Steelers inside the ropes: With the pads on, running game again prominent

A second day of pads, another day in which the running game was featured prominently by the offense during Pittsburgh Steelers training camp.

Under new coordinator Arthur Smith, the Steelers are trending bigger and more physical. That has played out in recent days during the “seven shots” 2-point simulation that typically begins the team portion of practices. Like had happened during the first day of full pads Tuesday (and even in a final day of “shells” Sunday), the offense called running plays on a majority of the seven snaps.

Wednesday, the first score came from an old-school I-formation look with fullback Jack Coletto leading the way for Jaylen Warren to score on the second snap of “seven shots.” Najee Harris ran right up the middle for a “touchdown” on the ensuing play.

Then, when Tomlin called the first-teamers back out onto the field because the score was tied 3-3, Harris again got the call. This time, he dove over the top into the end zone to set off a wild celebration by the offense.

• Justin Fields again took first-team quarterback reps. He misfired to Pickens on the first throw but hit Van Jefferson running across the end zone on the fourth snap.

• During one rep in 11-on-11 play later on in practice, Harris kept churning his legs to push through $41 million linebacker Patrick Queen and finish a run.

• Queen, though, was active throughout practice in punching the ball out of ball carriers. He also nearly had an interception when he leapt in front of Pat Freiermuth to break up a pass from Fields.

• Developing a reputation as one of the NFL’s most physical runners, Warren during one particular rep lowered his shoulders to initiate contact with Jeremiah Moon and Mark Robinson.

• The third-team offensive line has had trouble. During one sequence of five snaps, Allen likely would have been sacked three times.

• No. 4 quarterback John Rhys Plumlee had one of his best passes of camp Wednesday, on a rope with accuracy about 15 yards downfield to Jaray Jenkins. A little later on, Plumlee showed his athleticism on a scramble in which he sped past defenders for a nice gain.

• But as fast as Plumlee is, any idea he’s faster than Fields quickly became a fallacy not long after when Fields had a nice gain on a read option. The contrast in quick succession illustrated that though Plumlee is fast for an NFL quarterback, Fields is closer to world-class speed.

• Jefferson had a productive day. He won a physical rep of hand-to-hand combat of one-on-one with Joey Porter Jr. Later on, he had a nice running catch over the middle from Fields after creating separation to get open.