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Speaker 2: We don't go to the office. We build it.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Steeler Nation. How we doing dodging rain drops? Well,
Speaker 3: that's good us too, And it is the.
Speaker 2: Third sounds like Pittsburgh's getting pretty hard.
Speaker 3: All right. Justin was just painting us the picture back there.
Speaker 3: Everybody stay safe if you get those tornado warnings, be
Speaker 3: careful as some wild weather moving through the western Pennsylvania
Speaker 3: region here in the afternoon and into the evening. But
Speaker 3: it's about five o'clock. It's five o'clock somewhere, certainly right
Speaker 3: here at chucknoll Field, and that means that it's time
Speaker 3: for us to get to the tweets. As we roll
Speaker 3: into the Bonus hour, Matt me leads us off with
Speaker 3: a three pack of questions here, Doctor Westman and Professor Matt.
Speaker 3: Number one, true or false? The longer Joey Porter Junior
Speaker 3: stays on the pup list, the harder it will be
Speaker 3: for him to get into form. Or is he like
Speaker 3: TJ Watt and could just show up week one and
Speaker 3: play at a high level, real quick, great use of
Speaker 3: the word form there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, by me, small potatoes, I would say, I mean
Speaker 2: it's on him to stay in shape. Although that is
Speaker 2: a very cardio and conditioning position.
Speaker 3: Football shape is different than general shape.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I don't know that he would have played
Speaker 2: in the preseason. I mean, he'd be out here mirroring
Speaker 2: you know, DK Metcalf and those guys. I wouldn't go
Speaker 2: down that road. Yet, in terms of it being the
Speaker 2: slightest bick concern.
Speaker 3: I'm I'm with you on that. I think, hey, maybe
Speaker 3: he won't be as sharp as he could have been
Speaker 3: in Week one, But you're right, it's not like it's
Speaker 3: not like he would have been doing a ton of
Speaker 3: work out here either way. Question number two for me
Speaker 3: is the Big Mac or the bacon eater.
Speaker 2: I have a heart. I have a sweet spot for
Speaker 2: the big Man same here, do you?
Speaker 3: The Big Mac is is if you take Taco Bell
Speaker 3: out of the equation, Matt and some of the stuff
Speaker 3: that is outside of our region, so like calvers and
Speaker 3: things like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, all the time.
Speaker 3: Of all the fast food stuff that I can regularly get,
Speaker 3: the Big Mac might be number one on the list.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm out here to disparage McDonald's, but I rarely
Speaker 2: go there same you know, saying I did much more
Speaker 2: as a kid and there weren't as many options back then.
Speaker 3: Oh, I used to go all the time.
Speaker 2: But Big Mac is definitely high in the list.
Speaker 3: I still get a Big Mac like a couple times
Speaker 3: a year just to hit the.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've noticed so. My wife and I have a
Speaker 2: long standing kind of joke that like once a year
Speaker 2: we get Long John Silvers, and then when we're like
Speaker 2: an hour after we do get I don't feel terrible,
Speaker 2: and then a year later like Long Johns to try
Speaker 2: it's been a while, let's do it. Big Mac's kind
Speaker 2: of similar, Like I feel it after and I'm not
Speaker 2: thrilled with myself, but it's fun going down there.
Speaker 3: It sure is. And it's if you have the McDonald's app. Man,
Speaker 3: they have deals where it's like buy a it's like
Speaker 3: buy a medium fry and get a Big Mac for free.
Speaker 3: You can't.
Speaker 2: I should definitely stop.
Speaker 3: And they do like promotion stuff with like the Pirates
Speaker 3: and the Penguins, so like sometimes you'll get a notification
Speaker 3: that it's like, hey, uh, the Pirates hit two home
Speaker 3: runs or whatever, Big Mac for two dollars, or you know,
Speaker 3: the Penguins scored on the Power Play Big Mac for
Speaker 3: two dollars, and I'm like, I can't pass that up.
Speaker 3: That's just economics.
Speaker 2: So what are your thoughts on the things that have
Speaker 2: derived from the Big Mac, like the Lbie super Burger
Speaker 2: or the app eaton Park super.
Speaker 3: Park super Burger.
Speaker 2: I'm a fan.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm a fan too. Yeah, but there's just there's
Speaker 3: something about that seated role that McDonald's has, and their
Speaker 3: Max Sauce is just on point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there is a neat and park one and yeah,
Speaker 2: many places you go have something in the realm. Yes,
Speaker 2: and I'm a fan of all.
Speaker 3: I sure am too. The third one from me is
Speaker 3: what is the best summer road trip song? Anything by
Speaker 3: the Grateful Dead Cousin.
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, that is kind of a road
Speaker 2: trip in. I don't have a favorite on that one.
Speaker 2: I mean there's a million to pick from.
Speaker 3: Matt. Matt just listens to podcasts on the summer road
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be back and forth to Kentucky here in
Speaker 2: the coming days, and there'll be a lot of podcasting.
Speaker 3: Which will be good because when Mac gets back, he'll
Speaker 3: be like, dude, you got to listen to this, this,
Speaker 3: and this and there. Yeah, I always love it. Listen
Speaker 3: to McShay on this and Brugler on this and these
Speaker 3: are all really good.
Speaker 2: How many times on Thursday we will be like, well,
Speaker 2: so it's listening to a podcast the other day, And.
Speaker 3: Like when we do a round campus, Matt'll be like, oh,
Speaker 3: you should listen to the McShay thing on, you know,
Speaker 3: on such and such. Yeah, yeah, it's it is fun.
Speaker 3: I tell you what, guys. This this Matt Williamson. He's
Speaker 3: like a football encyclopedia. Darius tweets us and asks and says,
Speaker 3: I'm in an old school touchdown only fantas see football league.
Speaker 3: I have third pick. Consensus is that Gibs and Beijon
Speaker 3: in some order will go one and two. Who would
Speaker 3: you take for pick three? Rushing and receiving touchdowns are
Speaker 3: worth six points, Throwing touchdowns are worth four points.
