LATROBE (93.7 The Fan) – If you attended practice on Friday at St. Vincent College it’s about as close as you can get to attending an NFL walk-through the day before a game. In fact, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said he was running a ‘mock game’.
“It's just trying to hit all the different situations that occur throughout the game,” McCarthy explained before practice in Latrobe. “You have a primary emphasis. The first phase is game management and special teams. One of the things throughout the years, just through experience, you get down to the first preseason game, and your boundary communication, your boundary management is something that you usually just work on right before you go out.”
“It's a 90- man roster. So my point is, we're hitting those things now. I don't think you can do enough situational work. The awareness of it, the importance of stressing the defense with the personnel group, having the right personnel groups, just all the little things that go into the makeup of a game.”
They did that for the bulk of the practice on the main field.
It is unfair to all to try to make evaluations as the players were working at about three-quarters speed, sometimes half-speed, where the offense got the chance to make plays on all the passes, while the defense was there, they deferred to the receivers.
No live tackling clarification
“I think I must have done a bad job with the — our practices will be physical,” McCarthy said. “I think the only thing that's different is we don't want to go to the ground and risk injury. But I think everything else will look the same.”
Special teams note
As you try to make evaluations on the roster construction, it’s interesting to watch special teams. You would assume Travis Homer is in a battle to make the team as a running back with Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle and last year’s third round pick Kaleb Johnson. Homer has always been key on kick units and was the player a couple of feet behind the center calling out the punt snap with the first team.
Doing that same job with the second team, another running back battling to make the roster, Mt. Lebanon rookie Eli Heidenreich.
Quote of the day
“So just been fortunate to be part of the old age, in the 90s, 15 days in a row, two-a-days in pads. I'd go to jail today if I tried to do that,” McCarthy said.
Plus a couple of RBs with key special teams roles & McCarthy’s quote about jail time
Plus a couple of RBs with key special teams roles & McCarthy’s quote about jail time
