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Preseason Blog: DK welcomes Rodgers' challenges

August 14

Post-Practice Updates Below:

Welcoming Rodgers' challenge: While they won't see action in a preseason game this week, the combination of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver DK Metcalf have been on display throughout training camp, as well as on Thursday during a joint practice between the Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium.

"It's just been fun, getting the timing down, getting the offense down," said Metcalf. "Trying to find my footing in the offense and just trying to build one day at a time."

Rodgers, who is in his 21st season, has developed a connection with Metcalf, but he also challenges him, as well as all his receivers.

"He'll challenge me on the field, off the field," said Metcalf. "Throwing signals at me. Asking me questions in the hallway. Trying to see what I would do against different coverages.

"So, it's always a learning experience for me."

While Metcalf welcomed the opportunity to practice against a different team today, he said he didn't fully give them a feel of where they are as an offense.

"I wouldn't call it a measuring stick because it's always our job to go out there and put points on the board," said Metcalf. "Nine times out of ten, we're going to stop ourselves by either poor technique or not finishing drives. That's the way you look at it. We can go back and watch the film and try to decipher what we need to do better."

Practice ended with both teams running the two-minute drill, and Metcalf said there are improvements they can make, although the offense is coming together.

"We can do better, always," said Metcalf. "I had a drop on the second play. I can run my routes better. So, it's always something that I feel like I can do better.

"Today I wouldn't say is a measuring stick of it. Going against our defense every day, we're going to get better.

"Just waiting until September 7 to go and put a real product out on the field."

Feeling more comfortable: During his weekly press conference on Thursday, Coach Mike Tomlin talked about wanting to see growth from rookie running back Kaleb Johnson this week when the Steelers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium.

And one area where he would like to see that growth is with trust in himself.

"I just want to see him trust himself more," said Tomlin. "I want to see him play more instinctually, trust his talents. That's reasonable to expect between the first experience and the second experience."

Johnson's expectations for himself are the same.

"I'm more comfortable," said Johnson. "Getting out there last time, just getting my feet wet and getting used to the new atmosphere and stuff like that.

"So, it should be better.

"It just comes to me being comfortable and going out there and doing what I need to do."

Tomlin wants Johnson to trust his instincts more, something that doesn't come instantly for a young player.

"Yeah, I was running a little bit timid," said Johnson. "Just trying to get the feel of it, the feel of a little different flow of the offense."

Johnson said he is taking the lessons he learned in week one and is ready to put them to work this week.

"Little details matter, every little detail matters," said Johnson. "If you mess up a little bit on the detail, it can mess the whole game and throw you off. So, I've just got to be detailed on everything I do."

The Steelers hold a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium

Good showing, but more to work on: It was a practice Coach Mike Tomlin would have dubbed as a 'solid' one, because that is exactly what it was when the Steelers and Buccaneers took the field together at Acrisure Stadium.

"There's a lot of value, obviously," said tight end Pat Freiermuth. "Just seeing different coverages, what other teams are doing, what they can do against Aaron (Rodgers), what they see our offense like, and what we can figure out how to do versus those coverages.

"So, very valuable to go against a different team in this practice setting. And obviously we've just got to get some more reps at it and figure out what we're good at.

"We did a great job on offense for the most part. Obviously, some things that you're going to want to clean up like every day out here. But for the most part I thought it was solid.

"I'm looking forward to Saturday."

One of the most anticipated drills of every practice is seven-shots, and that was the case once again vs. the Bucs.

"I think we won like 7-0, 6-1, something like that," said Freiermuth. "It was a great showing. I thought we built on that as well throughout the rest of the practice.

"It was great to see the guys on the offense fired up and compete. I think everyone took their reps personally. And it was a great day."

Freiermuth did say, though, that he would have liked to have seen a stronger performance in the two-minute drill.

"We've got to be better," said Freiermuth. "Obviously, with the game on the line, the offense wants to go out there and capitalize. And obviously, there's going to be stuff that we need to figure out on that.

"We've still got to figure things out in the two minute, our process and stuff like that. But we're taking steps in the right direction. So, I'm looking forward to continuing to work on that with the guys.

"A lot of confidence, it's earlier in the process, and so we'll watch film and get it down and figure out what we're good at."

Overall, though, Freiermuth likes the looks of what he is seeing from the offense.

"I thought the offensive line played pretty solid," said Freiermuth. "I thought Aaron (Rodgers) played really well.

"I think we came out here and did our job, and I thought we all looked pretty solid as an offense. We have to continue to grow, but I think we're taking steps in the right direction."

Familiar Faces: Thursday's practice against the Buccaneers was a little bit of a reunion for receiver Scotty Miller, who spent his first four seasons (2019-2022) in Tampa.

Miller welcomed the opportunity to not just go against his former team in practice, but a different team altogether after four weeks of training camp practices against his own teammates.

"It's always fun to compete against new faces," said Miller. "We've been going at each other for a while now. So, it's tough when you see the same guys every single day.

"It's fun to get a lot of competition. I also played for the Bucs for four years. So, it was fun to see a bunch of my old teammates and friends."

Going out in practice daily there is always that motivation to take it to the next level, especially the last few weeks in front of the crowds at Steelers training camp.

Practicing against another team, that adds even more to it.

"The competitive edge went up a few notches when it was against somebody in a different uniform and a different color," said Miller. "It was exciting and just refreshing."

It also served as a barometer for the offense, going against a team that doesn't know them as well as their own defense does.

"It's tough sometimes out here because the defense has seen so much of what we do and vice versa," said Miller. "It's hard to know exactly where you're at because of that.

"It's fun going against a new look. You can kind of measure yourself up a little bit and see where you are at."

