LATROBE – About 50 minutes into practice, a booming voice came over the loudspeaker at Saint Vincent College to announce that, due to weather, there would be an immediate evacuation of the campus for the public. This unfortunately prevented us from seeing some of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ young receivers get opportunities as the top options in their passing attack. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest storylines from an abbreviated practice.
Germie Bernard and Roman Wilson were thrust into important roles
Both DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. did not practice
today. Nothing seemed to be wrong with Metcalf, I would suspect more of a veteran’s day off for him, as we have seen others do throughout camp. Pittman missing practice is certainly notable after he hurt his left leg during Pittsburgh’s Saturday Night Lights practice.
With that, it was set to be a big practice for both training camp star Roman Wilson and rookie Germie Bernard. As fans were exiting practice, there was a big rise from the crowd as Aaron Rodgers uncorked a downfield shot for Wilson, who caught the ball in stride. The ball was thrown at least 45 yards down the field and would have gone for much more in a game situation. It was a quiet start to practice for Bernard, who jumped offsides in 11-on-11 drills, resulting in him being replaced by Ben Skrownek for the play. It would have been nice to see Bernard in more situations with the first team firsthand had the weather held up.
Dowdle and Nichols shine in running drills
During Saturday’s practice, I took note of how fast Dowdle seemed to be bursting through the line. Today was no exception. Dowdle seems to have the best skillset for the runs in between the tackles, while Warren will still get carries, but might shine more as a receiver. It will be interesting to see how the workload is split up between the two toip backs in the Steelers offense.
Lew Nichols has shined throughout camp, as the team’s RB3 job is seemingly wide open. Although the team isn’t tackling, Nichols broke free for what likley would have been a 20 yard touchdown scamper during the biginning of practice. Nichols stood out in the preseason for the Steelers last year, and will certainly be in line for a big workload on Thursday.
Other notes:
- Rookie tackle Max Iheanachor was technically back at practice today. He could be seen with his pads and helmet on and participated in individual drills, but sat off to the side during live drills. It seems like the team is being extra cautious with their first round rookie.
- Joey Porter Jr., Jalen Ramsey, and Donte Kent, who are all on the physically unable to perform list, were seen running on the second practice field in Latrobe. A welcome sign that maybe a few of them are inching closer to being able to participate.
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