Dwayne Haskins dropped back to pass from the 30 with just 17 seconds remaining as the Steelers worked on a two-minute offense at Thursday's training camp practice here at Heinz Field.
He scanned the field quickly, then spotted rookie receiver Rico Bussey running alone down the sideline to his right, Haskins, as he has done throughout this training camp, let loose a rocket that Bussey caught just before he walked into the end zone before rookie safety Tre Norwood could get over to break up the play.
"It was a Cover-2, so it was just a hole shot," said Bussey. "I went and got into the hole and Dwayne found me."
It was a good way to end the Steelers' first week of training camp practices and third day here at Heinz Field.
And it marked a solid second day in a row of practice for Haskins, the 2019 first-round draft pick of Washington whom the Steelers signed in the offseason after he was released last year.
Haskins seems to be getting a better command of the offense, earlier in the day completing an arm-strength throw down the seam to tight end Dax Raymond that showed off why he was selected in the first round. He and first-year receiver Tyler Simmons also connected on a touchdown pass in seven shots, though his second attempt got on Raymond too quickly, hitting him in the helmet.
"I like what he’s doing. He’s taking care of the ball but at the same time being aggressive," Mike Tomlin said of Haskins. "He’s dialed in in the reps in which he’s not going. He’s building a rapport with the group of guys that he’s getting an opportunity to work with. And I think that’s a component of this that we don’t often talk about too is there’s a get to know in terms of the cohesion, particularly when you’re working with multiple groups and multiple people.
"And that’s a guy that’s getting some third group reps, that’s a guy that’s getting some second group reps, and so he’s got a lot of people to get comfortable with."
Ben Roethlisberger was only a partial participant Thursday, allowing Mason Rudolph to work with the first-team unit in the two-minute drill. Under the same circumstances -- starting at their own 48 with 1:18 remaining and one timeout -- Rudolph completed five consecutive passes to get the offense to the 8. But his final pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster with 15 seconds remaining saw Smith-Schuster marked down at the 3 on a "tackle" by Minkah Fitzpatrick -- there was no live tackling today -- and the clock ran out before Rudolph could get everyone to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball.
"At 15 seconds, we’ve got to take shots at the end zone," Tomlin said. "When Minkah tackled that guy on the field of play right there, the game’s over, and we’ve got to have that level of awareness. It was annoying, yes, but I also acknowledge that the learning process is part of this. It’s an opportunity to teach but some of those guys have been around a little bit, and so I expressed that feeling."
Haskins, who is signed for just one year, is likely slated to be the No. 3 quarterback this season behind Rudolph, but if he outperforms him in the preseason, who knows?
Tomlin did like a play Diontae Johnson made during the drill. On second down from the 37, Johnson caught a short pass from Rudolph, stopped short and allowed cornerback James Pierre to go by him, jumping to the outside and picking up 17 yards before getting out of bounds.
"I thought the play by Diontae when he reversed field and got out of the pocket of the defense and was able to get additional yards and get out of bounds is a type of play you’ve gotta have in those moments," Tomlin said. "It allowed us to get a chunk of real estate, it allowed us to preserve a time out. All of that is critical in that situation."
• Bussey's touchdown catch wasn't his lone big play Thursday.
The undrafted rookie out of Hawaii earlier caught a long pass from Josh Dobbs on which he caught the ball after it had been tipped into the air by cornerback Justin Layne. A few plays later, he caught another long pass from Dobbs after a defensive lineman had jumped offside.
Dobbs lofted the ball down the opposite sideline with Bussey running under the pass behind Stephen Denmark.
Bussey began his career at North Texas before suffering an ACL injury and then transferring to Hawaii. He caught 68 passes for just over 1,000 yards in 2018 before his injury and had hoped to show off the fact he's healthy in 2020. Then COVID hit and he had 31 receptions and just one touchdown in eight games in 2020.
"I was rehabbing and then COVID hit and all my strength and conditioning kind of got shut down," Bussey admitted.
But he's been noticeable in this camp -- and not just because of the number he's wearing.
The number? The Steelers gave him 84. Yeah, 84.
"I couldn't even believe it, really," Bussey said of the Steelers giving him Antonio Brown's former number.
"I just got the jersey. I didn't ask for it."
• Rookie Pressley Harvin won the Ray Guy Award last season at Georgia Tech as the nation's top punter. Thursday, he and incumbent Jordan Berry were allowed to show off their legs a little with some kicks from deep in their own territory.
Harvin was booming the ball out of his own end, at one point eliciting a "Wow!" from Tomlin.
"He looked like Ray Guy a time or two, didn't he?" Tomlin said, before continuing. "Those guys have been battling, and we respect all the battles that are going on out here."
That being said, Berry didn't hit any punts that made Tomlin utter and audible "Wow!"
Then again, the games will matter a lot for those two.
• Najee Harris is human, after all. After putting on a ridiculous move to stop his feet and change direction on a short catch from Roethlisberger during seven-on-sevens, Harris started in the opposite direction only to have Pierre come in and knock the ball free from him with a tomahawk chop.
It's the second time Harris has fumbled in that kind of situation since OTAs, the only two times he's done so.
• Running back Jaylen Samuels and Raymond both left practice with injuries, though both seemed minor. They're still being evaluated.
After working in pads Wednesday, the players were in shorts Thursday, but figure to be back in pads for Friday afternoon's practice.
Tomlin also held a number of players out of Thursday's practice, including LB Melvin Ingram, WR Cody White (hamstring), CB Joe Haden (day off), ILB Devin Bush, C J.C. Hassenauer, OG Kevin Dotson, OT Zach Banner, OT Chukwuma Okorafor, TE Eric Ebron (elbow), OLB T.J. Watt and DE Stephon Tuitt.
Hassenauer, who suffered a knee injury last weekend, was running on the sideline.
Dotson, who has yet to practice in this camp, at least had his helmet Thursday, so perhaps he is getting close. Okorafor hasn't gone through a full practice yet, either, but was working with strength and conditioning coach Marcel Pastoor on his blocking. He seems to be close.
Tomlin was asked if Watt, who has done positional work but no team drills, is dealing with an injury.
"I don't have to disclose any injuries at this point, so I won't," he said.
