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Speaker 2: Good evening, Steeler Nation, how we doing well? That's good
Speaker 2: us too. It is the bonus hour here of the drive.
Speaker 2: We are into the five o'clock hour. The sun's starting
Speaker 2: to poke out a little bit here on campus as
Speaker 2: hopefully what was kind of an overcast and wet and
Speaker 2: soggy day has a nice ending here this evening, Matt Williams,
Speaker 2: such as campus has been quiet here with practice being
Speaker 2: moved inside. If you missed it, they got about thirty
Speaker 2: forty minutes of work in outdoors before some lightning rolled in.
Speaker 2: Had to clear the fields of all the fans and
Speaker 2: of course the guys on the team heading over to
Speaker 2: the brand new dun Lap indoor facility, which.
Speaker 3: And they're there right now for the walk through.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say they and that's not They had
Speaker 2: used it a couple times earlier in camp for the
Speaker 2: walk through in the evenings, but today was the first
Speaker 2: day that they had to take the practice inside. Hopefully
Speaker 2: that'll be the first in the last time that we
Speaker 2: see that this camp.
Speaker 3: But always the part way better than doing a walk
Speaker 3: through in a gym.
Speaker 2: So much better. And uh, Matt and I have not
Speaker 2: been into the new facility yet, but we have been
Speaker 2: into the gym across campus before and it's I mean,
Speaker 2: it's like a high school gym gym. It's an old school,
Speaker 2: you know, old college campus gym and would be tough
Speaker 2: with you know, one hundred bodies in there trying to
Speaker 2: get work done. Haven't seen the new facility over here,
Speaker 2: but it does have a indoor turf area. Asked Bob
Speaker 2: Labriola about this earlier and he said it's a sixty
Speaker 2: yard field plus the end zones, so yeah, okay, he
Speaker 2: was like, he was like, I don't want to tell
Speaker 2: you that the end zones are exactly ten yards like
Speaker 2: they are in the NFL. But he's like, it's a
Speaker 2: sixty yard field and that doesn't include shock if they're not. So,
Speaker 2: I'm thinking it's probably about eighty yards in total, but
Speaker 2: certainly enough to get a pretty good days of work
Speaker 2: in and better than having to go into a tiny show.
Speaker 3: Crowded with this size roster. But I mean like that,
Speaker 3: that's the same size we had as our indoor with
Speaker 3: the Browns too, you know, but just it was connected
Speaker 3: to the facility. I should know this. But the once
Speaker 3: south side is it? I don't think it's full.
Speaker 2: It's not a four hundred. I think it's eighty as well,
Speaker 2: closed plus end zones eighty plus. Well that would make
Speaker 2: it a hundred right then, But well, yeah, get what
Speaker 2: you're saying. Yes, it's one hundred yards and we don't
Speaker 2: call this one in front of us one hundred and twenty.
Speaker 2: Good point, Yeah, good point. Smooth Dave tweets and first
Speaker 2: segment here of the bone. You know what that means.
Speaker 2: It's time to hit some tweets. Smooth day of tweets
Speaker 2: our NFL contracts close to hitting a bubble. Seems like
Speaker 2: every contracts these days are breaking records, and not just
Speaker 2: the superstars. Yeah, but along those lines, is this simply
Speaker 2: the going rate for average to above average players? DK Metcalf,
Speaker 2: Michael Pittman, Junior, Patrick Queen, Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not economics major. I trust that these teams
Speaker 3: are not overspending because it's league wide. We kind of
Speaker 3: ended last hour on this that contracts across the board
Speaker 3: are really really going up, especially at the top of positions.
Speaker 3: But no, I mean, the term bubble makes it sound
Speaker 3: like it's gonna pop and it's gonna be bad. I
Speaker 3: don't think that's the case. I'd be shocked if all
Speaker 3: of a sudden the league gets less healthy.
Speaker 2: Unless tens of millions of red blooded Americans suddenly decide
Speaker 2: to stop watching and consuming football.
Speaker 3: Or if there's a COVID situation or something weird like that.
Speaker 3: But I would be really shocked.
Speaker 2: Matt, I spent some time in that break I was
Speaker 2: trying to find a reliable breakdown of because what this
Speaker 2: really comes down to now, folks, is just percentage of
Speaker 2: your salary.
Speaker 3: That's the most important way looking at it.
Speaker 2: That's really, I think the only way to look at it.
Speaker 2: Because the numbers are big, the numbers are jarring. But
Speaker 2: what percentage of your salary cap is it? That's where
Speaker 2: it really matters. And I couldn't find complete composite rankings,
Speaker 2: but I did find spot Track, who's very reputable in this.
Speaker 2: In this regard, they broke down the top salary cap
Speaker 2: percentage earner for each position. So like Joe Burrow, for example,
Speaker 2: he commands twenty four point five percent of Cincinnati's cap.
Speaker 2: That's a big number.
Speaker 3: It's huge, right, Like fifty two other guys have to
Speaker 3: get paid.
Speaker 2: And now a lot of that is because again just
Speaker 2: because these guys have.
Speaker 3: The average ends which year, and you know where.
