PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Day one of a three day mandatory mini-camp looked different than the three weeks of Organized Team Activities. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ramped up the competition on Tuesday on the South Side.
Tomlin had the team use a play clock when running drills and went through situational football. Whereas before they may have been just snapping the ball as every down was first and 10. Tuesday was possession down football, redzone drills, two-minute drills. Tomlin would stack the deck when needed to put the team in situations where he wanted them to deal with challenging situations. As he put it they are increasing the learning opportunities and enhancing the opportunities to teach, especially for the younger players. It wasn't real football, but a step closer as the team will have two more practices before a break and opening training camp on July 26.
Young corners
The step-up in drills on Tuesday challenged the defensive backs, along with other positions. The Steelers have a couple of rookies in Joey Porter, Junior and Cory Trice. Both are the bigger corners you are seeing in today's game. How does he believe they have done?
"Length is an asset if you're clean, so they've got to be penalty free," Tomlin said. "You know, they got to know which way they're going. Sometimes when you're short, your cog(nizant) is excellent and when you're out of place you make up things faster, when you're long you don't. And so, they're very much writing their story about what they're capable of being. I like their attentiveness. I like the attributes that they bring, but it's premature to kind of paint a picture of where they are."
Highsmith practices
Instead of the hold outs or hold ins we've seen from Steelers players looking for new contracts, Alex Highsmith has been at all of the voluntary and then Tuesday's first mandatory off-season workout. What does Tomlin think of the leadership he's been showing entering his fourth season?
"You know, he's an elite Robin (like Batman & Robin, just in case you didn't get his point)," Tomlin said. "You know, as we say, we like to challenge him in that way. He's growing. He's making a name for himself in this thing. He seeks perfection. His maturation has been one that we anticipate and expect to be quite honest
with you. We put quality people in this program, and they work within, and they just simply get better,and their tape does as well and he's an example of that."
Remembering Stan
A relationship that started when Tomlin first came to Pittsburgh, the Steelers head coach started his news conference Tuesday discussing the recent passing of broadcasting legend Stan Savran.
"On behalf of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, I'd like to send a heartfelt condolence to the family of the late great Stan Savran," Tomlin said. "You guys know we had a long and prosperous past professional relationship with him. He was the absolute best. But beyond that on a personal note, I just really enjoyed that gentleman. The spirit, the energy, the awesome stories of Pittsburgh, just a legend, just really appreciated that as a guy that at one time was new to the city. Man, I always appreciated his perspective on my circumstance, being able to share a story from the past and educate me a little bit. Just really appreciated it."
