of hold on to those things until it’s time to really start playing with them hard. Today, they’re not in pads. Do you think tomorrow they’ll put pads on or do you think this will be a an easy way out of the final days here in LRO? I think you have to pad it up tomorrow, right? And then you take off Wednesday and then Thursday’s a padded day, then Friday’s a walk through and then Saturday is a game cuz you still need contact, right? You still need physical the guys still have to callous out there, you know? That’s one of the things that this time of year is for is for the callusing because when you get in the season, you’re hitting maybe once and up to like I think you get 12 or 13 total, right? um throughout the season and only one time you can double pad it up in a week. Granted, we patted every day possible back when I played. So, yeah, another back in my day reference, but you want to take advantage of those days and you you already missed the first day of pad. So, you technically have that extra day sitting in your back pocket of wondering when are we going to get it. I expect Thursday or tomorrow and Thursday to be those two days. I don’t think Coach Shman’s going to hold on to that one. No, that’s one you can get rid of. I mean, it’s it’s not as good. It’s not as good as a Ferrari I owe you like in Dumb and Dumber. So yeah, you can get rid of that like timeouts at the end at the end of a first half. Yeah, totally different. All right, Max, thanks so much for joining me today. Mike Pursudo will be with us tomorrow. Our final training camp live presented by FedEx coming to you from Latroe. Thanks for joining us. We’ll see everybody tomorrow at 1:30. Have a great night.

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