Steelers 2025 Coaching Camp Diary: Day Eight

After a morning practice Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers put on the pads, got on buses, and made the short trip to Latrobe Memorial Stadium for the team’s famous Friday Night Lights practice. Let’s dive into the notes.

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Camp Notes (Day Eight)

– The official number might not reflect it but it sure felt like a record crowd on hand tonight, a reminder of the fan base still strongly supporting the team. The team announced about 13,600 in attendance but the lines to get in literally wrapped around the stadium, something I have never seen before. A half-hour wait just to get inside the stadium. While there was an increased security presence following the shooting that occurred in the NFL building last week, that didn’t seem to be the reason why the lines were so long. And they stayed that way well after practice began.

– Injury roundup: Not practicing Friday were C Ryan McCollum (unknown), DL Dean Lowry (knee), TE DJ Thomas-Jones (ankle/foot), DL Esezi Otomewo (knee), and CB Joey Porter Jr. (unknown). McCollum missed the first two days of camp but it’s unclear if that’s why he missed tonight. Porter looked fine and Tomlin said he would return soon. 

OG Isaac Seumalo donned pads but went through individual work only. Broderick Jones returned to team period, working in Seven Shots but not the ensuing team sessions. He also practiced during the one-on-one periods.

DL Cam Heyward dressed but was largely given the night off, not working in team drills.

Hurt in practice were CB Cory Trice Jr. (hamstring) and OT Calvin Anderson (unknown). Trice went down relatively early and spent the back half of practice helmet in hand and watching. His injury history is extensive so this is something to monitor. Anderson limped off during the team’s final team period. It appeared trainers were looking at his right oblique but it’s hard to tell for sure what he is dealing with. He didn’t look to be seriously injured but it’s something to watch. NT Keeanu Benton didn’t seem to get reps late in practice, not working on OL-DL or in the final team session, Daniel Ekuale finishing the night as the starting nose tackle. But I don’t know if that’s related to injury or not.

EDGE Jack Sawyer is sporting a bulky brace on his right arm he hasn’t worn before. But he practiced fully without limitations.

– The buses rolled in before 7, Mike Tomlin in shorts and a white cap the first one off the bus and onto the field. Renegade blared as the players took the field, most carrying their pads to put them on after getting off the bus and onto the field.

– Plenty of players signed autographs before practice: TE Darnell Washington, TE JJ Galbreath, EDGE T.J. Watt, OG Mason McCormick, LS Tucker Addington, K Chris Boswell, LB Patrick Queen, DE Isaiahh Loudermilk, NT Daniel Ekuale, WR Lance McCutcheon, CB Darius Slay, C Zach Frazier, EDGE Julius Welschof, DL Kyler Baugh, RB Trey Sermon, among many others.

But no one was swarmed the way QB Aaron Rodgers was. By fans and media. He signed for several minutes.

– New DL Kyler Baugh will wear No. 65. I didn’t spot Breiden Fehoko, who announced he had signed but the move hasn’t been made official by the team. Maybe he’s on the field tomorrow.

– Referees were on hand for tonight’s practice. First time they’ve been at camp.

– T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig pairing up in early drills. Ditto with Cam Heyward and Derrick Harmon.

– Steelers scouts are regulars at training camp before hitting the road in about a month for the college football season. Dan Colbert and Dennis MacInnis were two scouts I saw today. Yesterday, I spotted Mark Sadowski take in practice.

– Quarterbacks going through a drill to work on multiple components. First, toss right to the running back before booting out and QBs coach Tom Arth pitching them another football, throwing on the run to complete the rep.

– Steelers positional coaches dividing up the work throughout practice. At one point, head OL Coach Pat Meyer worked with the tackles while assistant Isaac Williams worked with the interior linemen. Ditto with the DBs, head secondary coach Gerald Alexander taking the cornerbacks and assistant Anthony Midget the safeties.

