Practice Report: Davis steps in

LATROBE, Pa. - A breakdown of Practice No. 4 at Saint Vincent College: **NEXT MAN UP:** CB Senquez Golson, who had been running at first-team nickel back, suffered what was characterized by head coach Mike Tomlin as a “mid-foot injury” and was carted off the practice field during the 11-on-11 “Team Run” period. Tomlin declined to offer a guess as to the severity of the injury. “I’d be doing just that, guessing,” Tomlin said. “I’ll give you guys more information once it’s evaluated.” The void at first-team nickel left by Golson’s departure was filled by S Sean Davis, the Steelers’ No. 2 draft pick.“I did it back in minicamp and OTAs,” Davis said. “Being back out there (with the first unit) felt good.” Davis had been working as a second-team safety and at second-team nickel. The changed minus Golson. “I had to play first- and second-team nickel,” Davis said. “I got a lot of reps today.” He liked what he did with them, too. “I was on point today,” Davis said. TEAM RUN: The offense rushed 13 times for 54 yards, but the stats were a little misleading. RB Daryl Richardson broke free for a 26-yard gain and RB Cameron Stingily followed than up with a 17-yard effort. But it was tough sledding on either side of those two big plays in the live-tackling exercise that didn’t include RB Le’Veon Bell or RB Le'Veon Bell. The offense was guilty of a false start on two occasions and also threw two passes, one incomplete and one that resulted in a 28-yard gain on a strike from QB Landry Jones to TE Xavier Grimble. **SEVEN SHOTS:** QB Ben Roethlisberger was back in action after a day off on Sunday and went 4-for-4 in the practice-opening, two-point drill. Roethlisberger scrambled to his right and found WR Antonio Brown in the back of the end zone, hit FB Roosevelt Nix in the left flat, connected with Grimble in front of the goal post and held onto the ball before finally hooking up with Brown again. Brown beat the double-team coverage of CB Artie Burns and S Robert Golden. QB Bruce Gradkowski’s first throw was intercepted by LB Anthony Chickillo, who took off the other way in a hurry. It would have been interesting to see if Chickillo would have made it all the way to the other end zone and scored two points for the defense, but the play was blown dead. WR Eli Rogers made a difficult catch in a crowd from Gradkowski and RB Fitz Toussaint was snowed under on an attempted cutback and the offense won the drill, 5-2. LEARN FROM THE BEST: Burns, the Steelers’ No. 1 pick, was beaten four times on the same play by Brown in a one-on-one defensive backs-receivers drill. Brown beat Burns initially on a deep slant, then stopped and changed direction three times on his way to the end zone. Burns tried to jump ahead of CB Stephon Tuitt and oppose Brown again the next time Brown’s turn to take a rep came around. Burns wasn’t allowed to do so and had to settle for going up against WR Markus Wheaton on the following rep (Burns successfully defended the play). MEDICAL FILE: In addition to Golson, Tomlin included TE Mandel Dixon (head), LB William Gay (ankle, minor) and LB Ryan Shazier (sick) on the post-practice injury report. Nix and Grimble returned after exiting practice early on Sunday. AUDIBLES: “Stay with 85.” - A plea from someone on the defense to someone else on the defense a moment before Roethlisberger found Grimble (No. 85) all alone for a conversion in “Seven Shots.”