Speaker 2: And all accounts are touchdowns wow, yard zone matter, receptions
Speaker 2: or anything. I wouldn't take a quarterback. I would say McCaffrey.
Speaker 2: He just scores a million. Jamar Chase is kind of
Speaker 2: the consensus three, as is Pooka. I wouldn't change it
Speaker 2: too much, but I would definitely bump up McCaffrey and Henry.
Speaker 2: I mean their body of work is scoring touchdowns is
Speaker 2: incredibly high.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes it is. That's an interesting that's a that's
Speaker 3: a different Really, I don't like.
Speaker 2: That league at all. You lose makes it a lot
Speaker 2: less predictive.
Speaker 3: Sure sure, Annie tweets us, and she says the hose
Speaker 3: issue is easy to solve. Buy a decent, sturdy, metal
Speaker 3: wheeled hose caddy. But you guys are on your own
Speaker 3: with the Christmas.
Speaker 2: Lights, though I did I did see that.
Speaker 3: I need to get one of those.
Speaker 2: I have one of those in the back. The front
Speaker 2: we have old school you take the hose in like
Speaker 2: the garage one. You know, it's like one of these
Speaker 2: things where you take this and you go around all
Speaker 2: the way around. Yeah, by hand. That one never gets
Speaker 2: wrapped up.
Speaker 3: Mike tweet ess and says, it's one hundred and four
Speaker 3: degrees here in Naples, Florida today. My seat is hot.
Speaker 3: But you think Caleb Johnson might even be on a
Speaker 3: hotter seat. Yep, Yes, we talked about that in the
Speaker 3: first hour of the show. I threw I think it
Speaker 3: was eight or nine names at Matt and was like,
Speaker 3: should this guy be calm, concerned, worried, panicked? If you
Speaker 3: miss that, you can go back and find it. In
Speaker 3: the first hour of the podcast feed s and R
Speaker 3: drive wherever you get your podcasts. But he seems like.
Speaker 2: Panicked.
Speaker 3: There's not enough Uh yeah, there's not enough lifeboats on
Speaker 3: the Titanic for him to have a seat.
Speaker 2: Now there's a chance. I don't know what their plan is.
Speaker 2: He gets twelve carries on Friday, and if that happens,
Speaker 2: whether he does well with them or not, I would
Speaker 2: think he might go to move one layer up. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't ever, says calm. But maybe they're like, well, let's
Speaker 2: give him bunch and see what he does.
Speaker 3: Mister Morris asks, when do we start to get worried
Speaker 3: about Maxie honicch You are not practicing when it was
Speaker 3: said he would be back last week, now earlier, real quick.
Speaker 3: I I don't remember the exact quote from Mike McCarthy,
Speaker 3: but I don't think he came out absolutely and said, oh, yeah,
Speaker 3: he'll be back on Monday. I think it was something Monday,
Speaker 3: Monday definitely came out of his mouth, and I think
Speaker 3: it was like, we're hoping to have him back by.
Speaker 2: Monday or on Monday or something like that. Right, he
Speaker 2: didn't say he'll be back Monday, and if he isn't scared.
Speaker 3: Now, again, that was also six days ago, so it's
Speaker 3: it's a little it's a little different if okay, it's
Speaker 3: not quite on Monday, but he's back on such and
Speaker 3: such day, and we know that there was the preseason
Speaker 3: game in there too, So I had a couple, had
Speaker 3: a couple of days off.
Speaker 2: I kind of thought today would be the day. Though.
Speaker 3: Let's do that. Say I did as well, Let's do
Speaker 3: that same Matt calm concerned, worried, panicked with Max and
Speaker 3: the not practicing, I would go.
Speaker 2: I would say calm plus or concerned minus, and.
Speaker 3: Again not for his long term future.
Speaker 2: It's just for the current situation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I want man.
Speaker 2: I was really because it's a neck slash stinger, right,
Speaker 2: I believe I just hate hearing the word neck too.
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe it's because Brodert Jones fresh on my
Speaker 2: mind or you know.
Speaker 3: I thought, and hey, it was only a few practices,
Speaker 3: but I really thought he was on a fast track
Speaker 3: to be starting by week one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which still could be the case.
Speaker 3: Still could be the case. But the longer and longer
Speaker 3: he goes, the more and more difficult it becomes for
Speaker 3: selfish purposes.
Speaker 2: You and I only get to see him one more time.
Speaker 3: I know, you know, he was a lot of fun
Speaker 3: to watch it.
Speaker 2: I know, I'm really hoping he practices tomorrow.
Speaker 3: A lot of fun to watch. Ian says, which rookie
Speaker 3: quarterback from this weekend impressed you the most? Personally? I
Speaker 3: think Ty Simpson looked fantastic.
Speaker 2: I heard that I didn't see yet. Aler's got to
Speaker 2: be high.
Speaker 3: I was going to say the two here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: I think have to be high on the list. Ty Simpson, Hey,
Speaker 3: you look at it. I mean he was twenty one
Speaker 3: of twenty nine with a couple touchdown passes. That that's impressive,
Speaker 3: had a very good showing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, overall, it sounds like I mean Beck's done well.
Speaker 2: He played in the first week, he didn't play the
Speaker 2: second week, and I.
Speaker 3: Guess technically Will Howard don't count as a rookie for
Speaker 3: all intents and purposes. Uh, pretty close there for debuts, Yes, exactly,
Speaker 3: it was his debut. Yeah, I wonder how that works
Speaker 3: because you know how the rookies they get that patch
Speaker 3: when they play their first NFL game that says like
Speaker 3: rookie debut. Do you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2: I didn't know that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And so I wonder if Will Howard will get
Speaker 3: that for his for the Steelers first.
Speaker 2: Game, so you get it NFL.