– During a later special teams period, I charted all of the gunner and jammer pairings. Team worked not two sides at a time but two jammers versus one gunner and one returner. These are in order.

Gunners: WR Ben Skowronek, CB Brandin Echols, WR Roman Wilson, CB Beanie Bishop Jr., WR Roc Taylor, WR Brandon Johnson, CB James Pierre, WR Max Hurleman, CB Kyler McMichael, WR Ke’Shawn Williams, WR Scotty Miller, CB D’Shawn Jamison, and CB Cameron McCutcheon.

Jammer Pairings: James Pierre/Quindell Johnson, Brandon Johnson/Donte Kent, Cameron McCutcheon/D’Shawn Jamison, Ke’Shawn Williams/Kyler McMichael, Max Hurleman/Lance McCutcheon, Sebastian Castro/Brandin Echols, Ben Skowronek/Quindell Johnson, Cameron McCutcheon/Beanie Bishop Jr., Roc Taylor/Roman Wilson, Donte Kent/James Pierre, Lance McCutcheon/Quindell Johnson, Brandon Johnson/Sebastian Castro, Roc Taylor/Quindell Johnson, James Pierre/Brandin Echols, Kyler McMichael/Lance McCutcheon.

Returners: Scotty Miller, Calvin Austin III, Robert Woods – Ke’Shawn Williams and Donte Kent receive reps late, walking over to the returners after going through gunner/jammer work.

Worth noting Wilson received reps as a gunner and jammer during this period.

First Team Period (11 on 11)

Seven Shots, ball at the 2. Live-tackling drill.

1. O-line of Broderick Jones-Spencer Anderson-Zach Frazier-Mason McCormick-Troy Fautanu. Derrick Harmon, Keeanu Benton, and Isaiahh Loudermilk the d-line trio. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith at outside linebacker. Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay the outside corners, Juan Thornhill and DeShon Elliott the safeties. Aaron Rodgers under center, Jaylen Warren the running back.

Rodgers play-action. Wants DK Metcalf left side but Metcalf falls to the ground and Slay gets a hand on the ball, nearly picking it off.

2. Harmon and Benton the d-tackles. DK Metcalf, Ben Skowronek, and Robert Woods the receivers. Kaleb Johnson in at running back. Gets the carry up the middle but ILB Payton Wilson darts in to trip Johnson up and stop him short of the goal line, per the side judge.

3. Kenneth Gainwell in at running back. Rodgers looks for Pat Freiermuth left corner but Slay is there again to rip the ball away, incomplete.

4. Mason Rudolph at quarterback. Dylan Cook in at left tackle. Throw right corner for WR Scotty Miller. Juan Thornhill nice coverage and it appeared to be incomplete, though I missed the initial ruling from the ref. Reactions indicated Thornhill and the defense won the rep.

5. Toss left to Johnson. Strong run from him, breaking one tackle and stiff-arming the cornerback on his way into the end zone for a hard-earned touchdown. Really nice rep.

6. Will Howard enters. Gainwell split out wide right and runs a slant. Howard zings the ball to him for a score.

7. O-line of Gareth Warren-Doug Nester-Nick Broeker-Aiden Williams-Steven Jones. Will Howard touchdown right side to Max Hurleman. Defense wins 4-3 but the offense rallied for three late touchdowns.

Backs on Backers

1. Darnell Washington handles T.J. Watt’s bull rush well.

2. Nick Herbig dips under Jonnu Smith.

3. Payton Wilson wins the rep, knocking Kenneth Gainwell down mid-rush.

4. Connor Heyward anchors and wins versus Eku Leota.

5. They go again and Leota gains a step on Heyward.

6. Kaleb Johnson holds up and stays with Malik Harrison.

7. Nick Herbig uprights Pat Freiermuth.

8. Cole Holcomb sheds Trey Sermon.

9. Holcomb swipes Sermon, but I think Sermon was able to seal him wide here.

10. Darnell Washington does a great job mirroring Alex Highsmith’s spin move.

11. Jack Sawyer beats Jonnu Smith inside.

12. Evan Hull, pancaked by Mark Robinson during Wednesday’s backs-on-‘backers session, gets revenge on this rep. Buries Robinson after the two lock up. Hull’s fellow running backs are hyped for him.

