Latrobe, Pa. — For the second time in as many 2-minute drill periods, the Steelers’ first-team offense found the end zone.
Thursday it was DK Metcalf. Saturday it was Pat Freiermuth who caught a 23-yard touchdown pass on a laser from Aaron Rodgers with nine seconds to spare against the first-team defense to end the fourth practice of training camp at Chuck Noll Field.
Inside linebacker Patrick Queen did his job to carry Freiermuth down the seam in 1-on-1 coverage, but it was vintage Rodgers. He couldn’t have extended his right arm and handed it off any better to Freiermuth, who spun the ball in celebration as the fans who came out in droves cheered him on.
“What I saw is if we give [Rodgers] time, he’ll do the rest,” said right tackle Dylan Cook. “He’s been in the league a long time. He’s seen it all. He always has a contingency plan, no matter what they do [defensively].”
Mike McCarthy knows his offensive linemen are itching for the first padded practice so they can show their physicality, but Cook agreed with his head coach that the whole team still managed to get a lot out of the acclimation week — even the big guys up front.
More than anything, those situational football periods allow the offense to work in the same sort of rhythm they’ll need to have in games. For now, they’ve got chief of staff Steve Scarnecchia with the megaphone and game management/quarterbacks coach Tim Berbenich watching the clock. On this particular drive, it started at the offense’s 35-yard line with 1:51 remaining.
“It’s very valuable,” Cook said. “Because as you probably know, Aaron likes to get a little wicked with some of the cadences and some of the play calls when we get in those scenarios. So it’s extremely valuable. Priceless.”
The defense did make Rodgers work for it. It was an 11-play drive, which included a fantastic pass breakup by cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. on the second snap, playing through Metcalf’s hands to force the incompletion. But Rodgers found Metcalf for 11 yards on third down, then went back to Metcalf again on the next third down, only to have cornerback Brandin Echols deflect that pass in tight coverage.
On fourth down, Rodgers found Freiermuth for 11 yards to move the chains, then hit a couple quick completions to Brandon Smith and Germie Bernard. That set the stage for the touchdown to Freiermuth.
“We’ve had a good four days as a unit,” Cook said. “A lot of mixing and matching, and the chemistry’s carrying over. There’s still some more work to be done in that regard. You can never be too close to your teammates in terms of communication and all that. Great start, and just have to keep rolling.”