A few hundred hearty fans braved the soggy elements at Heinz Field, the Steelers final practice before fans during the pre-season. The rain let up just as practice began only to return an hour or so later then continued off and on.
An inconvenience for the fans and perhaps the players, but not the coach. "We embrace the inclement weather," Mike Tomlin predictably said as he began his post practice remarks.
It was kind of a sloppy day, befitting the conditions, so I'll just pass along a few more observations – in no particular order.
Tomlin again eschewed the once-mandatory 7 Shots goal line drill to start practice although he did conclude the wet afternoon with a Red Zone session, albeit without the scoreboard ketchup bottles turned over.
After he had taken the most reps, by far, Tuesday I thought this had the makings of a Ben Roethlisberger day off but for the second straight day Ben got the most of the four QBs. Tomlin had indicated that Roethlisberger will start against the Lions Saturday night and today admitted that if were not for a new offense that he would not have played in any of the four pre-season games.
The other three quarterbacks all took a few scout team reps as part of their workday; all four had mixed results. Mason Rudolph, at least, did not throw an interception. A Dwayne Haskins deep ball was picked off by free agent rookie CB Mark Gilbert, who has had a decent camp. Josh Dobbs floated a pass into coverage that was grabbed by Arthur Maulet and returned for a touchdown.
Roethlisberger also threw an interception when Miles Killebrew stepped in front of a deep ball down the sideline. It did come during a rainy spell so that may have had something to do with it. Ben did spend quality time during one of the special teams periods tossing a ball to his two sons. I have to say I was impressed, especially with 9-year old Ben, Jr. but 5-year old Body showed flashes.
The presumptive starting offensive line was together again – Okorafor, Dotson, Green, Turner and Banner, left to right – although Dan Moore, Jr. did get a few plays in place of Banner toward the end. DB Antoine Brooks and LB Marcus Allen returned to practice. Chase Claypool sat out with an ankle sprain from Tuesday, Stephon Tuitt did not practice while TJ Watt continued to do warm up with his position group but did his work on the side.
It was only a few reps but we finally saw what may end up being the nickel package. With Brooks mostly banged up and Arthur Maulet getting lukewarm reviews, James Pierre came onto the field and lined up outside while Cam Sutton slid into the slot. A few plays later, Josh Dobbs looped a perfect throw to rookie free agent Cody White who made a toe-tap catch along the sideline between the two. The coverage was actually solid; just a better play by Dobbs and White.
Another wrinkle – I noticed that a couple of times Alex Highsmith flipped over to Watt's usual left side and Melvin Ingram lined up at right OLB.
Ray-Ray McLoud is finally getting some reps in the kicking game which is a sign that he may return at least punts, and maybe kickoffs, Saturday night. Anthony McFarland and Matthew Sexton also continued to get work in that area.
There wasn't much hitting, at least not intentionally. But Diontae Johnson went down hard after he caught a pass across the middle and ran out of bounds directly into Tyson Alualu who was just standing there not watching the play. Johnson, who gives up 120 pounds in that match-up, did bounce up right away so no harm done but it was the hardest hit of the day and maybe of the entire camp.
Next Up – Closed practice Thursday morning … third pre-season game against Detroit 7:30 Saturday at Heinz Field and on KDKA-TV.
Before the game, the Steelers and Giant Eagle will team up to host a vaccination clinic from 5:30 to 7:30.