13. But Robinson saves face. They go again and Hull gets thrown to the ground.

14. Tiebreaking rep. Hull eats up grass to defend a potential bull rush but Robinson hits him with a swim move for an easy victory and 2-1 series win.

15. Jonnu Smith better here versus Jack Sawyer, anchoring well.

16. Not a good rep from Kaleb Johnson here, grabbing Malik Harrison by the waist as Harrison spins inside and throwing him down. An obvious hold.

17. Connor Heyward on his heels but able to anchor down against Julius Welschof’s power rush.

18. DeMarvin Leal swims JJ Galbreath late but Galbreath, the rookie, held his own here.

19. They go again. Leal tries to win wide but slips at the top of the arc and falls.

20. Nice anchor by Galbreath to handle Leal’s long-arm/stab rush.

21. Good job by RB Lew Nichols to mirror Carson Bruener’s rush, attempting a spin move.

22. They go again and Nichols and Bruener end up on the ground at the end of this rep.

23. Welschof with a bull to rip under and past Kevin Foelsch.

24. Like the response from Foelsch, burying Welschof at the end of this rep and garnering support from teammates.

25. Close battle between the two again, though Welschof dipped Foelsch late.

26. Good rush from Devin Harper to knock Jaylen Warren off balance.

27. Swipe from Harper to beat Warren. Harper has bested Warren in their two days of backs-on-‘backers battles.

28. Darnell Washington seals DeMarvin Leal upfield.

29. Washington wins initially on Leal, but Leal rips through a bit late. Wasn’t a clean win, though, and Washington had a solid rep. Washington throws a finger wag at Leal at the end.

30. Jack Sawyer swim and rip inside of Washington for the win.

31. Kenneth Gainwell stands up Payton Wilson initially, though Wilson is able to swipe by late.

32. Wilson bulls over Gainwell.

33. Nice job by Gainwell to keep his feet moving and mirror Wilson’s outside spin.

34. Mark Robinson beats Kaleb Johnson late. Big scrum ensues here, not sure how the fireworks started. Happened late in the rep. Eventually broken up.

35. After things settle down, Johnson and Robinson go again. Johnson mirrors Robinson all the way.

36. Trey Sermon good anchor against Devin Harper.

37. Sermon keeps his feet moving and defends Harper’s main move and counter.

38. Lew Nichols seals Carson Bruener upfield and into Nichols’ running back teammates standing behind him.

39. Bruener knocks over Nichols during this rep.

Second Team Period (11 on 11)

Live-tackling run period.

1. Ball on the offense’s 40. Rodgers under center. Toss left to Warren. Gain of about 3 yards as Loudermilk and others converge to make the stop.

2. Ramsey and Slay at cornerback, Thornhill and Elliott at safety. Rodgers play-action finds Metcalf for a 10-yard gain, Slay making an ankle tackle for the stop.

3. Dylan Cook in at left tackle with Broderick Jones done for team period. Snap is early and Rodgers does well to corral it. Fires the ball out quickly to Metcalf for a gain of 9 yards, Thornhill on the stop. Flag from the refs. I assume for an issue on the line with the early snap.

4. Jack Sawyer and Nick Herbig the EDGE rushers. Darnell Washington the tight end. Rodgers in at quarterback. Kaleb Johnson carry left side. Gain of about 2 yards with good run support from Slay.

5. Confirming Cole Holcomb is working during full-contact periods, getting a rep here alongside Malik Harrison (his usual ILB partner in team periods). Chuck Clark and Miles Killebrew the safety pairing, Brandin Echols and James Pierre the cornerbacks. Mason Rudolph in at quarterback. Boots right and hits Washington on a tight-window throw for a gain of 8 yards before being tackled. Good throw and catch.