Speaker 3: It says NFL premiere with the year jersey patch worn
Speaker 3: by rookies during their first regular season game, because like
Speaker 3: I remember Zach Frasier wearing.
Speaker 2: One, So they he'll so like for example, Jerremy the
Speaker 2: patch that he got through the season.
Speaker 3: No, just just the first it's just the first game.
Speaker 2: I've never seen it like regular season week ten on
Speaker 2: a guy.
Speaker 3: Yes, No, yeah, you won't see that it's for one
Speaker 3: game because I I still remember they just started doing
Speaker 3: it a couple of years ago, and it still gets me.
Speaker 3: It still gets me every every year where I'm like,
Speaker 3: wait a second, he's wearing a patch. What is that
Speaker 3: thing I'm trying to put.
Speaker 2: If Hanachre doesn't play at all during the regular preseason,
Speaker 2: doesn't isn't active Game one, and doesn't start until week four,
Speaker 2: he would get one.
Speaker 3: Week four, I believe so, Okay, I believe.
Speaker 2: So, or I'm probably probably the first days act like
Speaker 2: you see, they don't care.
Speaker 3: Here's a picture of Marian yeah wearing one last year,
Speaker 3: and then of course it gets taken off and put
Speaker 3: into a trading card and becomes it's all about some
Speaker 3: money and some revenue and some merchandise. But yeah, they
Speaker 3: wear those little one game.
Speaker 2: Every NFL player will have one of those their first game.
Speaker 3: Imagine Will Howard if he's active, if he's not, like
Speaker 3: the emergency quarterback, No, I don't think it's I don't
Speaker 3: think it's preseason. I think it's regular.
Speaker 2: Okay, does emergency quarterback count?
Speaker 3: That's what I don't know. I mean, because he will
Speaker 3: be in uniform, but he's technically not part of the
Speaker 3: active roster unless he has to be, you know, a
Speaker 3: loophole break, classic case of emergency. R J says, what
Speaker 3: do you guys think the split will look like for
Speaker 3: Uncle Rico and Jalen Warren this year?
Speaker 2: But it's all said and done in terms of touches,
Speaker 2: not necessarily carries. I think Warren will be just between
Speaker 2: the two of them, not counting the peripherals. I'd say
Speaker 2: sixty forty Warren.
Speaker 3: Sixty forty warrant and you're saying that's just carries. Total
Speaker 3: touches overall.
Speaker 2: Because I think the receptions will favor him heavily.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would too, I absolutely would.
Speaker 2: I think he'll have a lot more receptions than Dowdell.
Speaker 2: Dowdle probably is more carries, but I think that's close,
Speaker 2: and then they'll be like fifteen percent the others.
Speaker 3: I get what you're saying, I get what.
Speaker 2: You're at, Homer or whoever.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that seems to make sense. Yeah, let's see Michael
Speaker 3: tweets here. We got time for maybe one or two more.
Speaker 3: Michael tweets here and says some thoughts on the preseason game.
Speaker 3: Wants to see Hoffman given a more of an opportunity.
Speaker 3: But observation number one, want to see a Hoffman given
Speaker 3: more of an opportunity to be starter over Spencer Anderson.
Speaker 2: I didn't think Anderson played great. I'm a Hoffman believer,
Speaker 2: but I'm starting to think that that's not a competition anymore.
Speaker 2: I think it's Anderson's job, which I don't have a
Speaker 2: problem with.
Speaker 3: I I don't either, but that has you know what,
Speaker 3: You're kind of right? That has kind of seemed.
Speaker 2: Doesn't sound like they're using like a battle anymore.
Speaker 3: Exactly right, exactly right.
Speaker 2: There's logic that I don't agree with that some coaches
Speaker 2: buy into though that I know Anderson could play center
Speaker 2: if he had to, but there's a lot more confidence
Speaker 2: if Anderson's If Anderson and Hoffman are equal right guards. Okay,
Speaker 2: let's just say let's pretend that's the case, or that
Speaker 2: they would put Hoffman on the bench, because there's a
Speaker 2: chance Hoffman could get hurt at right guard. Then Fraser
Speaker 2: gets hurt and nobody can snap. You see what I'm saying, Like, Yes,
Speaker 2: there's a fear in the coaching community that we get.
Speaker 3: Into a late third quarter, and I can't have anybody
Speaker 3: that can snap.
Speaker 2: And yes, if you've ever experienced it probably scars you
Speaker 2: to ed sure, But like we can't go shotgun. We
Speaker 2: have nobody that's ever really snapped, now, I know Anderson has.
Speaker 2: But a lot of teams will look at it that
Speaker 2: way that if you're also the backup center, sometimes it
Speaker 2: hurts your chances to be a starting guard.
Speaker 3: You know what, Matt, I had never really kind of
Speaker 3: looked at it that way, but that makes a ton
Speaker 3: of sense.
Speaker 2: That'd be a lot of disaster. Two guys would have
Speaker 2: to get hurt. But we've seen if your two top
Speaker 2: centers are on the field for sixty snaps, there's a
Speaker 2: better chance they both get hurt than if one's on
Speaker 2: the bench.
Speaker 3: That's that's simple statistics right there. Man, Snapping is important,
Speaker 3: you know what. It sure is lightly taken for granted,
Speaker 3: it sure is. And and that's a that's a very
Speaker 3: astute point that you that you made there, and and
Speaker 3: maybe part of the reason why we haven't had as
Speaker 3: much conversation about Brockhoffman being a starting guard to this point.
Speaker 2: Being a backup at all three of those spots is
Speaker 2: really valuable. But I can't have you get hurt and
Speaker 2: then be on the edge of my seat. Oh no,
Speaker 2: that can't get hurt.
Speaker 3: Yeah right, every time Zach ends up in a pile,
Speaker 3: you're holding your breath. Let's get too well. Our first
Speaker 3: break here at the five o'clock hour, we're gonna hear
Speaker 3: from from a little bit from offensive coordinator Brian Angelico
Speaker 3: and defensive courteator Patrick Graham will continue to keep you
Speaker 3: posted on everything going on here at Saint Vincent College.
