LATROBE, Pa. – In some way, Thursday's practice at Saint Vincent College was dedicated to working on some of the things Coach Mike Tomlin said he wants to see from his team in Saturday's 7 p.m. preseason opener against the Jaguars in Jacksonville.
"Part of being a good team is not beating your own butt," said Tomlin, "so we're focusing on some things relative to that. We're looking for guys to make routine plays routinely. We're looking for pre-snap cleanliness on both sides of the ball. From a penalty perspective, I expect the offense to manage the play clock, to manage shifts and motions in a clean manner. I expect the defense to be ready if there are changes of pace in terms of how the opposing offense is operating. I expect the guys to ball key, meaning to not be in the neutral zone and provide free yards and free plays or free first downs on possession downs."
And so the offense operated throughout Thursday's practice in pads with a running 40-second play clock, and some of the 11-on-11 periods focused on situational football, including a second straight installment of 2-minute.
7-Shots
It's possible the drama was man-made, but it nevertheless made the end of the drill interesting.
Th first play of this padded practice was a simple handoff to RB Jaylen Warren who ran up the middle. It's possible that he scored but just as possible that he didn't, and come the final snap of the drill that would loom large.
Rodgers' pass on the second play was incomplete, and on his third play he ducked outside the pocket to his left and forced safety Juan Thornhill to come up to protect the goal line before flipping the ball to WR Brandon Johnson for the touchdown.
Mason Rudolph's first attempt was batted at the line of scrimmage, and on his second he rolled to his right and found RB Evan Hull in the short flat area for a touchdown. When Skylar Thompson came on found WR Ke'Shawn Williams all alone in the end zone for a touchdown that first run by Warren became an issue.
If it was a touchdown, the offense had secured a 4-2 win. But if it wasn't, the score was 3-3 to set up a seventh play winner-take-all.
When the first units were sent back onto the field, it seemed as though the decision had been made that it wasn't a touchdown. On the "decisive" play, Rodgers drilled a pass over the middle to WR Scotty Miller who made a diving catch at the back of the end zone, but it was close whether he had been able to get both feet down in-bounds. All of the offensive players and coaches signaled touchdown, but Scouting Coordinator Casey Weidl, who was standing right there on the end line, signaled incomplete pass.
2-Minute
For the second straight day, the Steelers ended practice with a couple of repetitions of the 2-minute drill. The parameters this time were: ball on the offense's 40-yard line; 1:41 on the clock; and 1 timeout to score a touchdown.
Mason Rudolph started with a 5-yard completion to WR Max Hurleman, and after DeMarvin Leal knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage, Rudolph picked up the first down with a completion to RB Trey Sermon. A couple of plays later, Rudolph threw incomplete on third-and-5, and then on fourth-and-5 his pass to WR Ke'Shawn Williams was almost intercepted by CB Beanie Bishop.
Next up was Skylar Thompson who is now the No. 3 QB with Will Howard sidelined with a broken finger.
Thompson completed an 8-yard pass to TE Connor Heyward, and then he hit WR Ben Skowronek for 25 yards and a first down at the 27-yard line. Roc Taylor made a diving catch along the sideline but only got one foot down in-bounds. Thompson again went to Taylor, who made a back-shoulder catch for 23 yards to the 4-yard line. On the next play, RB Lew Nichols took the handoff and ran it into the end zone for the touchdown to end practice.
TOMLIN'S INJURY UPDATE
During his news conference yesterday at noon, Mike Tomlin said the following players would not play in Saturday's preseason opener vs. the Jaguars: QB Aaron Rodgers, WR DK Metcalf, TE Jonnu Smith, TE Pat Freiermuth, RB Jaylen Warren, CB Joey Porter Jr., CB Darius Slay, CB Jalen Ramsey, SS DeShon Elliott, ILB Patrick Queen, DE Cam Heyward, OLB T.J. Watt, OLB Nick Herbig, and PK Chris Boswell. He listed 4 other players – WR Calvin Austin III, OLB Alex Highsmith, CB Cory Trice, and CB Donte Kent as guys who might have a chance to play or might also be held out because of injuries.