6. Kenneth Gainwell finds a lane left side and bursts through it. Shows toughness and finish at the end of the run, too, Killebrew struggling to bring him down before Harrison helps clean it up. Gain of about 11 yards.

7. Logan Lee and Yahya Black the d-tackles. Rudolph under center, Freiermuth goes in motion. Toss right to Johnson. High knees through a crowd to gain 5 yards before Harrison takes him down.

8. Trey Sermon carry left side. Holcomb flies in tackle him for a loss of 2 yards. Really good play.

9. Foelsch and Galbreath the tight ends. Howard hits WR Lance McCutcheon down the left seam for a 24-yard completion, a nice throw but even better catch by McCutcheon to extend out and hang on.

10. Howard now under center. Hull carry right side. Leota chases in free backside for no gain.

11. Steven Jones in at right tackle. Mark Robinson and Carson Bruener the inside linebacker pairing. Skylar Thompson in at quarterback. Lew Nichols carry up the middle. New DL Kyler Baugh grabs him from behind and drags him down. Call it a pickup of 5 yards.

12. Welschof and Leal the EDGE rushers. Cameron McCutcheon and Cory Trice the cornerbacks, Quindell Johnson and Sebastian Castro the safeties. Thompson working out of shotgun. Nichols carry up the middle, Bruener fitting the run. Gain of 3 yards.

Third Team Period (11 on 11)

No more live-tackling sessions today.

1. O-line of Cook-S. Anderson-Frazier-McCormick-Fautanu. Watt and Highsmith at OLB, Slay and Ramsey at CB, Queen and Wilson at ILB, Harmon and Loudermilk at DT.

Warren the running back, ball at the 35. Rodgers looks for Skowronek right side but incomplete, Thornhill covering. Short throw here.

2. Bishop in the slot. Rodgers complete to Jonnu Smith for about 9 yards before being tagged.

3. Gainwell at running back, Metcalf aligned slot left. Rodgers complete to Roman Wilson for about 12 yards, Queen slipping and getting up after Wilson made the catch. Tried to rip the ball out but couldn’t.

4. Sawyer and Herbig the EDGE rushers. Black and Ekuale the d-tackles. Rodgers goes through his progressions and wants to hit his checkdown right side. But someone, I think Sawyer, got his hand up to bat it down.

5. Echols and Pierre the outside corners with Kent in the slot. Rudolph complete to Heyward for just a couple yards, Kent covering but Heyward reaching out and hauling the ball in near the right sideline.

6. Killebrew and Clark the safety duo. Rudolph shotgun, Ke’Shawn Williams slot left. Rudolph hits Williams over the middle for a 12-yard gain, showing his speed post-catch as he races downfield to finish the rep.

7. O-line of Warren-Broeker-Scharping-Jones-C. Anderson. Rudolph still in at quarterback. Rudolph fires left side and WR Brandon Johnson reaches out to make a nice hands catch away from his body for a 22-yard gain as Killebrew tags him.

8. Echols and Pierre the corners, Harrison and Holcomb the inside linebackers. Rudolph connects with Williams over the middle while facing pressure, a gain of 8 yards.

9. Domenique Davis and Kyler Baugh the d-tackles. Mark Robinson and Devin Harper at inside linebacker. O-line of Warren-Nester-Scharping-Williams-Jones. Will Howard subs in. Has Johnson on a dig over the middle but Johnson can’t finish the play thanks to tight coverage from CB Cameron McCutcheon.

10. McCutcheon and McMichael the cornerbacks on the outside with Jamison in the slot. Roc Taylor and Max Hurleman the receivers. Jamison blitzes. Howard hits Galbreath right side for 10 yards. McCutcheon charged hard downhill but let him go in this non-tackling session.