Speaker 3: West Ruler Matt Williams said, it's the bonus hour of
Speaker 3: the Drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: This is live coverage out the twenty twenty six Steelers
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Speaker 3: Back on campus here as we roll along in a
Speaker 3: wet evening in Latro, Pennsylvania, and what is our penultimate
Speaker 3: day here at St. Vincent College. Matt with that, some
Speaker 3: some coaches and some coordinators speaking earlier today and once
Speaker 3: again we heard from Patrick Graham and Brian Angelico. I was,
Speaker 3: I was laughing at the preseason game Thursday night. Patrick
Speaker 3: Graham was, you know most places do this, but you
Speaker 3: have to to get into the kind of food and
Speaker 3: beverage area of the press box. You got to show
Speaker 3: your badge, of course, because they won't just let anybody
Speaker 3: walk in and eat and take drinks and all that.
Speaker 3: You got to show your badge that you know, your
Speaker 3: credentials to prove that you belong. And uh, I think
Speaker 3: Patrick Graham was quickly kind of trying to go back
Speaker 3: and forth to get some.
Speaker 2: Coffee, okay, and the coaching from.
Speaker 3: From the coaching box, and the poor the poor young
Speaker 3: girl was kind of like, excuse me, sir, can I
Speaker 3: see your badge? And he was like, oh, it's over there.
Speaker 3: I'm just running real quick and like myself and Chris
Speaker 3: Hallick and I think maybe Jerry Doulac. We were like,
Speaker 3: he's a coach, he's fine, and she was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 3: go ahead. He was like, I'm just getting a coughin
Speaker 3: real quick. I promise I'll be in it out. But
Speaker 3: Patrick Graham speaking earlier today as well, as it was
Speaker 3: pretty funny, he was he was being very kind about it,
Speaker 3: like he was he wasn't trying a big time or anything,
Speaker 3: but he was like, I'm just a coach. I'm just
Speaker 3: running over here real quick to grab a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3: And we were all like, he's fine, he's telling the truth.
Speaker 3: He's not fine. Patrick Graham speaking here, and then we'll
Speaker 3: also hear from Brian Angelico, offensive coordinator, So your defensive coordinator,
Speaker 3: then your offensive coordinator. As we approached the end of camp,
Speaker 3: here's what they had to say.
Speaker 4: But I thought the way they handled the huddle, got
Speaker 4: out of a huddle, got to the checks, it was
Speaker 4: it was pretty impressive.
Speaker 5: And most importantly, we took care of the football. So
Speaker 5: that was a good start. Played coming down the sideline,
Speaker 5: broke the tackle.
Speaker 6: Yeah, how much do you see that being a part
Speaker 6: of your offensive You have some big and tough to
Speaker 6: tackle receivers downfield.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we hope all our guys.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's a big part of this offense is
Speaker 4: to catch and run the rack and and to do
Speaker 4: that in.
Speaker 5: This league, you got to be able to break tackle.
Speaker 5: So it's good to see him in.
Speaker 2: Max.
Speaker 5: Max had a nice one as well.
Speaker 4: Mike has harped on the mental wearers, and I think
Speaker 4: you guys started the first team of running with the
Speaker 4: penalty and then.
Speaker 6: Exactly, Yeah, at what point are you going to get
Speaker 6: more concerned with Yeah, I mean, you know, each day
Speaker 6: that goes on, it's something we got to fix and
Speaker 6: we will fix and uh, something that that we're addressing daily,
Speaker 6: and it's certainly got to get better.
Speaker 5: And that starts with me in the and the coaches. Brian,
Speaker 5: what is it.
Speaker 4: About Robert Tunyan that that you've seen that you like
Speaker 4: about him? Yeah, I know, Bobby's you know, number one,
Speaker 4: he knows how to play the game. He's uh, he's
Speaker 4: got good intelligence at the line when the picture changes,
Speaker 4: he knows where he's got to be within relation to
Speaker 4: the route concept. And you hope you get that with
Speaker 4: all your vets and we're we're glad to have him.
Speaker 4: Bobby's played a lot of football, so we're excited to
Speaker 4: see what what's forward in Minnesota. I had Bobby actually
Speaker 4: in Green Bay his his rookie year. He was a
Speaker 4: rookie free agent, and then he made the team. So
Speaker 4: I had Bobby for two years in Green Bay and
Speaker 4: then we brought him to Minnesota. So this is my
Speaker 4: third time with him, So we're glad to have him.
Speaker 5: What led to like bring him in for a trial
Speaker 5: for mini.
Speaker 4: Camp just his experience, and yeah, I think anytime you can,
Speaker 4: you can bolster the depth.
Speaker 5: Of the roster.
Speaker 4: You know, where we were, we were a little light
Speaker 4: on the numbers at the tight end position, so you know,
Speaker 4: we were looking around and Bobby happened to be available.
Speaker 2: Nicholas is getting a lot of early early team reps
Speaker 2: and he seems to be a team favorite.
Speaker 7: What could you tell me about that?
Speaker 4: Yeah, lous, I mean he's consistent, same guy every day,
Speaker 4: works his butt off, you know, on team's offense. So
Speaker 4: we're we're trying to get all the Baxter carries and
Speaker 4: just get them all ready because certainly at that position
Speaker 4: you can't have too many.
Speaker 5: I did not know. I've never been around loving.
Speaker 8: This morning, Mike was talking about how you have your
Speaker 8: primary concept, secondary and then auxiliary concepts. When you have
Speaker 8: a young quarterback like Drew, how do you negotiate or
Speaker 8: figure out as a staff kind of like how quickly
Speaker 8: you're going to bring him on how much you want
Speaker 8: to part us play for a preseason game and win.
Speaker 5: Absolutely.
