Steelers Training Camp Takeaways: OL Takes a Hike, Fields Any Closer to QB1?
Justin Fields has completed four practices as the starter, but is he closer to passing Russell Wilson for the QB1 role?
UNITY TWP., Pa. — When Mike Tomlin talks about veterans during Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, he often emphasizes that he doesn’t necessarily want his older players getting a lot of reps, in part because he wants to take it easy on the bodies of older players, but also in larger part, because he wants to see what the younger guys have to offer.
Isaac Seumalo got the day off on Saturday. Elandon Roberts took maybe one-quarter of his usual reps on Sunday. Cam Heyward has yet to take all of the first-team reps on a given day, and he probably won’t very often.
Russell Wilson hurt his calf on Wednesday. He said he’s fine. Tomlin has acknowledged that he’s probably fine. So why has Justin Fields taken every first-team snap at the quarterback position through the first four practices at training camp? All Tomlin has said is that he’s being careful. But look, there’s more to it than that.
Tomlin wanted the team to have the structure and organization that a veteran NFL starting quarterback can bring to the table while installing a new offense this spring. That’s why Wilson was given “pole position” to lead the team through the early part of the offseason. But that was never meant to be a permanent choice. Tomlin wants there to be a competition at the quarterback position.
After Wilson worked exclusively with the first team all spring, Wilson’s little tweak was the perfect chance to get Fields some work with the starters and see how things went. So with Wilson expected to return Tuesday, how did Fields to in his four-game look-see? On the whole, not great. He made some plays, but also made some mistakes and on the whole was very inconsistent. That’s been his m.o., but he’ll probably have to be better than he’s been to unseat Wilson.
SEVEN SHOTS
1) Najee Harris took a rare no-pads seven shots handoff up the right side for a score. With the offense getting drubbed the first two seven shots, this was something of an even-up call from the coaching staff.
2) Fields did a nice job of working through his progression and getting the ball into traffic, finding Scotty Miller in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
3) Fields started on a bootleg to his left and just kept going. I’m not sure if that was a designed keeper, but he certainly didn’t hesitate much before taking off for the pylon and easily getting there.
4) Fields went looking for George Pickens on a corner route, but Joey Porter Jr. and Minkah Fitzpatrick had it very well covered, and he couldn’t fight through the defenders to get to his spot on time.
5) Kyle Allen took some heat from DeMarvin Leal and barely got a pass off over the middle to Quez Watkins, who was in between Damontae Kazee and Kalon Barnes in the back of the end zone.
6) Allen again dealing with pressure, this time from Peyton Wilson, looked to the left and found a wide-open Marquez Callaway for a score. This coverage was so busted there wasn’t even anyone close enough to label as “in coverage.”
7) Another run, and this time it’s LaMical Perine churning through the right side for a score.
The Steelers offense wakes up from two straight defeats to get a 6-1 win, but with a pretty significant asterisk of two of those scores being on padless running plays. That will change come Tuesday.
NOTES FROM TEAM PERIODS
? George Pickens continues to get a ton of work in the middle of the field. He torched Donte Jackson to the inside on the first play of the second team period.
? After a very strong start to practice, Fields then followed it up with his worst pass of the four days so far. He either badly overthrew Scotty Miller or badly underthrew Roman Wilson, and Donte Jackson was by far the closest player to the ball. He had time to sit under it like a punt before uncorking a long return. Fields has averaged 10 interceptions, 45 sacks and 12.5 fumbles per season. He just has yet to find a way to have the positives more significantly outweighs the negatives.
? I’m starting to lose track of how many plays have been wiped out by would-be DeShon Elliott sacks. It’s been a lot over four days and you can add two more from today.
? Perine snagged a screen and also had a nice inside run. It was probably his best day with the Steelers.
? Jack Colletto is getting a lot more playing time than I anticipated. He opened a nice hole as a lead blocker in a gap run, something we haven’t seen in a while.
? Jaray Jenkins had a bad drop of a John Rhys Plumlee pass over the middle. The drops have been pretty minimal overall, but that one stood out.
? Cory Trice is still not doing team work, at least in 11-on-11. Barnes has been the second-team cornerback alongside Darius Rush. Cam Sutton isn’t doing much, either, with Bishop getting the lion’s share of the slot work that isn’t Elliott’s. Josiah Scott and Thomas Graham have rotated in, but only with the 2’s and 3’s.
BIG PLAY OF THE DAY
I don’t usually give full weight to plays made in seven-on-seven drills, but two of the Steelers tight ends snagged beautiful balls in that period today. MyCole Pruitt made a one-handed snag on a Justin Fields pass up the seam that might’ve been the best catch of camp so far. Just a few minutes later, Pat Freiermuth might’ve one-upped him. Freiermuth was going to the sideline when he juggled but then caught a Fields pass, with full extension out of bounds, while tapping his toes on the line. The officials at practice ruled him out of bounds, but I’m pretty sure he got two feet down. It was an incredible grab.
TAKE A LAP
Arthur Smith has a lot going on in his offense at times. There are a lot of different formations, there are shifts and motions and sometimes multiple shifts and motions, and they also are making really creative uses of different tempos to catch defenses off guard. Sometimes, they’ll spring to the line and snap the ball quickly. Other times, they’ll spring to the line, take a hard count, and then make changes to the alignment. Others, they’ll go more slowly and methodically. The idea is to just add one more layer to what they’re doing to keep defenses off guard.
The problem with that idea is that it’s a double-edged sword. All those moving and changing parts installed to confuse a defense can also result in pre-snap penalties for the offense. So this year, they’re taking a drastic tact to try to combat pre-snap errors. It started with players that made a gaffe getting pulled from the lineup for the next play.
Now, Smith has the lineman taking a whole lap of the practice field in an effort to cut down on those penalties. Tyler Beach, Anderson Hardy, Troy Fautanu, Joey Fisher, Mason McCormick and Ryan McCollum all found themselves taking a jog on Sunday. McCollum let out an audible “f***” before he set off on his 250-yard journey around the field. Outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin has been the chief cop in handing out the discipline for linemen out of their stance too soon.
BALL GAME
In addition to Jackson’s interception, there were two more potential turnovers during practice. Both of them happened after a receiver had already been whistled down, but the Steelers defenders generally don’t let up at the first sign of potential contact, and the offensive guys know to hold onto the ball all the way back to the huddle.
Both came against Steelers tight ends, as Kalon Barnes stripped Pruitt and Payton Wilson got Freiermuth.
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