Competitive Juices: There is nothing linebacker Patrick Queen loves more than competition.

That is one of the reasons he was pumped the Steelers went against the Buccaneers today in a joint practice.

"It was good," said Queen. "You've got a lot of high-level competitors. You get a look at a different offense.

"They've got a good quarterback over there, good receivers, good running back and a good offensive line.

"It was a good matchup for us to see where we stand so far in the season, with (veterans not) playing any real true games yet. It was just a great test at practice."

The test is one that had his juices flowing, knowing you can approach it a little differently than going against your own offense.

"It got the juices flowing," said Queen. "You just get tired of hitting your own people all week. Just to be able to do this, like I said, they've got a lot of high-level competitors. It's everything you want in a training camp setting."

Pre-Practice Updates Below

Working together: The Steelers will host a closed joint practice today with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium ahead of the preseason game between the two teams on Saturday night.

Joint practices have become more common as of late, especially when it's two teams that don't face each other in the regular season.

It's the second consecutive year the team will practice against a preseason opponent, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers said it can be valuable.

"Most of the joint practices, I would say you're not going to play that team in the regular season, so, they're less worried about showing things that they want to work on," said Rodgers. "Even though there usually are cameras there and it's filmed, they're less skittish about running the stuff they've been running all camp that they're going to try and do in the regular season against another team they're not going to play in the regular season.

"I found those beneficial. I think they're a good workday for the first team."

This isn't the first time Rodgers has participated in a joint practice, even having done so against Tampa Bay in the past.

"I think the thing you're always hopeful for is there's not a lot of fights," said Rodgers. "(The Jets) went against Tampa a couple years ago, and they had some veteran guys, and it was pretty clean practice. Hoping for another clean practice with them.

"It's good to go against a different team. You get a chance to go against non-vanilla defenses. So hopefully (Tampa Bay head coach) Todd (Bowles), he probably won't show everything, but will do some stuff that stresses our protection and gives us a chance to get some film to work on."

Coach Mike Tomlin enjoys the atmosphere of practicing against another team, but doesn't like to weigh the value of a game versus the value of a practice.

"I don't necessarily compare it in terms of what has more value than the other," said Tomlin. "They are all valuable. So, we participate in joint practices, because it's a different environment. It's different schematics.

"We're working against Tampa Bay and they're four-down defense, and we're a three-four defense. There are some good things for all parties involved there. I don't waste time wondering what's more valuable, both are valuable. We're participants in both."

A different look: Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. enjoyed the opportunity to practice against the Buffalo Bills last year at Acrisure Stadium prior to their preseason meeting, and he is equally excited about today's practice against the Buccaneers.

"This is going to be my second one," said Porter of the joint practice. "I enjoyed the one last year with the Bills. I learned a lot from it, so hopefully I can learn a lot from this one with the Bucs."

One thing Porter pinpointed was the opportunity to go against Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans, who is entering his 12th NFL season, and is one of the NFL's steadiest receivers. He is a two-time AP All-Pro second-team selection, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and everything you want in a receiver.

And Porter is excited for the opportunity.

"Going against Mike Evans. I'm excited for that," said Porter. "I've been watching him for a long time, so now I get to go against him in practice. I'm excited for that."

There is also the added benefit of practicing against a different team that has Porter ready for action.

"Just going against new players," said Porter. "I feel like everybody, we kind of get tired of going against each other, beating up on each other.

"So, it's a different team with a different jersey. We get to beat up on them for a little bit. So, I feel like everybody is excited for that."

The secondary as a unit aren't just getting a new look with their opponent in the joint practice, but they have also given new looks, with guys moving around in the secondary, playing different spots, and being interchangeable.

"I give it to our coaches because they're teaching us to be more expandable and play all different types of roles and they give us the capabilities of doing that," said Porter. "So, it's just them trusting us being able to switch up roles and the guys execute.

"Those are my guys, everybody in there. Dealing with Jalen (Ramsey) and Darius (Slay) coming in, the OGs. We always crack jokes. They're good teammates to have."

Porter said the ability to have the secondary be interchangeable is one of the big things that have come out of training camp, but not the only thing for them.

"Other than being able to play different parts of the defense and everybody being exchangeable, I feel like our communication has been top notch for us," said Porter. "That's really the main thing we've been pushing. Just communication to be able to make plays out there and not play so textbook."

See the best photos from the Steelers 2025 training camp

A real test: The answer wasn't what everyone expected, but tackle Broderick Jones believes in being honest.

So, when he was asked what he accomplished during training camp, some eyes widened when his answer was simple.

"Nothing, honestly," said Jones.

Now, don't go hitting the panic button and think that nothing was accomplished in camp.

That definitely wasn't the case.

What Jones was referring to is the way you can measure what was accomplished, and that often isn't able to be done going against your teammates daily.

"You really won't know until the first game rolls around," said Jones. "You get to see different people. Training camp is great and all, but you never know the real test until week one rolls around, and you get to actually put it on tape."

Jones however does like what he sees from the offense, knowing the growth is there daily.

"I think we're starting to gel as a whole unit," said Jones. "We've just got to continue to trend in the right way, continue to just lock in, focus on the things we can focus on and do what we can and just continue to play football."

While the regular season is still a few weeks away, Jones feels like the team will get a sneak peek at what they are capable of in today's practice against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"That's more so what I'm looking for," said Jones. "Being able to go against somebody else that you don't get to see every day.

"Really putting what you know out there on display, seeing what you can really do."

Bringing you the action: For fans who don't want to miss any of the action, NFL+ is here, which means you can now watch the Steelers live and on the go! Watch live local and primetime regular season games on mobile, plus NFL RedZone, NFL Network, live audio and more - all in one place.

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