Speaker 4: You know in OTAs that we were real diligent about
Speaker 4: what reps we gave him, with what concepts, and you know,
Speaker 4: he's been able to handle it. So right now, he's
Speaker 4: pretty much got most of the playbook. There's really nothing
Speaker 4: that he hasn't had so and he's handled it well. Uh,
Speaker 4: you know, it can be a lot for everybody, but
Speaker 4: he's done a nice job. And the games will actually
Speaker 4: be get easier when we play the real games because
Speaker 4: obviously the game plan will be paired down.
Speaker 5: But today it was a big day because it was
Speaker 5: our last install.
Speaker 4: So we're excited about the next three four weeks getting
Speaker 4: ready for the start of the season.
Speaker 3: I want all your top two receivers. How have you
Speaker 3: seen guys take advantage.
Speaker 4: Of the opportunities, So yeah, I think with any with
Speaker 4: any team, right you need you need depth and guys
Speaker 4: are going to step up, So I think I think
Speaker 4: it'll be a blessing for us down the road, certainly
Speaker 4: when we have those guys get the experience they're getting.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of depth in that running that group.
Speaker 3: How tight is the competition between these guys.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean it's it's Competition's good.
Speaker 4: I think there's a lot of tight competitions at all
Speaker 4: the positions. So well, we'll see here in the next
Speaker 4: two weeks how that thing's gonna shake out.
Speaker 5: But I feel like we're in a good spot with
Speaker 5: those guys, with all of them.
Speaker 3: That's good.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 9: Patrick, you guys are sensing that the episode starts with
Speaker 9: the D line, yep, and that's part of your philosophy.
Speaker 3: Can you expand on.
Speaker 5: That a little bit?
Speaker 7: Well, you know, I think if you ask any defensive
Speaker 7: coach or even any head coach is going to start
Speaker 7: up front with a line of scrimmage and they're the
Speaker 7: ones that are directly involved with it and they set
Speaker 7: the tone. So I mean, if we want to be
Speaker 7: you know, if we want to be part of this
Speaker 7: lineage of the Steeler defense and the history of it,
Speaker 7: you got to do a good job of knocking the
Speaker 7: line of scrimmage, back setting good edges and those guys
Speaker 7: play a critical role in it. And you know, I
Speaker 7: think they've done a great job. You know, someone in
Speaker 7: a group of guys to be able to pick from
Speaker 7: for the fifty three man roster and you know they're
Speaker 7: they're working hard to get that done.
Speaker 9: But so many top dbs or are Al d Ramsey,
Speaker 9: Joey Eckles, Risker Elliott was out for a while. Has
Speaker 9: that been hard to You're trying to install in installed
Speaker 9: to a new defense, and you.
Speaker 7: Know, I mean, the the the league is hard, period.
Speaker 7: It's the most competitive, uh sport. I think, you know
Speaker 7: in terms of you know, we look at it in
Speaker 7: terms of everybody can compete for a championship each year.
Speaker 7: So I mean, is it hard? I mean, if it
Speaker 7: was hard to y all care? I mean we get
Speaker 7: paid a lot of money, so but no, I mean, uh,
Speaker 7: Thankfully we got good coaches, we got good players, you know,
Speaker 7: in different roles, and they're able to step up. And
Speaker 7: the standard is gonna be the standard in terms of
Speaker 7: what we were looking for and what we wanna do. Obviously,
Speaker 7: it'll it'll shift and change at times based on who's available,
Speaker 7: but those guys know what we're looking to get done,
Speaker 7: and we're holding and Joe Simo, those guys are holding'em
Speaker 7: all to that.
Speaker 8: Standard that Deshaun Elliott has had today the most work.
Speaker 7: That believe, So I would have to look at the
Speaker 7: numbers and stuff, but I believe.
Speaker 6: So.
Speaker 3: Yes, how have you seen him progress?
Speaker 7: Good? I mean again, his leadership skills, h the physicality
Speaker 7: showed up today. I know that. And then just you know,
Speaker 7: he's always active in the meetings. He's active, you know,
Speaker 7: bringing the guys together. He's a solid communicator and that's
Speaker 7: what we need at that position.
Speaker 5: Said, you've heard a lot.
Speaker 10: About the defensive line and being excited about you particularly
Speaker 10: working with him. What kind of stuff do you bring
Speaker 10: when you're specifically honing in on the group that you
Speaker 10: used to play with?
Speaker 7: I think play with? I mean I don't know how. Yeah,
Speaker 7: I didn't play. I was on the team, but in
Speaker 7: college I didn't play. But like I tell the players,
Speaker 7: like I've worked for some really really good coaches, great coaches,
Speaker 7: Hall of Fame coaches, but the most information and the
Speaker 7: most knowledge I've acquired throughout my career has been from
Speaker 7: the players. So I think you you would have to
Speaker 7: ask them specifically. But a lot of the knowledge I
Speaker 7: got from coaching really good players over my career, you know,
Speaker 7: uh uh Snacks Harrison and Chandler Jones, Rob Nikovich. You know,
Speaker 7: I've been, I've been, you know, with Max and the Raiders.
Speaker 7: I mean again, I just picked their brains in terms
Speaker 7: of how they see it, uh, what works for them,
Speaker 7: and I try to incorporate that into my teaching and
Speaker 7: the style. But I mean, I would think that's probably
Speaker 7: what they like to hear about most, and then whatever
Speaker 7: I could see on the field.
Speaker 4: You know, we've heard about how We've heard a lot
Speaker 4: about how you guys, you guys have specialized certain guys
Speaker 4: to sort of stack the blocks versus penetrate on the
Speaker 4: D line.
Speaker 5: And specific when when the time, when that times up?
Speaker 2: How do you go about telling the plan?
Speaker 5: As far as Google, it's.
