LATROBE, PA. – If Coach Mike Tomlin was this effective at getting things he asked for when he was a young boy, he must have had some epic Christmases.
In moving practices back to 1:55 p.m. after a summer of having most of them in the morning, Tomlin said he made the change because the mornings weren't hot enough. He wanted more heat. During the first four days the Steelers have spent at Saint Vincent College, Tomlin is getting precisely what he ordered.
The National Weather Service reported that it was 90-degrees with a heat index of 101 when the Steelers took the field for the third of their four Acclimation Day sessions on campus, but it sure felt hotter than that. No shade, no breeze. Just hot.
"Had a really good day today, and I think the heat helped it," said Tomlin. "It was challenging in some instances, some self-inflicted wounds as fatigue set in, but that's just part of the get-better process. We'll learn and grow individually and collectively from that. Hopefully we'll be sharper the next time we have a tough day like this, but just really good work, really good energy. It's a part of the process of development, and so we'll watch the tape and learn from it."
For the second straight day, a bad shotgun snap derailed the first play of 7-Shots. On Friday, Zach Frazier's shotgun snap came in hard and low to Aaron Rodgers and the ball scooted through his legs. On Saturday, Frazier's snap hit the ground before it got to Rodgers and bounced away, and the play was whistled dead.
Rodgers came back on the next two plays to score touchdowns, the first on a quick out to WR DK Metcalf that was tantamount to stealing, and the second on a pass to TE Darnell Washington in the back of the end zone with S Juan Thornhill in coverage.
Next up at quarterback was Mason Rudolph. On his first play, he was flushed out of the pocket and was forced to throw the ball away. On his second, TE Connor Heyward made a diving catch in the back of the end zone but was ruled out of bounds.
Will Howard came on, and he threw a touchdown pass to TE JJ Galbreath with S Sebastian Castro in coverage, and that set up a 3-3 tie with one play to go.
As he is prone to do, Tomlin sent the first units back onto the field for the deciding play. This time Rodgers' pass was tipped away at the line of scrimmage by rookie DT Derrick Harmon. The defense's 4-3 win evened the summer series at 1-1.
OBSERVATIONS
• There is nothing wrong with Cameron Johnston's leg. Injured in last season's opener in Atlanta and forced to miss the rest of the season, Johnston put on a show with his punting on Saturday. He hit a few that traveled between 60-70 yards with nice hang-time, but what also was apparent during the drill was that Corliss Waitman is an NFL-caliber punter as well.
• Veteran safety Chuck Clark, signed on Friday to add competition to that spot, broke up a deep pass down the middle from Rudolph to WR Roman Wilson.
• Over the course of a few snaps during 7-on-7, Howard has a pass intended for WR Ke'Shawn Williams intercepted by rookie CB Donte Kent before coming back and making a nice throw to WR Montana Lemonious-Craig, who was being covered by Beanie Bishop.
• And on the last play of the last period, CB Jalen Ramsey intercepted a pass thrown by Rodgers, who was victimized by several drops by his receivers over the course of the practice.
• Sunday will be the final of the Acclimation Day practices. The players will be off on Monday, and Tuesday's 1:55 p.m. practice will be the first one in pads.
TOMLIN'S INJURY UPDATE
"Gave a couple guys a day off, like Cam (Heyward) and T.J. (Watt), and (Darius) Slay. And it's not only about the preservation of those guys, but it's providing more reps for emerging players like Yahya Black and Derrick Harmon, and others like Brandin Echols, who got some quality reps today because we gave Slay a day off. Echols is deserving of it because he's a quality professional. Our goal is to give everybody what it is they need to develop and be ready. And so that's less for some, it's more for others. And so that'll be routine for us from a health standpoint. OLB Jeremiah Moon went down with a lower calf injury that's going to be evaluated. Some other guys had some heat-related things but were able to finish. No new news on the day-to-day guys; we'll keep progressing there. We got TE Jonnu Smith back today, as an example, and so we'll just keep working."
