Welcome to the new Steel City Blitz Steelers Training Camp Tidbits presented by Taps N’At! This is a brand new feature this year and every single day from now until the end of Camp you’ll see tidbits right here. Our goal is simple; provide you with everything we are seeing, hearing and learning from St. Vincent College in Latrobe.
If you’re going….
Steelers Practice for Thursday: 255pm ET
Latrobe Weather for Thursday: 76 degrees and a 70% chance of rain.
On the injury front… Sean Davis was active in individual drills only… Artie Burns, T.J. Watt and Vance McDonald did not practice. Ola Adeniyi and JuJu Smith-Schuster participated. Leaving during practice today were Alejandro Villanueva and James Washington. Looked like a foot injury for Washington and a shoulder for Villy.
There’s no question that rookie Terrell Edmunds is having the best camp of any of the rookies. That said, don’t sleep on James Washington who is having a very solid camp as well.
When Villanueva departed, rookie Chuks Okorafor stepped in for him with the first team. That, for right now, means that Okorafor is likely the team’s all-important swing tackle. Don’t forget, Bryce Harris, the offensive tackle the Steelers signed after Jerald Hawkins went down with a season-ending injury, is no longer on the roster. He was cut loose after failing to complete the conditioning test.
One of those rookie free agents turning heads is wide receiver Damoun Patterson from Youngstown St. He’s got really decent size at 6’2″ 190 pounds and has been impressing in a number of areas. I think you know the top three wide receiver slots are set with Antonio Brown, JuJu and Washington. We’ll assume Darrius Heyward-Bey stays on too so there’s an opening at the bottom of the wide receiver depth chart and Patterson, among others, knows it.
Make sure you catch up with the Steel City Blitz Steelers Podcast presented by 26shirts.com/Pittsburgh. We’ll record and post tonight.
I really believe that Mike Tomlin has finally gotten the message about the poor tackling and even worse communication. The coaches are harping on both things at will. We thoroughly believe the presence of Tom Bradley and Karl Dunbar are a big part of Tomlin finally realizing he couldn’t take this lightly any longer.
Have you found your way to Taps N’At yet for a cold beer, great food and a great atmosphere? If not, what are you waiting for? They are all of six miles from St. Vincent College!
