The Steelers' practice on Saturday was moved from Saint Vincent College back to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex because of heavy rains again in Latrobe. But Mitch Trubisky didn't let it rain on his parade.
Even the move back to Pittsburgh couldn't stop the rain. In fact, it actually hailed a bit during the team's Seven Shots drill to open the team portion of practice. That didn't stop Trubisky and the offense from capping off their turn at the 11-on-11 drill with a couple of touchdown passes.
Then, with Mike Tomlin having his team close out their practice here with a two-minute drill, Trubisky maneuvered the offense in for a touchdown, throwing that to Gunner Olszewski on fourth down.
It was the same way Trubisky had finished off practice on Wednesday at Saint Vincent College with a successful two-minute drill.
That practice was about the time the veteran quarterback -- signed in the offseason to help offset the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger -- started to look much more comfortable running Matt Canada's offense.
Canada, the Steelers' second-year offensive coordinator, said the offense finally starting to string some good days together hasn't just been about Trubisky or the team's other quarterbacks, Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett, but an entire group with plenty of new pieces starting to find its footing.
"I think it’s a combination of everything. Offensive football, it’s 11 guys doing their job," Canada told me Saturday. "Sometimes, we’ve got to run better routes. Sometimes, we’ve got to block better. Every guy is getting a little better. Every guy has things they’re working on. I do think we’re starting to see the entire group execute at the same time, which is what you have to do in offensive football."
But there's no denying Trubisky has gotten better after a shaky first week.
"I definitely felt we got better from last week to this week and day-by-day, too," Trubisky said. "That’s what this is for. You make a mistake, you go back to the film and you correct it. You get everybody on the same page. We have a bunch of guys who love to work hard at it and love to learn and want to win. I feel like we’re correcting it pretty quick. We’re improving at a good rate. We’ve just got to keep cleaning it up. It was a good finish today."
That's the hope for Canada as he gets more of a free rein in 2022 after working with Roethlisberger last season. There's no denying the Steelers weren't going to dramatically change their offense in 2021 with an 18-year, future Hall of Fame quarterback running the offense.
But with Roethlisberger's retirement, the idea was clearly that the team wanted to get more mobility at the quarterback position. Enter Trubisky in free agency and Pickett in the first round of the draft.
Both have been at their best in the first two weeks of training camp when throwing on the move, either via designed rollouts or when they've gotten out of the pocket on their own.
The key, however, is being able to make plays from the pocket, as well. And until Wednesday afternoon's practice, that just hadn't happened a lot. It's like a light switched on now, however.
Trubisky, who has 50 career starts, all with the Bears before spending last season as a backup in Buffalo, began the offseason listed as No. 1 on the Steelers' depth chart. That certainly hasn't changed to this point. Even though Rudolph and Pickett have switched off between working with the 2s and 3s in this camp, Trubisky has continued to get if not all, the majority of the snaps with the first-team offense.
That didn't change Friday when Tomlin released his first depth chart.
"I didn’t look at it. Coach said it doesn’t matter, so it really doesn’t," Trubisky said.
But in this case, it most certainly has.
"I have tremendous faith in coach’s plan, how he’s handled this competition and massaged the reps here and there," Canada said. "We’re talking about how guys look with the 2s versus the 3s. We’ve got a great plan mapped out and we’re going to methodically go through it and make sure we have the right guy ready to play when we’re ready to go."
When I mentioned that while Rudolph and Pickett have taken turns working with the second and third teams while Trubisky has worked exclusively with the first-team offense and if anything could be read into that, Canada just smiled.
"You can read into that coach has been very clear from Day 1," Canada told me. "Coach said that based on resume we’re going to start that way. That’s what Mitch has done. Mason has done a good job when he’s been in there. Kenny’s doing a good job when he’s in there. Things are starting to look a little smoother. Right now, that’s where we are. He is first QB right now, but none of that is written in stone, so none of that matters."
The Steelers still aren't ready to "officially" name Trubisky the starter, but their actions show that he is. And over the second half of this week, he's looked the part.
• The Steelers have used an abundance of caution -- perhaps the most overused term in the COVID-19 era -- when it comes to some of their veteran players practicing with little bumps and bruises.
But Minkah Fitzpatrick was activated from the Non-Football Injury List Friday, while others are almost certainly ready to return to practice when they resume Monday at Saint Vincent College.
Like this guy ...
EDDIE PROVIDENT / DKPS
Tyson Alualu watches training camp practice Saturday at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex Saturday.
And this one ...
EDDIE PROVIDENT / DKPS
Chase Claypool catches a pass Saturday at Steelers training camp practice at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex.