11. Foelsch the Y-off. False start on the play and the offense backs up five yards. Looks like miscommunication on the snap count as center Nick Broeker gets pulled and has to run gassers across the width of the field. Scharping replaces him at the pivot. Skylar Thompson in at quarterback. Throw to Roc Taylor right side is incomplete. Good coverage from the corner – don’t have a note on who that was.

12. Looks like a flag on the snap but play carries on and Thompson fires to Hurleman over the middle. Castro is right on top of him and the ball is jarred around. I think Hurleman still managed to come down with it judging by the teammates slapping him on the helmet after the play. But a good attempt by Castro, at the least.

Fourth Team Period (11 on 11)

1. Ball on the offense’s 30. Slay and Ramsey the corners. D-line trio of Harmon-Ekuale-Loudermilk. Jonnu Smith goes in motion. Rodgers hits Metcalf for 10 yards. Nice rep by RT Troy Fautanu to defend T.J. Watt here, keeping the pocket clean.

2. Rodgers looks downfield for Metcalf, Slay trailing and Thornhill closing in over the top. The pass is too far in front for Metcalf and incomplete along the right sideline.

3. Rodgers finds Roman Wilson near the right sideline, Wilson turning upfield and avoiding going out of bounds against Beanie Bishop. Gain of 12.

4. Sawyer and Herbig the EDGE players. Gainwell the back. Scramble drill as Rodgers tries to run around and find someone. Mid-play, the PA announcer starts reading off the winning ticket number for the 50/50 raffle, which is just peak Pittsburgh. Backside, Calvin Austin is waving his arms, but Rodgers doesn’t see him across the field. Rodgers ends up taking off and ducking out of bounds left sideline.

5. Freiermuth the tight end. Kaleb Johnson the back. Rudolph makes a check at the line. Climbs the pocket to avoid Herbig’s pressure and hits Hurleman. Don’t have the yards, unfortunately.

6. Kent in the slot with Echols and Pierre on the outside. Rudolph complete to Robert Woods over the middle for a gain of 7 yards.

7. Harmon and Lee the d-tackle pairing. Rudolph again links up with Woods working on Echols for a 5- or 6-yard gain. Pocket collapsed here on the right side of the line as players fell on top of each other.

8. Brandon Johnson and Lance McCutcheon on the outside with Max Hurleman in the slot. Trey Sermon in the backfield, Jonnu Smith the motion man at tight end. Miles Killebrew and Chuck Clark the safety duo. Rudolph uncorks a dime down the left seam that hits Smith in stride. Gain of 29 yards. Though in a real game, DeMarvin Leal might’ve had the sack after beating RT Calvin Anderson inside with a great hump move.

9. Will Howard at quarterback. Checkdown complete to Evan Hull to midfield for a couple yards, Devin Harper making the tag.

10. Low snap to Howard. Flings ball out to Galbreath in the right flat. CB Cameron McCutcheon nearly picks it off before breaking it up. DBs coach Gerald Alexander is hyped, running and high stepping downfield to celebrate McCutcheon’s play.

11. Welschof and Leal the EDGE rushers. Thompson in at quarterback. Foelsch goes in motion. Thompson makes a check at the line. Ke’Shawn Williams sitting down downfield but can’t finish the play. Leal had a spin and got some pressure.

12. Can’t make sense of my notes for the final rep so going to have to wave the white flag on whatever I was trying to convey to Alex from the past here.

O-line/D-Line

1v1 reps that took place versus 7 on 7.

1. Bull rush from T.J. Watt. Troy Fautanu stays square and anchors decently, though he loses some ground here.

2. Fautanu tries to seal Watt, but Watt is able to dip at the apex to get by.

3. Harmon runs through McCormick with a good rep.

4. McCormick wins this one, staying square and showing a good set on Harmon.

5. Swim and inside spin combo from Harmon. Got the initial step on McCormick off the line but McCormick worked hard to recover.

