2018 Steelers Training Camp – Day 3 Recap

The long-awaited training camp session in pads took place this afternoon at Saint Vincent field in Latrobe PA., and by all accounts, it was as eventful as the Steelers Hall of Honor announcement earlier in the day. The storylines in today session; a veteran player that sustained a potentially serious injury, an unexpected scuffle between teammates, and a strong showing by the defense.

So Steelers fans, let’s go!

Injury Report

Unquestionably the biggest story of the day was the knee injury to veteran offensive lineman Ramon Foster. As reported earlier, the injury took place during the Steelers 11-on-11 scrimmage. Foster was down for several minutes, surrounded by trainers as well as teammate Ryan Shazier and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Foster was eventually helped up by Roethlisberger and coaching assistant Marcel Pastoor, then placed into the medical cart. No confirmation has been made on the severity of his knee injury at this point; however, it appeared to be serious. In his place was backup guard BJ Finney. Speaking of Roethlisberger, he did not partake in today’s session, as he was given the day off.  In his place as #1 quarterback was Landry Jones; rookie Mason Rudolph was also given more repetitions as a result. Veteran safety Morgan Burnett sat out in this session, due to hamstring issues. Finally, receiver Eli Rogers also did partake in today’s session in pads, as he is still working his way back to the field.

Update courtesy of NFL.com and NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport:

Two injury notes: The knee injury suffered by #Panthers OT Daryl Williams is not believed to be season-ending. … And the knee injury that saw #Steelers G Ramon Foster carted off is not thought to be serious. Both much better than they looked.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 29, 2018

News and Notes

• This was a strong showing for the Steelers defense, as they dominated practically every team drill in today’s session. In the ‘seven shot’s drill, the Steelers defense won for the second-straight day. Cornerback Artie Burns accounted for an interception (giving him at least one interception in each training camp session) on Antonio Brown. Cornerback Coty Sensabaugh also had a strong performance. The defense carried their strong performance into the 11-on-11 drill, citing several quarterback pressures, outside linebacker TJ Watt batting down a pass from Joshua Dobbs, strong open field tackling by undrafted free agent Ola Adeniyi, a pass defense by cornerback Joe Haden and many others.
• Rookie Terrell Edmunds is having himself a rollercoaster-type training camp. In today’s session, he had a good showing in the one-on-ones, yet allowed a touchdown in the ‘seven shots’ drill and was embarrassed by running back James Conner in the 11-on-11 drill.

Justin Hunter shines again winning a fade route and catching a touchdown against Terrell Edmunds. #Steelers #dkps

— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) July 28, 2018

• Cutbacks may have revealed itself as a weakness to the Steelers defense, after both Conner and rookie Jaylen Samuels, were able to beat them using this type of move. As tackling has been noted as an area of concern, it will be interesting to see how this will be corrected.

#Steelers defense still susceptible to the cutback runs. Conner/Samuels got em a couple times over pursuing and found an easy cut back lane

— Tony Serino – Locked On Steelers (@steelercountry) July 28, 2018

• In an unexpected occurrence, rookie offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor and outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo almost came to blows after a sequence resulting in Chickillo throwing a helmet at Okorafor. Both parties were separated from the short scuffle as no one was injured.
• The anticipated ‘backers-on-backs’ drill took place for this first time in the this year’s training camp and by all accounts, the linebacker got the best of the backs. According to DKPittsburghSports NFL analyst Christopher Carter, both linebacker Vince Williams and Matt Galambos were dominant throughout. Other notable performers included undrafted free agent Matthew Thomas and Bud Dupree.
• Speaking of Matthew Thomas, when asked of his performance and that of outside linebacker Keion Adams, Carter noted that he was impressed with Thomas; as for Adams, he did not make as much of an impression.

Matthew Thomas had a great day as far as first day in pads. Exploded through Samuels on some backs on backers drills. Showed the athleticism that made him an interesting UDFA. Adams looked ok, but didn’t shine the way Thomas did. Made some plays though.

— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) July 28, 2018

• One of the biggest sleepers in this year’s training camp was a player who signed exactly one-year ago from today’s session, safety Malik Golden. Golden intercepted an underthrown pass from Rudolph intended for rookie receiver James Washington, and forced an incompletion after taking the ball out of Samuels hands. Fitting he chose today to have a strong performance.

Camp Photos

So many incredible catches in one photo. pic.twitter.com/pLAhygjFbT

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) July 29, 2018

From Steelers.com 

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