And this one, as well ...
EDDIE PROVIDENT / DKPS
Levi Wallace walks off the practice field Saturday at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex.
Add Pat Freiermuth and Larry Ogunjobi to that list, as well.
The plan likely will have most of those guys sitting the team's preseason opener Saturday against the Seahawks at Acrisure Stadium as they work their way back into football shape. But there's a good chance all will be ready to go for the Steelers' second preseason game at Jacksonville in two weeks.
• One player who still might be a little bit longer is running back Najee Harris.
Harris got his foot stepped on the first day of padded practices last Monday and has been out since.
"It’s been pretty frustrating," Harris admitted Saturday. "But a lot of other guys get to come in here and get to see their skillsets. It’s a blessing in disguise in a way — not to get hurt — but to see other guys get more reps."
Two players who have stood out to Harris are third-year running back Anthony McFarland and undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren.
"Benny (Snell) and Anthony, especially Anthony, I think they took a big step," Harris said. "Especially Anthony in controlling what role he has and being explosive and making explosive runs."
As for Warren, who has been a standout in the padded practices, Harris has liked what he's seen.
"Jaylen is looking really good," Harris said of the former Oklahoma State star. "Everybody in the running back room is looking really good, but Jaylen has been improving every day since he got here. Him being undrafted and coming in here and showing what he can do, especially good on good, with the ones, in pads, too, Jaylen has come in here and turned a lot of heads. I think that’s good for the running back room to put another guy in there who can compete with everybody."
• The Steelers dodged what would have been a blow to their secondary as cornerback Cameron Sutton avoided a major injury Thursday. According to Tomlin, Sutton's knee issue is nothing major.
• That's good news because Levi Wallace, another of the team's free agent signings, just returned after missing what turned out to be about a week of practice with an illness.
The Steelers have great depth in their secondary. Perhaps not a lot of star power beyond Fitzpatrick -- but depth nonetheless. And you don't want to start dipping into that in the preseason.
• As I mentioned late in the week, people panicking over the offensive line not looking like a well-oiled machine three padded practices into this camp might be just a bit premature.
After all, one of the biggest questions of the offseason was how long it would take a revamped line to gel.
"As a coach, we all want it to be perfect yesterday. That’s what we all want," Canada said. "There’s an urgency to be better than we’ve been. There’s an urgency to run the ball great every play, to be on our assignment, to never get whipped on a block. We’re never going to be OK unless we’re doing those things. I want it to be like everybody else; we want it to be right, right now. But we are moving in the right direction. You’re starting to see some plays that are there when you see them. We just have to become more consistent."
• Trubisky said he hit a couple of long pass plays to rookie Calvin Austin on Saturday, something that will make Canada smile and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin grit his teeth.
Asked if Calvin Austin is a player who is impossible to overthrow, Trubisky just smiled.
"Seems like it. You just put it out there and he runs underneath it," Trubisky said. "He’s pretty quick. He runs great. We’ve just got to keep utilizing his speed and his talent. I thought he made a really big jump from last week to this week. He keeps getting open, so we’re just going to keep utilizing his speed. He made some big plays today."
• As this was a practice with no fans watching, regular season rules were in effect for this practice. So, we are not permitted to report anything that is unconfirmed by either a player or coach.
Just a little reminder for those hoping for a little more play-by-play action.
• Tomlin and his players were pretty disappointed in not getting in another practice Friday night -- at least not a regular one. The team went to Latrobe High School's gymnasium and had a walk-through. But that's not the same as performing in front of the 12,000-plus fans who would have been present for Friday Night Lights.
"We were just really disappointed for fans this weekend," Tomlin said. "We were looking forward to entertaining them and gaining a lot of energy from those guys at Friday Night Lights and today, but unfortunately the weather dictated otherwise."
The Steelers received a lot of angry calls from fans regarding the cancelation of the practice. But, as Tomlin noted, he would have had the team still go through the practice -- if not for lightning in the area.
• Sometimes, a practice like this can be lackadaisical. It was family day, so a number of players had their loved ones in Latrobe to attend the practice. Then, it got moved. And Sunday is a day off.
But Tomlin liked what he saw in this padded practice, which included plenty of one-on-one competition.
"I really was pleased with the guys' intensity and urgency in spite of everything," said Tomlin. "We came back into the city to get our work done today, and I just thought we had a really good practice in spite of some of the hurdles that we had to deal with from a weather standpoint. We don't run away from those issues, we want to run toward those issues, because we play in all weather conditions, just not lightning.
"And so it was good to see them remain singularly focused and have good competitive days in spite of the adjustments."
