Chris Adamski stories, Page 154
Steelers injury notes: Sean Davis returns to practice, Joe Haden has ‘contusion’
For the first time in more than two weeks, Sean Davis took part in Pittsburgh Steelers practice. The veteran starting free safety took all the regular team reps in Tuesday’s session that was abbreviated by rain. Davis hadn’t practiced since July 28 because of a dislocated finger. Also taking part...
Mike Tomlin: Play from Steelers 3 QBs in preseason opener ‘above the line’
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin didn’t mention any of his three backup quarterbacks by name, but during Tuesday’s news conference he offered an unsolicited hearty endorsement of Josh Dobbs, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges during the Steelers’ preseason opener four days prior. “I thought, generally, the quarterback play was positive,”...
Steelers Inside the Ropes: Mike Tomlin pushes team to practice through rain
Three-and-a-half hours after he’d held back tears in discussing the loss of his longtime friend Darryl Drake, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin put on a jovial, defiant face at practice Tuesday. On a gray and largely miserable outdoor day at Saint Vincent, it was almost as if Tomlin was insistent...
Steelers to also take Monday off to mourn loss of Darryl Drake
The Saint Vincent campus will again be closed to the public Monday as the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to mourn the loss of wide receivers coach Darryl Drake. Drake, 62, died Sunday morning. The Steelers immediately canceled their practice Sunday, and that session will not be made up. The team announced...
Rookie guard Fred Johnson plays more than 3 quarters of Steelers’ preseason opener
Fred Johnson wasn’t told prior to his NFL game debut that he’d play in almost all of it. “They just kept telling me I wasn’t coming out,” Johnson, a rookie offensive lineman, said of his Pittsburgh Steelers coaches. “So I didn’t (argue). The more reps, the merrier.” So, there Johnson...
Whirlwind day takes Homewood’s Trevon Mathis to Steelers
Trevon Mathis was volunteering to help coach kids on the same Homewood field where he learned to play. Little did he know Thursday he would quickly go from the Homewood Community Sports Bulldogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers. “It still hasn’t hit me all the way,” Mathis said late Friday night...
Donning a literal hard hat, workmanlike Eli Rogers re-claiming his role in Steelers offense
It was not uncommon for Eli Rogers to be spotted in a construction hard hat around UPMC Rooney Sports Complex last fall, and he showed up to training camp last month in the cab of a big rig. Rogers clearly wants to advance he is all about business, and he’s...
Steelers’ Matt Feiler pulling away with starting right tackle job
It was billed as the lone winner-take-all starting position battle during this Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. But has Matt Feiler’s strong play on the practice fields of Saint Vincent already rendered the Steelers’ starting right tackle verdict moot? The man with perhaps the most input into that decision smiled when...
With LeVeon Bell, Antonio Brown gone, will ‘D’ again be Steelers identity?
For each of the past five seasons, the Steelers have had a better ranking in total offense than in total defense. How rare is that for a franchise far more identified for its defense? The Steelers’ ‘D’ ranked higher than its offense 58 of the previous 74 seasons, according to...
In 4th Steelers season, Jerald Hawkins out to show he’s healthy, worthy
By official NFL accounting, Jerald Hawkins is in his fourth season. Only four of his fellow Pittsburgh Steelers offensive linemen have more tenure. Then again, Hawkins has only five games and 47 snaps of professional regular-season experience. That makes the offensive tackle a unique player to watch in Friday’s preseason...
Undrafted Steelers rookie QB Devlin Hodges draws rave reviews
As Devlin Hodges spoke to reporters after practice Wednesday at Saint Vincent, a pair of rookie teammates laughed and made loud quacking noises as they walked past. Hodges didn’t miss a beat, remaining undeterred, similar to a quarterback patiently staying on his reads while pass-rushers approach. It takes a lot...
Brian Allen, Jerald Hawkins added to Steelers’ lengthy injury list, albeit most considered minor
Another practice at Saint Vincent, another large group of Pittsburgh Steelers players who were not in pads and watching from the sidelines. Other than the scare caused by Joe Haden leaving the field on a cart, the list of those who sat out practice Wednesday on Chuck Noll Field mostly...
