Pittsburgh Review

LATROBE, Pa. – The Steelers completed their fourth and final acclimation period practice on Sunday at Saint Vincent College, where temperatures reached the 90s. Following a mandatory day off on Monday, the team will return on Tuesday for a 10:30 a.m. session with players wearing pads.

"Another really good acclimation day. Now we'll have a day off, and we'll get into the real meat of this as we carry our pads (on Tuesday), and it'll be more football-like," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "That will provide a great opportunity to teach and learn and a great opportunity to show what their capabilities are."

Tomlin highlighted defensive ball awareness during Sunday's practice. "The highlight from my perspective was defensive ball awareness and searching. I thought the guys were really aggressive in terms of going after the football, punching it out, raking it and so forth," he said.

The offense broke its two-day losing streak to the defense in the 7-Shots drill on Sunday, winning either 6-1 or 5-2 depending on whether Quez Watkins secured a catch in-bounds. The drill began with a touchdown run by Najee Harris and ended with one by La'Mical Perine.

Despite the offense's victory in 7-Shots, Tomlin praised his defense for their performance in hunting the football, particularly rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson and veteran newcomer Donta Jackson.

"He's highly conditioned. I think it starts there, and it's showing itself in the form of hustle and finish," Tomlin said about Wilson. Regarding Jackson, who intercepted Justin Fields following route miscommunication by Roman Wilson, Tomlin remarked, "I like his energy, I like his spirit."

In this training camp, offensive linemen run laps for committing pre-snap penalties—a move initiated by offensive line coach Pat Meyer and endorsed by coordinator Arthur Smith.

"Just a teach tool," said Tomlin when asked about it. Seen running laps on Sunday were Anderson Hardy, Mason McCormick, Troy Fautanu, Joey Fisher, and Ryan McCollum.

TOMLIN'S INJURY UPDATE: "From a health standpoint, no real updates. Russell Wilson worked partially today and expect him to get going a little bit as we come back from this off day. Rodney Williams has an AC-sprain. We'll see how many days that takes for him to get back."