PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – First day of practice in Latrobe, everyone wanted to see Russell Wilson at quarterback. He was unable to practice, he woke up today and his calf was tight and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said it was his decision to have him sit down today.
"It created a little short-term discomfort for him, not allowing a small problem to become a bigger problem," Tomlin said after practice on Thursday. "He could be characterized as day-to-day."
There didn't seem to major concerns and Tomlin said it created an awesome opportunity for Justin Fields.
"The challenge for our offensive unit to deal with a little adversity at the outset. We all like to start with great fluidity and clean, but football isn't always like that. I looked at it like a good thing for a collective, a challenge for the offensive unit. A challenge to get to know Russ a little bit, create a little misery for him."
1st day
Fundamentals, securing the ball and searching the ball on defense, hustle, pre-snap cleanliness were all things that Tomlin wanted to see in his first day. He said there is a lot of work to go and as he put it 'we felt like we got the train out of the station'.
Tomlin said it is important that they set the bar high with communication, formally and informally. It's a the top of their list in terms of attention.
Notes from drills (a reminder there were no pads and no hitting)
· Starting offensive line for the first 11-on-11 drills
Dan Moore-Isaac Seumalo-Nate Herbig-James Daniels-Broderick Jones
They did try different combinations—including Jones and Fautanu on the same line
· 2nd team offensive line
Dylan Cook-Mason McCormick-Zach Frazier-Spencer Anderson-Troy Fautanu
· There were a couple of good plays from new corner Donte Jackson including on a perfectly thrown fade route that George Pickens initially grabbed and Jackson punched out for an incompletion.
· Najee Harris had a nice cutback run during 11-on-11 drills, starting right and seeing daylight left for a long gainer
· Fields threw a beautiful deep ball on a fly pattern down the left side to Van Jefferson, caught him in stride during a 7-on-7 drill. He had another strong throw across the field to Connor Heyward to beat DeShon Elliott, who would have intercepted a weaker thrown ball
· Kyle Allen got the back up reps at QB and among his throws was a pretty out near the sideline to Pat Freiermuth
Steelers will practice again at 10:30a on Friday with 1:55p practices on Saturday and Sunday at St. Vincent College.
