With Ben Roethlisberger sitting out on a scheduled day of rest Friday, it was an opportunity for the other three quarterbacks on the roster to get some additional reps.
And with the Steelers working at Heinz Field for their eighth day of training camp practice, red zone took center stage in the team portions of the workout.
It was a mixed bag for Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff. The good news? The defense came up with three interceptions and kept the offense out of the end zone more often than it scored. The bad? The offense didn't quite look the same without Roethlisberger triggering things.
"There will never be enough," Tomlin said when asked if that was enough turnovers to whet his appetite. "I won’t acknowledge that it’s enough. I’ll look at the flip side of it, when the defense is enjoying success, then I’ll talk to the offense about better ball security, about better decision making, about better coordination between the quarterbacks and receivers, etc."
Second-string quarterback Mason Rudolph threw two of the interceptions.
The first came in Seven Shots. After connecting with Chase Claypool for a touchdown on a jump ball over Cameron Sutton -- a play the Steelers have made a habit of running in this drill -- on the left side of the formation on the first play, Rudolph went to the other side of the field on the second rep.
This time it was Diontae Johnson against James Pierre, who was subbing for Joe Haden. The ball was underthrown and Pierre made the interception and raced out of the end zone, going 106 yards the other way, much to the pleasure of the several thousand fans in attendance at the practice.
"He made a great play on the ball, but I’ve got to put it where it belongs on the back pylon," said Rudolph, who repped the play with Johnson several times after practice ended.
Why did he do that?
"The fade, we were working on the timing, working on the landmark and meeting him there with the ball," the fourth-year quarterback said. "It’s just the little things at this time of year."
In the red zone drill to end the practice, Rudolph attempted to throw an out to Claypool with Sutton in coverage. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick read the route the whole way, jumping it for an easy interception before stepping out of bounds.
Rookie safety Lamont Wade later picked off a pass from Josh Dobbs, stepping in front of wide receiver Tyler Simmons.
"That’s the thing about it when we’re working Steelers vs. Steelers. There are two sides to the coin," Tomlin said. "Although it may be a good day for the defense in terms of getting the ball, we talk to the offense about securing it and vice versa. A good day for the offense in terms of protecting the ball, we’re not patting ourselves on the back. We’re talking to the defense about creating more turnovers."
Dobbs did throw a couple of touchdown passes in the red zone drill, scrambling to his left both times. He threw a floater that new tight end Marcus Baugh -- signed when Dax Raymond was waived injured earlier in the day -- ran under in the back corner against Wade, then connected with Rico Bussey on a ball in the front corner of the end zone with Stephen Denmark in coverage.
All three quarterbacks -- Rudolph, Dobbs and Dwayne Haskins -- had a touchdown in Seven Shots, with Haskins throwing a short touchdown to tight end Zach Gentry on a tight end middle screen for a score and Dobbs scrambling to get into the end zone, but Haskins also badly missed Benny Snell on a throw to the flat, while tight end Kevin Rader couldn't get his feet in bounds in the back of the end zone on a throw into double coverage by Dobbs to end the drill.
Still, Haskins, who has looked more comfortable this week, didn't throw an interception at Friday's practice -- though many of the plays called for him, such as an inside screen to the tight end -- are much less likely to be intercepted.
But Rudolph entered camp as the Steelers' No. 2 quarterback with Haskins and Dobbs fighting for the third spot.
When asked if he might consider that an open battle, Tomlin reiterated his stance from earlier in the week.
"That goes for every position," Tomlin said. "I meant what I said when I said that, yes."
• Pierre continues to make plays. The second-year cornerback is taking every advantage of the time the Steelers are giving Haden off in this camp. Haden, 32, is being used sparingly, but Pierre never knows when Haden is going to be given the day or a drill off and when he isn't.
So Pierre just stays ready all the time.
"You’ve got to. The next guy up. The next guy in," he said. "You’re just preparing for whatever role I might be called upon to do. I don’t know which day. I’ve just got to be ready to go."
Thus far, he's done a good job of it.
• I wrote about the Steelers wanting blitzing ability out of their nickel cornerback to replace Mike Hilton in the Friday Insider. Antoine Brooks seems to have a good feel for it.
He would have had Haskins for a sack -- or at least a good hit on the QB -- in one of the Red Zone drills.
• The Steelers worked backs on backers again on Friday, but didn't use the tight ends in the drill because they were short at the position after the loss of Raymond and the fact Eric Ebron is dealing with an elbow injury.
Najee Harris, the team's top draft pick who hammered the drill earlier this week, didn't fare as well in this one. But he also was working against outside linebackers Alex Highsmith and Jamir Jones, a pair of 250-plus pound players.
"I just liked the competitive spirit of 22 today," Tomlin said. "He lost some today because he was going against bigger men. We picked backs on inside linebackers. Then outside linebackers is almost d-end like. Some of those matchups get challenging. We put Alex Highsmith on him today. He just has an appetite for it. He has a long way to go in terms of a growth standpoint in techniques and stuff, but I like his appetite for it."
Harris also dropped a pass in the flat from Rudolph when the team was working 11-on-11 inside run -- yes, they do pass out of that on occasion -- but consistently got yardage on his three rushing attempts, getting a pair of 4-yard gains and falling forward before going for 12 yards on his final carry.
• Anthony McFarland continues to be used as a weapon out of the slot and on jet sweeps.
The second-year running back took advantage of a well-designed play that utilized both a tight end and fullback Derek Watt in motion to confuse inside linebackers Buddy Johnson and Marcus Allen.
Watt came from the right side of the formation and McFarland followed him through the hole and got out to the left sideline for a 40-plus yard run before he was knocked out of bounds.
Later in red zone drills, he took an outside flip from Dobbs, made a defender miss and then got the edge to get into the end zone from 20 yards out.
"Ant Mac is a versatile player," Rudolph said. "He’s learning a lot of different spots. It’s a credit to (offensive coordinator Matt) Canada, putting him in different spots, knowing his skillset and letting him make plays and keeping the defense on their (toes)."
McFarland also has been working as a punt returner and muffed a punt in this practice, but he's much more of an offensive threat than Ray-Ray McCloud, who also could be used in that role.
In fact, there were a couple of times the play called for diminutive McCloud to set a pick or actually block. And he was unsuccessful both times. Any play that calls for McCloud to do that should be thrown out.
• There were a couple of more dust ups in this practice with guard Anthony Coyle and defensive tackle Carols Davis getting into it during one-on-one blocking when Coyle put Davis on his back. Later, Kalen Ballage took exception to being smacked hard in the backfield by linebacker Calvin Bundage, who had beaten a block from backup fullback Trey Edmunds on the wing, and the two got into it a bit.
We're eight days into this thing and it's that time of camp.
• I had reserved any thoughts on newly signed guard Trai Turner until I got a chance to see him a little more. He's got some nastiness to him.
He wasn't working against Cam Heyward or Stephon Tuitt today in one-on-ones -- Heyward was given the day off and Tuitt remains out -- but he was tossing some of the lesser guys around, then turning around and running back to the line of scrimmage.
Rookie center Kendrick Green has that same nasty streak. On one of the first inside runs in the 11-on-11s, he put Henry Mondeaux on his back.
We still haven't seen the entire offensive line -- or presumed offensive line -- on the field yet. But Kevin Dotson seems to be getting closer, as does Chuks Okorafor.
Right tackle Zach Banner, however, continues to take things easy as he comes back from an ACL injury.