6. Strong bull rush from Ekuale against Frazier.

7. Frazier better here, anchoring well against Ekuale.

8. Nice job by Spencer Anderson to anchor against Loudermilk, though I thought I saw a ref throw a flag here mid-rep.

9. Spencer Anderson seals Loudermilk upfield.

10. Alex Highsmith dips under Broderick Jones.

11. Highsmith even cleaner win against Jones.

12. Outside spin by Highsmith gains the edge on Jones for the win.

13. Calvin Anderson shoves Jack Sawyer upfield.

14. Sawyer responds and beats Calvin Anderson with an inside move, a clean win that caused Anderson to lunge and fall.

15. Good bull by Logan Lee to run through OG Aiden Williams, who tries to use the Pat Meyer-coached hop step (leave ground with both feet, give ground to re-gain anchor). But Williams isn’t strong enough to stop Lee from pushing the “pocket” (there’s just an assistant holding the ball as the pretend QB).

16. Inside spin from Lee dusts Williams for the TKO win.

17. Domenique Davis can’t rip under Scharping, who slides and mirrors him.

18. Better rep from Davis here on his bull facing Scharping.

19. Nice swim by Yahya Black on Doug Nester.

20. Nester and Black lock up. Good battle.

21. Inside spin from Nick Herbig and he has the balance to stay on his feet. His opponent, Dylan Cook, does not.

22. Cook seals Herbig on a spin attempt here.

23. Herbig dips under and past Cook at the top of the arc.

24. Good base and win from Steven Jones against DeMarvin Leal’s power rush.

25. Jones wins and locks out Leal.

26. Leal works with speed this time, dipping under Jones and showing balance to turn the corner and win the rep.

27. Baugh with a decent spin against Williams.

28. Good bull from Baugh puts Williams on his heels.

29. Improved anchor from Williams as Baugh slowly pushes him back.

30. Nick Broeker seals Harmon upfield.

31. Harmon with a more successful spin on Broeker.

32. Bull to swim from Harmon beats Broeker clean.

33. Scharping with a win on Black on his move/rush.

34. Scharping fighting for his life to hang on against Black’s bull rush, but he does okay all things considered.

35. Gareth Warren grabs a fistful of the back of Eku Leota’s jersey. A clear hold and even teammates are throwing up the “throw the flag” hand motions.

36. Leota rushes wide and wins very late in the rep against Warren.

37. Warren good base to win against Leota.

Fifth Team Period (11 on 11)

First two-minute drill of camp.

1. Ball on the defense’s 47. Ramsey and Slay the outside corners with Bishop in the slot. Rodgers in QB, Patrick Queen mugging the A-gap. Payton Wilson off-ball as the defense shows a two-high shell. Rodgers tries to throw left side but Highsmith from his ROLB spot leaps and bats it down.

2. Offense quickly gets to the line of scrimmage, even with the clock stopped. Fautanu false starts. Offense moves back but Fautanu stays in. Dart from Rodgers to Freiermuth goes through Freiermuth’s diving hands and falls incomplete.

3. Harmon and Loudermilk the d-tackle pairing. O-line of Cook-S. Anderson-Frazier-McCormick-Fautanu. Throw from Rodgers to Warren in the left flat is behind and off his hand. Incomplete.

4. Rodgers throw this time is batted down by Nick Herbig. Incomplete. EDGE rushers getting their hands up.

5. Perfect hole shot throw from Rodgers to Metcalf down the left sideline. Should be a big completion but it’s off Metcalf’s hands as he strides downfield. A clear drop.

6. Second-team offense comes in led by Mason Rudolph. First pass is complete to Connor Heyward for a 6-yard gain over the middle, Heyward wrapped up by Malik Harrison.

7. Offense goes tempo. Same outcome, Rudolph to Heyward for 7 yards.

8. Pass complete to WR Roman Wilson for 8 yards.

9. Rudolph downfield throw to WR Scotty Miller left sideline, gaining a step on James Pierre for a big completion. About 23 yards.