Speaker 7: Just normal football, you know, normal football. I guess you
Speaker 7: guys here at Pittsburgh just get a little bit more
Speaker 7: detailed into it. But it's just it's just it's just
Speaker 7: normal football. You know, whether you know you're playing with
Speaker 7: a heavy box or a light box, you know, you
Speaker 7: just gotta, you know, figure out how we're gonna move
Speaker 7: to the ball and how we're gonna defend the run.
Speaker 7: But that all comes to play. I mean, it's nothing
Speaker 7: unique for us. It's everybody in the league's doing that.
Speaker 4: Toward passing down to a single high dB in the
Speaker 4: box capable of rushing.
Speaker 5: But is that kind of your philosophical reen.
Speaker 7: I mean, if it was, I'm not gonna say yes.
Speaker 7: I mean, we do what's best for the game plan
Speaker 7: for that situation. There's so much that goes into a play.
Speaker 7: So like when you say passing down is like, is
Speaker 7: it get back on track? Passing now? Is the third down?
Speaker 5: Pass?
Speaker 7: Is it in plus territory? So all that stuff comes
Speaker 7: into play. That's why I get paid the due in
Speaker 7: terms of figuring out within the game, like case, is
Speaker 7: it better to play split safety here? Post safety? So
Speaker 7: I mean, I can't give you my philosophy on it.
Speaker 7: I mean, because it morphs based on what the situation is.
Speaker 7: Like playing in the backfield. I love I love good players.
Speaker 7: I love having as many good players as possible.
Speaker 3: You had a Landed Roberts in Vegas, he comes back here,
Speaker 3: what does he add to the defense at this point
Speaker 3: in his career?
Speaker 7: Well, you know, the thing about e Rob is just
Speaker 7: you know, there's definitely one. He's a pleasure to be around.
Speaker 7: I really en being around him. He knows how to
Speaker 7: talk football. He was brought up the right way in
Speaker 7: terms of he sees the game, especially that linebacker position,
Speaker 7: in terms of you know, being the extension of the
Speaker 7: coordinator usually out there on the field. So that's one.
Speaker 7: And then the physicality, you know, whenever you get a
Speaker 7: chance to get pads on the physicality, I mean, he
Speaker 7: brings that every day, you know. I mean he probably
Speaker 7: would run through us in the meeting and if he could,
Speaker 7: but you know, but I'm too old for that. But
Speaker 7: like the physicality, but really smart football player, you know,
Speaker 7: knows a lot of football, and you know the guys
Speaker 7: respect him.
Speaker 3: That was Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and offensive coordinator
Speaker 3: Brian Angelico is Matt rightfully. So they got practice in
Speaker 3: early today, and boy it sure did. As the rain
Speaker 3: continues here, We've got some massive puddles in all of
Speaker 3: the corners and it's supposed to be continuing and raining
Speaker 3: most of the night, I think, so good job by
Speaker 3: the grounds crew and the video crew to get that
Speaker 3: tarp out there and to see what those guys have
Speaker 3: in store for us for the final process.
Speaker 2: What's all about?
Speaker 3: One more segment to go on the other side will
Speaker 3: wrap this thing up. The day's proceedings from Saint Vincent College,
Speaker 3: Wes Schuler, Matt Williamson. It is the Drive Steelers Nation
Speaker 3: Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 3: Down the home stretch here of this Sunday show. As
Speaker 3: we mentioned earlier, it's the penultimate practice in the books
Speaker 3: for the Steelers Matt. If you're a Steelers fan, if
Speaker 3: you're a Steelers junkie and you want to get out
Speaker 3: here to Latrobe and you haven't done it yet, tomorrow's
Speaker 3: your last chance.
Speaker 2: Last chance. I would check the weather first, but that
Speaker 2: is your last opportunity.
Speaker 3: It's a very good always important to note, especially as
Speaker 3: Matt and I are going to be dodging rain drops
Speaker 3: here in a few minutes running out to our cars.
Speaker 3: One of the guys who wanted to get on field
Speaker 3: work today. Part of the reason for the tarps at
Speaker 3: everything that we've been talking about on field again tomorrow
Speaker 3: and not in the indoor facility is, of course, head
Speaker 3: coach Mike McCarthy. Here's what he said earlier.
Speaker 10: Mike, was just a couple of days left in training
Speaker 10: camp here in Latrobe.
Speaker 3: What are some of your priorities.
Speaker 10: And some of the final things you'd like to get
Speaker 10: done before you break camp?
Speaker 9: Well, I'm my personal folk is to make sure we
Speaker 9: get these two padded practices and today and tomorrow, you know,
Speaker 9: obviously navigating the weather. Today's you know, the last install
Speaker 9: so you know we'll highlight that in practice, you know,
Speaker 9: with a call it a competitive period there at the
Speaker 9: end with the red zone offensive defense competing. Then we'll
Speaker 9: have another call up period too, just to kind of
Speaker 9: get in the flow of the game and not we
Speaker 9: have one game under our belt. They continue to maximize,
Speaker 9: you know, the opportunities of the substitution patterns and so forth.
Speaker 9: We need to be cleaner there. That was one of
Speaker 9: the things we want to focus on coming out of
Speaker 9: last game. But yes, uh, you know, this is what
Speaker 9: training camps for taking advantage of this environment. Tomorrow's practice
Speaker 9: will be, you know, just all competition offense and defense.
Speaker 9: So really want to get these last two padded practices in.
Speaker 3: What was your evaluation of the offensive line in game.
Speaker 9: One, Well, I think it falls in line really with
Speaker 9: the team. I thought we were physical as a football team.
Speaker 9: I thought we established the play style that we wanted.
Speaker 9: It starts up front with the on line and d lie.
