Category Archives: Steelers Training Camp

Steelers Training Camp- Day 4 Recap [Video]

The Steelers wrapped up the first day of padded practice at St. Vincent Monday evening, one that drew large crowds and reporters from the NFL Network. Sadly, the network’s coverage left much to be desired. Below in the article, I’ve included some footage taken by an attendee at camp that blows away the brief warmups shown on the NFL broadcast yesterday, but I digress…

Terry Hawthorne was out with what’s rumored to be a sore knee, as he was seen favoring it after Special Teams drills on Sunday. Hawthrone missed spring activities due to knee surgery. Cortez Allen and DeMarcus Van Dyke were out again, as well. Mike Tomlin wasn’t concerned about depth at Cornerback, though, when asked after practice. “Not really concerned about the depth at this point. One man’s misfortune is an opportunity for others.”  When asked if Hawthorne being out was just a precaution or necessary, he said, “No, it’s not good to give a guy who’s fighting for a job precautionary rest. It was necessary, but hopefully not long term.”

Reggie Dunn, J.D. Woods,  McNeal, and Larod Stephens-Howling were fielding kicks towards the beginning of practice, and Wheaton, Gilreath, Dunn, J. Brown, Sanders, and A. Brown were fielding punts. J. Brown reportedly almost caught one while holding 5 balls.

In positional drills, the offensive line continued working on techniques for the Outside Zone Scheme. Le’Veon Bell said after practice that the line is getting used to the outside zone, and they’re getting better and better at it. During team drills, there were two variations of 2nd team offensive line units according to Ken Laird:

Kelvin Beachum – Chris Hubbard – John Malecki – Justin Cheadle – Guy Whimper

and-

Joe Long – John Malecki – Kelvin Beachum – Justin Cheadle – Guy Whimper

1st team was the expected cast of: Gilbert – Foster – Pouncey – DeCastro – Adams

Adams is said to be looking healthy and reportedly contained Woodley well during the Oline vs Dline session.

The highlight of the day of course was the Backs on Backers drill. The running backs spent some time preparing for the battle by going over technique with ‘Big Bertha’.

 

No one went airborne like Chris Rainey did last year.  While the drill favors the backers by design, most of the backs held their own. Bell, who had the most match-ups at 11, preformed well for the most part. Clearly, the coaching staff wanted to put him to the test. Woodley dominated Bell a couple times, but that’s completely expected. The feature showing was Bell versus Jarvis Jones. After facing off four times, they were said to have split the battle evenly 2-2. After practice, Bell spoke of the contest. “It was 2-2. The first one I won. The next two Jarvis got me. He kept hitting me with that bull rush”. Bell added, “He got his hands on me. He’s thick. Don’t know how to explain it… he’s strong, knows how to use his hands”

Baron Batch was reported to have had a rough go of it. A few backers were said to have used their speed to edge around him. Marshall McFadden laid a mean hit on Batch. A frustrated #20 retaliated, and a scuffle ensued. Coach Wilson was quick to break it up, yelling- “We don’t fight here!”. In Backs on Backers, sometimes you’re the dog, and sometimes you’re the hydrant.

Here’s a great video account of the Backs on Backers drill taken by an onlooker in the crowd yesterday:

According to reports, Jarvis Jones was not only impressing with his rushing abilities, but in pass coverage as well.

New special teams coach Danny Smith, who was added this offseason, is said to be very loud, fiery, and animated in practice. Hopefully that fire is contagious, and carries over to the field this season.

Blocking Instructions

The team reconvenes for practice on Wednesday.

Friday Night Lights Moved; Rescheduled

The Steelers announced that the annual Friday Night Lights scrimmage that’s held at Latrobe High School, will be moved to St. Vincent College, and at a new time. Diseased field grass was given as the cause of the move, as the team did not want to jeopardize future high school games there. The event will now be free of charge and at 5:25, with autograph signings starting at 5:00. Fireworks will be held at St. Vincent campus at 9:15.

4 Steelers To Start Training Camp On PUP List

Coach Tomlin addressed the media in Latrobe today, and announced that the following players would start training camp on the PUP list: Heath Miller, Sean Spence, David Johnson, and Alameda Ta’amu. Heath Miller and Sean Spence come as no surprise obviously, but David Johnson and Alameda Ta’amu Continue reading