10. Rudolph fade for Robert Woods in the end zone is incomplete.

11. Davis and Baugh the d-tackles. Killebrew and Clark the safeties. Smith the tight end. Rudolph complete to Woods for a 5-yard gain, the veteran WR holding on despite a good pop from Killebrew. This is about when Calvin Anderson was hurt and hobbled off the field. Dylan Cook replaced him at right tackle for the final few reps.

Offense uses a timeout.

12. Sticks show third down. For reasons unclear to me, the LOS is moved from the 5 to the 20. Rudolph pass for WR Brandon Johnson is incomplete, Pierre covering.

13. Heyward on the catch from Rudolph for 10 yards.

14. Now the sticks show fourth down. Offense gets to the line but the defense calls its timeout. Offense gets back to the line. Rudolph throw for McCutcheon is incomplete, Pierre covering, and Kent blitzing free off the edge.

15. Offense gets another play as coaches take liberties with down and distance during this period. Rudolph looks for Johnson in the left corner of the end zone, but Pierre is all over it and picks it off to end practice.

Neither offense scores in the 2-minute drill.

Camp Notes (TL;DR)

– Mason Rudolph with a couple nice balls tonight downfield while Will Howard shows touch and a fastball when he needs to. Meanwhile, it’s been quiet overall for Skylar Thompson. Feels like Howard is beginning to separate himself from Thompson.

– Kaleb Johnson better in backs on ‘backers than he was the first time out Wednesday. Wouldn’t call him a true winner of the drill but there was improvement. Winners from this drill include TE Darnell Washington, RB Trey Sermon, ILB Devin Harper, EDGE Jack Sawyer, and TE JJ Galbreath.

Jaylen Warren struggled more than I thought he would and had problems Wednesday and Friday against Harper. Jonnu Smith didn’t shine here either. Blocking isn’t his game.

– Kenneth Gainwell is having a nice camp as a runner and receiver and is showing want-to in pass protection. Offering lots of value.

– Offensive tackle Steven Jones defends power well. He’s a big guy with a lot of mass. Speed is where he has big-time problems. Rushers can get on his edges and win.

– Broderick Jones struggled to deal with Alex Highsmith throughout his somewhat limited competition period reps tonight. But it is good he’s healthy and close to 100-percent reps.

– Rookie OL Aiden Williams doesn’t look like he has enough sand in the pants to anchor against power rushers/rushes. Fellow rookie OT Gareth Warren is big and plays with a good base but may lack enough lateral agility on the edge.

– WR Ke’Shawn Williams with a good day today. Showing off his speed.

– DL/DE Yahya Black is just a massive dude. I know he’s not quite as big, but he reminds me of Daniel McCullers’ build. Just seemingly towers over everyone. But Black is more explosive and athletic (not to say he’s great there but better and more active as a rusher than Shade Tree).

– CB Darius Slay is enjoying some great practices. Been a playmaker in Seven Shots the last two days with four breakups over that span. Jalen Ramsey is the bigger name and Joey Porter Jr. is the young buck but don’t forget about Slay, either.

– CB James Pierre wasn’t perfect but had a good practice overall. Extra reps with Trice getting hurt.

Saint Vincent Snapshot

Quick snapshots of the post-practice fireworks show as I walked back to my car to write this report (and thank you for reading).

15 Longest Steelers Touchdowns

Clips of the longest scores in Steelers’ history. 

97 – JuJu Smith-Schuster (2018)

One of two 97-yard touchdowns you’ll be seeing from Smith-Schuster. This was his second, beating press coverage and breaking into the open field against Denver in 2018. After getting a block from Antonio Brown (right before the bad times with AB), Smith-Schuster outran two Broncos defensive backs to the end zone.

Unfortunately, that was Pittsburgh’s last points of the game, losing 24-17.

Jim Gaffigan’s Quote Of The Day

“I imagine Saltines will have a comeback. If there are gourmet doughnuts, there might as well be gourmet Saltines. “These are Himalayan Salt Artisanal Saltines and cost ten dollars a cracker.”