Speaker 9: We just got to play, you know, play our play
Speaker 9: style with more discipline. You know. The personal files were
Speaker 9: you know, the number was outrageous. You know, I just
Speaker 9: think of the production that we had, you know, was
Speaker 9: was excellent. You know, we you know, we were very
Speaker 9: productive against our opponent. Uh So you just look at
Speaker 9: the things that you can take care of yourself. But
Speaker 9: I like the way we played up front. You know,
Speaker 9: we had you know, you're you're always going to have
Speaker 9: some fundamental focal points, you know, which you know you'll
Speaker 9: see highlighted in the individual drills. You know, more probably
Speaker 9: tomorrow than today because we're installing today. But you know,
Speaker 9: that's that's what this time of years for. You know,
Speaker 9: I think the pads have started to come down, you know,
Speaker 9: I felt that a little bit the end of the
Speaker 9: last week. I was glad it showed up in the
Speaker 9: game too. So we just got to keep working. And
Speaker 9: that's why we want. We want to try to work
Speaker 9: as many different combinations as possible. So you'll see some
Speaker 9: guys moving around a little bit today, you know, just
Speaker 9: trying to work different combination of players together.
Speaker 4: Something you were looking for in a game when you
Speaker 4: don't see it a whole lot here.
Speaker 9: Definitely were you know, and it's all normal.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 9: I thought we were clearly high as as a team,
Speaker 9: you know, you know, this time last week, and uh
Speaker 9: and I thought we did it. I thought we did
Speaker 9: a nice job. You can see in our you know,
Speaker 9: the tightness of the combination blocks and you can see
Speaker 9: it in the you know, in the D line, you know,
Speaker 9: being square, getting off blocks, So that definitely showed up.
Speaker 4: Is there anything in particular you want to see from
Speaker 4: Travis Homer or what did you.
Speaker 2: See from him?
Speaker 9: Well, I mean, you know, it's as we get into
Speaker 9: these battles that are going on each position, you know, it's, uh,
Speaker 9: it's important for our players to be able to play
Speaker 9: all four down, you know, and then definitely Travis is
Speaker 9: one of them. And you know, I think everybody's excited
Speaker 9: about draft picks and you know this and that, but
Speaker 9: you know, your value to play on special teams and
Speaker 9: offensive defense is important. But you have to be able
Speaker 9: to play on offensive defense and special teams. I mean,
Speaker 9: it just depends on how you want to look at it.
Speaker 9: So I don't like to just to keep it guy,
Speaker 9: it's just special teams, you got, it's just on offense,
Speaker 9: you know, unless his contract and his his level. You know,
Speaker 9: let's let's be real by it. It's just the facts
Speaker 9: of matter. But uh so you have to have as
Speaker 9: many players as you can that play all four downs.
Speaker 9: So that's those are the conversations I'm sure you're looking at.
Speaker 9: That's what those are the ones we're having.
Speaker 4: You talked, were definitely heard about the difference of being
Speaker 4: outdoors the football team. Does that maybe make you a
Speaker 4: little bit more willing to try to practice on the
Speaker 4: rain out here?
Speaker 9: Oh? Yeah, I have no problem in the rain, I think.
Speaker 9: I mean, I mean, I go back to the quarterback,
Speaker 9: to the old days. You just you know, you're always
Speaker 9: throwing a bucket of water in there. You know, at
Speaker 9: some point when you feel like you've gone too long,
Speaker 9: you know, not handling the ball in in inclimbate weather
Speaker 9: and frankly being a dome team for five years, I
Speaker 9: think I worried about it more then than I do now,
Speaker 9: because you get it. You know, the only thing's gonna
Speaker 9: take me off the field of lightning. You know, I
Speaker 9: just don't think that's you know, it's eight miles eight
Speaker 9: and a half. That's close enough. So I mean, it's
Speaker 9: it's just to be practical about it. I mean, that's
Speaker 9: fine line between between toughness and stupidity, and we've all
Speaker 9: straddled that. So let's not lie to each other.
Speaker 3: So, now that you've had more time working with Drew Aller,
Speaker 3: what are you learning about how his skill set fits
Speaker 3: your offensive philosophy in some of the concepts that you
Speaker 3: believe in.
Speaker 9: Well, I'll say this about Drew and really the whole room.
Speaker 9: I mean, there there there abilities physically, you know, fit
Speaker 9: any offense. So I think, you know, as we get
Speaker 9: into this spot and camp, you know, we need to
Speaker 9: really hone in on specifically, you know, concepts we want
Speaker 9: to you know, as I look on primary, secondary, auxiliary
Speaker 9: and so, yeah, he's Drew, Drew, can he can play
Speaker 9: through anything that we've asked him to do? You know, conceptually, Mike.
Speaker 10: Is as a defensive line, We've heard a lot of
Speaker 10: praise for help. Patrick Graham has inserted himself into what
Speaker 10: they're working on and.
Speaker 9: Excited to work with him.
Speaker 3: What do you see as far as what he infuses.
Speaker 10: Into a defensive line of the group that you've praised
Speaker 10: for this size and physicality.
Speaker 9: I mean, it's really a philosophy that Patrick and I
Speaker 9: have talked about since day one and and and clearly
Speaker 9: at the end of the spring coming into training camp
Speaker 9: because you know, it's important for us as coaches, you know,
Speaker 9: especially the head coach and the assistant head coach and
Speaker 9: the coordinators. You know, if you bring us, you know,
Speaker 9: if you bring us special, you know, a skill set
Speaker 9: that you have that you have a lot of experience,
Speaker 9: and you can't just throw that to the side when
Speaker 9: you become a coordinator. You know, I went through this
Speaker 9: with Brian Angelico. I mean, you know he wants to,
Speaker 9: you know, spend time in a quarterback room, and you
Speaker 9: know it's that that's fine, but you know I didn't
Speaker 9: bring him here to coach, you know, laern quarterback. I
Speaker 9: brought him here to be the offensive coordinator. But he
Speaker 9: has a special skill set it's tight end, so he
Speaker 9: needs to be in the tight end room. You know,
Speaker 9: it's important. I mean, he he's done it a long
Speaker 9: time at a high level in that room. So same
Speaker 9: thing with Patrick Patrick's you know, he's coached multiple positions.
