Rookie minicamps are often reserved for just that.
Fifty-one players took to the South Side over this past weekend to, in a majority sense, kick off their NFL careers by placing down the first blocks to build off of.
The headliners at this weekend's Steelers rookie minicamp were obvious. First-rounder Broderick Jones, second-round legacy selection Joey Porter Jr., and the Wisconsin tandem of Keeanu Benton and Nick Herbig were closely observed and subsequently hounded by on-site media after the Friday and Saturday festivities wrapped up.
But, that doesn't mean there were 51 rookies present.
Of those 51 players at the Steelers' weekend rookie minicamp, 10 were present as those with prior NFL experience and trying to work back into the league.
One looking for another shot is former Rams quarterback Bryce Perkins.
"They reached out, and I know this is an organization that has a history of winning," Perkins said after Saturday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "It was definitely -- you want to go to a good organization, so they reached out and gave me an opportunity to come here, and it was definitely something that I really wanted to do."
There remains, at least officially, a void at third quarterback on the Steelers' roster behind Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky, though Mason Rudolph's expected to pay a visit to his old workplace Tuesday and, if all goes well, sign a one-year contract. But before that, the Steelers brought in three contenders to jump-start the competition: In addition to Perkins, Minnesota rookie Tanner Morgan and Clemson rookie Hunter Johnson joined the fray in Matt Canada and Mike Sullivan's room. Morgan was a six-year starter at Minnesota and holds a few program records, including for wins as a quarterback and completion percentage. Johnson was a four-star recruit out of high school who couldn't stick at Clemson before transferring to Northwestern and returning to the Tigers in 2022 to serve as a third-stringer.
Perkins has traveled quite the road. He began at Arizona State out of high school, though he redshirted in 2015 and missed all of the 2016 season after he sustained a neck injury at a practice. He returned to the field in 2017 at Arizona Western Community College before transferring to Virginia in January of 2018.
Though he participated this weekend as a "veteran" among rookies, this process opens up another new chapter for Perkins.
"Yeah, but it's still new to me, too," Perkins said. "A lot of stuff is different. There's some things that you can (take) like huddle presence and voice and different things like that, but it's still new getting to know the guys, getting to know the installs, kind of short notice having to apply it on the fly. In some cases I think that's where being in the NFL for a period of time helps, where you're used to getting plays right before you go out, getting plays -- a a lump sum of plays -- right before practice begins. It's still new, learning with the guys. I had a couple mental errors yesterday ... easily correctable mistakes. It's still, even as a fourth-year, you kind of make those mistakes, but you kind of learn to wash it, learn from it, move on, and make sure that everybody around you is doing it and kind of upkeeping their part of the assignments, as well."
He signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and made the Rams' 53-man roster in 2021 as the third-string quarterback behind Matthew Stafford and John Wolford, only to be inactive for each game. His first taste of regular-season action came in the Rams' loss to Arizona in November, as he attempted just one pass. He entered in relief of the injured Stafford the next week against New Orleans, and he completed 5 of 10 passes for 64 yards.
His first career start came the following week against Kansas City. He completed his first NFL touchdown pass -- a seven-yard strike to Van Jefferson -- and threw two interceptions in a loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion.
While this idea of earning his keep is not new to Perkins, he made it known he is in Pittsburgh with a fresh and open mindset about the position.
"Definitely motivating to me," Perkins said. "Definitely excited to come out here and be a part of a new culture, be a part of a new staff, be a part of a new quarterback room. Definitely just soaking it all in. You can't come to a different place with knowledge you may have had and try to say, 'we did it like this; you guys should do it like this,' so it's definitely hearing it and listening to it and absorbing all the knowledge that the coaches have and running the offense how they want to run it, and then, slowly, those things take care of themselves."
In his post-practice press conference Saturday, Mike Tomlin said Morgan and Perkins had been "attentive and professional" throughout the weekend, though there was still more to see before he could take the room and "paint with a broad brush."
Perkins said the most important piece of feedback received this weekend came with regard to his mechanics.
"Definitely timing with the feet," he said. "Definitely had a couple of plays (on Friday) where the feet weren't lined up, making sure everything's in sequence, and different things like that. Making sure I'm faster. Faster with my feet, faster with my eyes, and different things like that, especially huddle, snap timing. Some of the plays -- one of my banes was a play that I messed up twice on, and so just learning from that and making sure that I'm in the right spot, right time, and doing everything I can to make sure the offense runs smoothly."
He led a renaissance in Virginia football in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In 2018, Perkins was one of two NCAA quarterbacks to finish the season with 2,600-plus passing yards and 900-plus rushing yards, joining Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray. He generated 3,603 yards of total offense to set a Cavaliers program record and finish 21st nationally. In 2018, Virginia finished 8-5 -- its best record since going 8-5 in 2011 -- and defeated South Carolina in the Belk Bowl for the program's first bowl win since 2005.
In 2019, Perkins led Virginia to a 9-5 record and an appearance in the Orange Bowl, in which he set a school bowl game record with four passing touchdowns. He broke his own school record for total offense and also broke the school record for passing yards (3,530) in a season.
Of course, Perkins was asked about his history in the ACC and about the concept of Pitt sharing the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex with the Steelers. Over his career at Virginia, Perkins only traveled to play at Pitt once, in the season opener in 2019. He led the Cavaliers to a 30-14 win over the Pickett-led Panthers, as he completed 20 of 34 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"I was saying the last time I played here -- the only time I've been to Pittsburgh is when we played Pitt my senior season," Perkins said. "It's definitely a nice facility. I’m asking a lot of questions about how does the split work? Like, when do the Steelers come? When does Pitt come? Do you guys use the same training room? How does that work? I’m slowly getting up to speed on how everything's ran over here.”
