Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Latrobe brought a large crowd to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ annual “Friday Night Lights” training camp event. The team reported an attendance of 13,653, with fans lining up before the scheduled autograph session.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth shared details about quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ first experience at the event. “He was asking me today what to expect and all that,” Freiermuth said. “I was like, ‘Dude, it’s literally like going to play for a state championship at a high school.’ He was like ‘alright, cool.’ And then he came and he was like, ‘this is awesome.’
“He loved it. It was just great to be a part of that. I’m sure he appreciated it being later in his career, just kind of experiencing that. I think he’s been loving it so far.”
Freiermuth also commented on the current expectations for the team following offseason additions: “Everyone has a lot of high expectations for us, and we do as well,” he said. “We have a lot of big-time players on our team, and I think everyone’s excited to see how, obviously, with Aaron coming in and (wide receiver) DK (Metcalf) and (cornerback) Jalen (Ramsey) and (tight end) Jonnu (Smith), just seeing how we’re all clicking together.
“We got a lot of exciting things on the team right now and a lot exciting times ahead. We’re looking forward to that. I think the fans feel that, as well.”
During practice drills, both offensive units were unable to score during two-minute situations set up by coaches. The first-team offense led by Rodgers did not achieve a first down while the second-team’s drive ended with an interception by cornerback James Pierre.
“Obviously, we didn’t execute how we wanted to,” Freiermuth said about the offense’s performance in these drills. “We gotta continue to build on that. It was our first two-minute (drill) all of camp. Obviously, we wish it ended differently but we’re working towards the end goal of Week One (of the regular season) and being able to execute then.
“There’s going to be some ups and downs, we’ll get it corrected. We’ve always been pretty good at two-minute.”
Rodgers had two passes deflected at the line during his drive—one each by outside linebackers Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig—and missed connecting with Freiermuth between those attempts.
Other notes from practice included Broderick Jones taking snaps at left tackle during “Seven Shots,” Dylan Cook handling most left tackle reps afterward, and Spencer Anderson filling in for Isaac Seumalo at left guard.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. did not participate due to injury; head coach Mike Tomlin described him as day-to-day while Jalen Ramsey played outside corner opposite Darius Slay.
In “Backs-on-‘Backers” drills, tight end Darnell Washington won multiple matchups against defenders including T.J. Watt and celebrated his success visibly after key reps.
Rookie running back Kaleb Johnson showed improvement over previous practices during blocking drills which briefly resulted in an altercation but ended amicably among teammates.
The offensive unit improved somewhat during “Team Run” periods though defensive players Cole Holcomb and Eku Leota recorded tackles for loss against them.