Speaker 9: You know, he started on offense, but you know he's
Speaker 9: an exceptional defensive front coach and uh you know that's
Speaker 9: where he cut his teeth. So it's important for those
Speaker 9: linemen to know that and him to be in that room.
Speaker 9: And that's that These conversations go back all the way
Speaker 9: to when you're building a staff, because when you build
Speaker 9: a staff, you know as far as the you know,
Speaker 9: the the level of you know, experience in your in
Speaker 9: your you know, higher positions and you got young, young guys.
Speaker 9: You're excited about that, but there but there's some growth
Speaker 9: in those guys. So it's important to you know, Patrick's
Speaker 9: in there by design but also because of what he
Speaker 9: brings out of the table. So and I'm glad, I'm
Speaker 9: glad the players feel it.
Speaker 10: In your year's coaching, do you have a preference for
Speaker 10: d lineman when it comes to you know, winning and
Speaker 10: penetration versus protecting the the linebacker's because sometimes that can
Speaker 10: be a you know, a just a style choice of
Speaker 10: a defense for how they want to use their defensive linement.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I understand saying I'd look at more as a technique,
Speaker 9: you know, and I think that you know, the defensive fronts,
Speaker 9: you know, looking at it clearly from the offensive side
Speaker 9: of the ball and understanding why we do it from
Speaker 9: the defensive side of the ball, because you know, you
Speaker 9: want your you know, the techniques that you're asking your
Speaker 9: players to play with also to be inlign with their
Speaker 9: personal skill set and particularly there you know how they
Speaker 9: how they're built, you know, uh, physically, So yes, there's
Speaker 9: you know, there's times where you know you want to
Speaker 9: penetrate and there's times where you're you play with a
Speaker 9: more flat, square stance. But you know, at the end
Speaker 9: of the day, particularly first and second down, you know,
Speaker 9: the the low man, square man wins. You know, it's
Speaker 9: just you know, hands inside and those things to feed
Speaker 9: in the block and coming off and so again answer
Speaker 9: your question was, I think you need both and and
Speaker 9: obviously the most important thing the linebacker play has to
Speaker 9: be engaged in and in tune. And we talk about
Speaker 9: in here all the time. That's why as many different
Speaker 9: combinations of players you can play with, you know, you know,
Speaker 9: that's where the time clocks and the fits and all that.
Speaker 9: That's that's why we're here. You know, you just you
Speaker 9: want to get that reptives as much as possible because
Speaker 9: you know what you want those linebackers to feel the penetration,
Speaker 9: you know, whether they're playing fast over the top or
Speaker 9: play behind the block when it's still square, and you
Speaker 9: know those types of things. So you know, but that's football.
Speaker 4: You can't have enough of it, like you do more
Speaker 4: history with uh Robert Tunyan brought him in game a
Speaker 4: trial for a mini camp.
Speaker 9: What did what did you expect in this? You look
Speaker 9: like the old Robert t oh yeah, I you know,
Speaker 9: I had Robert as a young player just you know,
Speaker 9: when he had some he had some great years up
Speaker 9: there in Green Bay, you know, even after I left,
Speaker 9: So you know, I had him as a promising young
Speaker 9: player and he you know, call him Bobby now because
Speaker 9: he's you know, he's that's what the players call him.
Speaker 9: But uh, the biggest thing for Robert when he came
Speaker 9: in was really see if he was healthy, you know.
Speaker 9: So the fact that he was out there was was
Speaker 9: frankly a blessing for us. I mean, that's that's been
Speaker 9: an excellent signing, especially at the time that we got him. So, uh,
Speaker 9: he's having a hell of a camp, which is no surprise,
Speaker 9: you know. I just it was great to see him
Speaker 9: healthy there in the mini camp and and he you know,
Speaker 9: he's doing a hell of job.
Speaker 3: Did you get a chance to check out Did you
Speaker 3: get a chance to check out the home run derby yesterday?
Speaker 9: Sure did. It was the longest first round in his
Speaker 9: three home run derby, So I think it was an
Speaker 9: iron twenty eight minutes.
Speaker 3: That a lot of guys wanted to participate.
Speaker 9: Yeah, it was cool, it was really cool, and it's
Speaker 9: a great work up. But I went to the five
Speaker 9: thirty mass, so I missed the final, but I guess, uh,
Speaker 9: you know, Eli really crushed it there at the end.
Speaker 9: So the guy's had a great time. Food trucks though,
Speaker 9: the whole the whole atmosphere was excellent. Thank you.
Speaker 3: That was your head coach and one of our own.
Speaker 3: Mike McCarthy, speaking ahead of the pen ultimate practice for
Speaker 3: the Steelers, I've said that too many times today. Let's
Speaker 3: put that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's put it.
Speaker 3: It's good to say every once in a while. But
Speaker 3: then I'm sudden they get it, start starting to abuse
Speaker 3: it a little bit, Yuler, I just put it put
Speaker 3: in the back pocket, save it for a rainy day.
Speaker 3: We've got a rainy day here. Save it for the
Speaker 3: next rainy day. But Mike McCarthy there, uh, speaking earlier,
Speaker 3: and of course kind of just outlining the the blueprint
Speaker 3: for the the final, you know, forty eight hours or
Speaker 3: so here of this portion of training camp at Sedge
Speaker 3: absolutely always is and you know, as Arthur Motes would say, absolutely,
Speaker 3: it's rainy campaign over just because you'll leave it, say bit,
Speaker 3: I said, it's over for you guys, but not for
Speaker 3: the team that will do it. For our show today.
Speaker 3: We will be back tomorrow for our last three hour
Speaker 3: bonus show on campus. Big thank you to Justin Miller
Speaker 3: for producing for us, back at the Ranch for Matt Williamson.
Speaker 3: I'm west Uhler. Take care everybody, and we will talk
Speaker 3: to you tomorrow. As always, you know where to find us.
Speaker 3: It's on your twenty four to seven home of the
Speaker 3: Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio
Speaker 3: Network