The Pittsburgh defense continues to impress.
LATROBE, PA — The heat isn’t letting up in Latrobe. The weather has been hot, and so have some new acquisitions on the defensive side of the ball.
The Steelers wrapped up Day Three of training camp, and they got one day closer to putting the pads on. Until then, here are my biggest takeaways from Saturday’s practice:
Aaron Rodgers continues to look for consistency
Day One was clunky, Day Two was good, and Day Three was a gumbo of good, bad, and ugly. Rodgers struggled to complete passes in team drills. He took a shot downfield to DK Metcalf that was caught by the big receiver leaping on the sideline, but he couldn’t get two feet in — something Joey Porter Jr. was quick to point out to him and the fans.
On the other hand, though, Rodgers hit Metcalf and Darnell Washington for touchdowns in seven shots and looked solid in seven-on-seven. Working out the kinks in a new offense is what this time of year is for. It’s better to see the growing pains in Latrobe than in New York Week 1.
Jalen Ramsey is a menace
Ramsey has had three consecutive days of great play. In the second team drills, he picked off Aaron Rodgers on the first play, making a leaping interception on a bootleg to the left. With his ability to play all over the secondary combined with the splash plays, he looks more than worth what Pittsburgh is paying him, and what they traded to get him.
Big day for Juan Thornhill
The veteran safety had his best day of camp thus far. He had two pass breakups in team drills — one on Jonnu Smith and one on Roman Wilson that prevented a deep completion. He’s making his case to be the starting safety opposite DeShon Elliott.
Full seven shots results
- Bad snap, Rodgers throws it away.
- Rodgers hits Metcalf on a slant (TD).
- Rodgers hits Darnell Washington in back of end zone (TD).
- Rudolph throwaway, would have been Patrick Queen sack.
- Connor Heyward catch, but couldn’t keep toes in.
- Howard hits JJ Galbreath on slant (TD).
- Nick Herbig deflects Rodgers pass at line of scrimmage.
Defense wins 4-3.
Other notes
- The fans love Will Howard, and he is making the most of the reps he’s getting. He’s had a good three-day stretch. He hit Montana Lemonious-Craig twice for nice completions.
- Derrick Harmon blew up a run play in team drills and is building a nice camp thus far.
- Dean Lowry plowed through Zach Frazier for what would have been a five-yard tackle for loss and the defense went nuts.
- The defense continues to be by far the dominant unit.
The Steelers will return to practice tomorrow, July 27, at 1:55 p.m. ET.