Coach Mike Tomlin expressed his appreciation for the environment and support at Saint Vincent College as the Pittsburgh Steelers concluded their training camp in Latrobe on Tuesday, August 12. The team held a final padded practice amid high temperatures before preparing to return to Pittsburgh.
“We had a really spirited day in our last day of Steelers vs. Steelers up here in Latrobe. Tomorrow we turn our attentions toward the work that’s waiting on us with Tampa Bay this week. It has been a really good experience up here. It’s been highly competitive. We’re just really appreciative of this environment. The energy and support that we get from our fan base here is special, and I don’t know any other way to say it. I liked the work that we got done today, continuing to work a lot of situations.
“But again, we just appreciate this environment, the support, the experience up here. Not a lot of teams go to destination camps anymore, and we value it. We value not only the tangible work up here, but the intangible work — the camaraderie, the informal moments — is really special.”
The Steelers are scheduled to break camp on Wednesday and will resume activities at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex in Pittsburgh. A joint practice with Tampa Bay is set for Thursday at Acrisure Stadium, followed by a preseason game against the Buccaneers on Saturday at 7 p.m.
During Tuesday’s “7-Shots” drill, both running plays and passes were featured with Jaylen Warren scoring early for the offense and quarterback Aaron Rodgers completing a touchdown pass to tight end Darnell Washington after an incomplete attempt to DK Metcalf under close coverage from Joey Porter Jr. Mason Rudolph took over for two plays; one resulted in an interception by Sebastian Castro while another led to a touchdown pass to Brandon Johnson.
Skylar Thompson finished out the session as quarterback with successful offensive plays involving Lew Nichols and Lance McCutcheon.
Additional observations included notable defensive efforts such as interceptions by Cole Holcomb and James Pierre during different periods of practice. Tight end Connor Heyward made a one-handed catch that prevented an interception by Miles Killebrew, while wide receiver Roc Taylor caught a deep pass from Logan Woodside during 7-on-7 drills.
Coach Tomlin commented on left tackle Broderick Jones and right tackle Troy Fautanu’s progress: “I think they’ve gotten better every day. Broderick got slowed by a little day to day injury there for a spell, but he’s really been on the uptick since his return. Same with Troy. I like the trajectory of the group. But as I mentioned, even though we’re leaving here, we still are very much in development. Got a lot of time in front of us between now and the opener.”
On player health updates Tomlin stated: “We have some people working their way back to us, further or complete participants, like Jalen Ramsey and Joey Porter Jr. and others. It’s just part of the process. We still have some guys missing a little bit, but we can still characterize those guys as day to day, like Calvin Austin and Jonnu Smith and others. Hopefully they’ll be back to us sooner rather than later.”
Aaron Rodgers appeared briefly with his lower shin wrapped following contact during practice but continued without missing any repetitions according to Tomlin: “He just got stepped on. It was nothing, nothing of any significance. He finished his work. He didn’t miss a rep.”