Steelers specialists to split time with rookies in preseason opener
The Pittsburgh Steelers are giving equal time to each of the candidates in their kicking and punting competitions. Embattled incumbent kicker Chris Boswell will alternate kicks with rookie Matthew Wright during Friday’s preseason opener, coach Mike Tomlin said Wednesday. And Tomlin said fifth-year punter Jordan Berry will handle every other...
Josh Dobbs to start at QB in Steelers’ preseason openerVideo
The competition for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 2 quarterback job will take center stage Friday night at Heinz Field. During a Wednesday news conference at Saint Vincent, coach Mike Tomlin cleared up the division of labor at quarterback for the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As expected, it...
Steelers Inside the Ropes: Devlin ‘Duck Dynasty’ Hodges making plays
“Let’s go, ‘Duck Dynasty,’ ” coach Mike Tomlin yelled toward his offense on the sidelines before the final drill of Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Steelers practice. So Devlin Hodges ran into the huddle and took over the hurry-up, late-game simulation between second-teamers. Earlier in practice and for the second time in recent...
Alejandro Villanueva among 3 starters, 2 rookie draft picks to leave Steelers practice
It was a display of, as Mike Tomlin puts it, “the bumps and bruises associated with this point in the journey.” Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Steelers practice at Saint Vincent was the most attrition-rattling of training camp. Eight players left the session early because of injuries of varying severity and to different...
Steelers sign St. Francis (Pa.)’s Jermaine Ponder in roster swap of cornerbacks
For the second time in six days, the Pittsburgh Steelers swapped out cornerbacks. On Tuesday, they announced the signing of former St. Francis (Pa.) defensive back Jermaine Ponder and waived/injured Derrek Thomas. Thomas was signed Thursday but lasted only three practices before suffering an undisclosed injury. Thomas had replaced Herb...
Mammoth guard Fred Johnson hard to miss at Steelers training camp, gets shot at tackle
Fred Johnson might be the tallest guard who’s ever attended a Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. And in what might have been a sign of just how much Johnson intrigues the Steelers, they even threw him into the proverbial fire at tackle, too. For the 2-minute drill simulation at the end...
Maurkice Pouncey, Artie Burns leave Steelers Heinz Field practice with minor injuries
Maurkice Pouncey, Artie Burns and Dionate Johnson were among Pittsburgh Steelers who left Sunday’s practice at Heinz Field because of injuries that are not expected to be serious. Veteran cornerback Burns and rookie receiver Johnson had previously been dealing with groin injuries, but each had taken part of some drills...
In 2nd camp with Steelers, WR Tevin Jones getting look
Though Tevin Jones began Pittsburgh Steelers training camp toward the bottom of the wide receivers depth chart and getting scant reps, in recent days the big and athletic receiver has been opening eyes. At 26 and his fourth NFL training camp, Jones has been with the Steelers for 19 months....
Dan McCullers used more, shows versatility in 6th Steelers camp
Big Dan is no longer just the big man taking up space in the middle of the defense. In his sixth Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, Dan McCullers is being used more often and getting more reps than he typically did in his previous five. While his time at nose tackle...
Steelers Inside The Ropes: Light practice salvaged by 2-minute drill conclusion, JuJu’s TD
No shoulder pads. No Big Ben, nor almost half of the other offensive and defensive starters. Half-speed drills, lots of special teams. In short, it was largely a dud of a practice from an entertainment perspective for the big Saturday crowd on hand at Saint Vincent. Until, that is, the...
Steelers’ Mike Hilton shows versatility taking snaps at free safety
Getting reps at free safety during this training camp? That’s nothing to Mike Hilton. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ slot cornerback the past two seasons, Hilton was highly recruited to SEC colleges as a running back. “I got (to Ole Miss) and kinda realized in looking at the other college backs,” the...
Steelers Inside the Ropes: Chris Boswell, Jordan Berry put on notice
Thursday’s Pittsburgh Steelers practice proved rookies Ian Berryman and Matthew Wright are pushing five-year incumbent punter Jordan Berry and kicker Chris Boswell, respectively. Berryman and Wright were signed as priority undrafted free agents after the draft in April, and both have shown they possess NFL-worthy potential. Berry and Berryman each...
Steelers embrace annual ‘Friday Night Lights’ in Latrobe
For Cameron Heyward, it was a little girl who approached him to autograph a program. To Alejandro Villanueva, what stands out about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ annual Friday Night Lights practice is the ride on the caravan of buses weaving through Latrobe. “It’s cool to sort of drive around in the...
