LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – There really hadn't been one of those injuries during a play where everyone seemed to stop during Steelers camp. Until Thursday, the final day in Latrobe and the injured party was defensive captain Cam Heyward.
Heyward went down on all fours during a running play on 7 shots and walked, with assistance, over to the sideline with an apparent left ankle injury. He would get treatment, eventually leave in a golf cart, only to come back and watch the end of practice standing on his own with no visible wrap.
"Just got rolled up on," Heyward said. "An O-lineman rolled up on the back of my ankle. I will be fine. A little sore. I got checked out upstairs and came right back down. We could tell with the tests on the sideline, but they just wanted to make sure I was A-OK and ready to go."
"First it scares you, your heart drops," said linebacker Myles Jack. "But he's a tough guy, it looks like he's doing good and moving around. You never want to see that, especially as a linebacker. You want your D-line to be healthy."
Offensive day
The day belonged to the offense, from a win in 7-Shots to success on 11-on-11 and the 3rd down drills. Mitch Trubisky was the best quarterback on Thursday and Kenny Pickett again took all of the second-team snaps.
They ran a drill where the offense started at the 20 and then progressed up to roughly the 12, 7 and 2-yard lines. Trubisky owned this drill going 4 for 4 with 4 touchdowns-hitting Diontae Johnson in the back corner, George Pickens on a cross, play action to Chase Claypool and another to Connor Heyward.
Pickett floated a TD to Gunner Olszewski, then an incompletion, a short gain to Jaylen Warren and ending with a Benny Snell two-yard TD run.
Mason Rudolph was 2 for 4 with touchdowns to Tyler Vaughns and Miles Boykin.
Trubisky again was best on the 'every down is a third down drill' highlighted by a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw to Claypool and a bomb to Johnson for a long TD. Pickett and Rudolph were 2 for 4 in the drill.
7 Shots
The final open practice viewing of the two-point conversion drill as the offense won T-bone steaks for the whole unit.
· Trubisky pass tipped incomplete for Najee Harris
· Trubisky incomplete on a fade to Pickens, good pass breakup by Levi Wallace
· Warren up the gut for a TD (this is the play Cam Heyward limped off)
· Trubisky TD to Pat Freiermuth
· Pickett screen to Christian Blake, Mike Tomlin said he was stopped short, offense called it a TD fighting to the goal line.
· Pickett stop route TD to Boykin
· Mason TD in the front corner to Tyler Snead
Best Catch
Towards the end of practice during an 11-on-11 drill, Rudolph threw a ball high on an out cut to receiver Cody White. Not only did White catch it, but did so one-handed, with his top hand and kept his feet and turned up going 10 yards into the end zone. The words here really don't do it justice.
"A ball behind me," White said with a big smile on his face. "Just went up and grabbed it with one hand and scored a touchdown. It's just one of those things you practice all the time and it actually happened in a team period. It was a good play."
He was more energic than it appears and said he's anxious to see it on tape. He also feels he's done everything he can as he's in a battle to make the roster.
Last Day
A full practice with a lot of hitting as the St. Vincent College portion of Steelers Training Camp ended with another good crowd.
"You can hear the crowd chanting," White said, himself signing autographs for 15 minutes. "It's just fun to be out here with them and be able to make plays. Being out there in Latrobe, it was a great experience."
"It's bittersweet," said linebacker Derrek Tuszka. "I'm not going to lie, I liked having camp up here. No distractions, everything I need is right here. It was a great camp, just being around the guys in the dorms again. The team comradery and the bonding was great, building the team together."
"It's a different kind of comradery whether it's 8:30, 9:30, !0:30 or 11:30 at night, you are there bonding with your teammates," Heyward said. "Obviously we miss our families, but there is bonding there are conversations that happen on the field that wouldn't happen necessarily in an environment where everyone has to get home. This is only one step of our growth, but it's a big step."
"This was a great camp," said first-year Steelers linebacker Myles Jack. "I felt like I got better, honed in on my skills, learned a lot. I'm excited to get to my new home in Pittsburgh, start to decorate it and slow things down."
"I'm definitely ready for this season to get going. I can't wait. It's going to be a fun year, I'm excited."