Speaker 2: Do the bonuses come in and all those different things,
Speaker 2: because they all have the same average annual value.
Speaker 3: But what I assume that's his twenty twenty six cap
Speaker 3: hit correct, not necessarily.
Speaker 2: His it's almost seventy five million dollars this year for him. Wow,
Speaker 2: because again the way that the bonuses and everything are
Speaker 2: structured in a line.
Speaker 3: But last year might have been ten million.
Speaker 2: Last year, Lamar was the number one in terms of
Speaker 2: salary cap and his was like nineteen point some percent,
Speaker 2: which is about the usual. This is a high year
Speaker 2: for Joe Burrow and the Bengals. This is where you
Speaker 2: can get into trouble is because not only does Joe
Speaker 2: Burrow take up twenty four and a half percent of
Speaker 2: their salary cap on his own, almost a quarter of
Speaker 2: their salary cap, Jamar Chase takes up fourteen point four
Speaker 2: percent himself. So between those two matt it's close to
Speaker 2: thirty percent of your salary cap in just two players. Now,
Speaker 2: so those are two absolute superstars players. Right, that's a
Speaker 2: problem I think that a lot of people would would have.
Speaker 2: But that's I think the real way to frame it.
Speaker 3: My hunch is something like Dexter Lawrence probably is really
Speaker 3: low this year, but he's scheduled for a big one
Speaker 3: next year. You know, Like I think you need to
Speaker 3: stagger those things, which is somewhat why percentage of cap
Speaker 3: can be misleading. It's the most important thing, but because
Speaker 3: NFL structure or NFL you know, yeah, what you get
Speaker 3: per year, if you got this huge signing bonus, you
Speaker 3: get very little that year probably can be misleading in
Speaker 3: terms of value to team and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 4: Too.
Speaker 3: So I do think to your point, and I've brought
Speaker 3: this a million times, percentage of cap is the best
Speaker 3: way to look at it. But I think you almost
Speaker 3: have to do it over the course of the contract,
Speaker 3: not just this particularly year. Oh he's only five percent
Speaker 3: of the cap. Well, next year he's forty percent of
Speaker 3: the cap. You know, it's the same contract.
Speaker 2: If someone can find a good breakdown of this, yeah,
Speaker 2: my hastily researched five minutes during break send it during
Speaker 2: our way. But like we talked about Laramie Tunzel and
Speaker 2: his likely season ending injury earlier today, he's the number
Speaker 2: one OH CAP earner for offensive tackles, over eleven percent
Speaker 2: of the commander's cap he commands, and.
Speaker 3: I mean other than Daniels, he's the guy they least won.
Speaker 2: To lose, absolutely, no question, Absolutely the highest guy on
Speaker 2: defense in terms of cap commanded his way this season
Speaker 2: is Michaeh. Parsons, who makes up about sixteen point seven
Speaker 2: percent of the of the Dallas the Dallas or the
Speaker 2: part of me the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3: That's not extraordinarily high if you're if that's number one.
Speaker 2: That I honestly expected it to be a little bit more.
Speaker 2: Yeah for for the number one guy. Mister Steele City says,
Speaker 2: when will we know how quarterback reps will be distributed
Speaker 2: for the first preseason game? And how do you guys
Speaker 2: think it'll be split up?
Speaker 3: Interestingly, and not that he knows, but Labs, I had
Speaker 3: this conversation while you know, we were watching practice today.
Speaker 3: He said, how would you do it?
Speaker 2: Matt?
Speaker 3: And I didn't give it a whole lot of thought.
Speaker 3: I was off the top of my head and I said, hmm,
Speaker 3: how about this. Rogers doesn't dress, Rudolph gets one series. Yep,
Speaker 3: Howard finishes the first half, Aller takes the second half.
Speaker 2: I think that's about right. Maybe you give Howard one
Speaker 2: series out of a halftime. Let's see how he can adjust
Speaker 2: and take some coaching.
Speaker 3: Maybe you see how it goes, or you know, but
Speaker 3: I like him to run the two minutes. You'd like
Speaker 3: both young guys to run the two minute drill at
Speaker 3: the end of that respective halves.
Speaker 2: Should we even set an over under of preseason snaps
Speaker 2: played by Aaron Rodgers or should it be zero? Should
Speaker 2: it be half half?
Speaker 3: I think he's gonna actually show up. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: didn't he say he wants to.
Speaker 2: I mean they did, but he said Aaron Rodgers, they
Speaker 2: left it both left it pretty open. But Aaron did
Speaker 2: say that Mike wants him to play. Now, what exactly
Speaker 2: does that mean?
Speaker 3: I think at most it's a series for Rogers.
Speaker 2: Five and a half. Is that the is that the
Speaker 2: game under for Snaps four and a half?
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's game two.
Speaker 2: That's game two, okay. And then for Mason, I would
Speaker 2: put it at probably high teens. Eighteen and a half,
Speaker 2: nineteen and a half, entire preseason, not one game, yeah,
Speaker 2: eighteen nineteen round.
Speaker 3: Maybe he doesn't even play at all. Maybe that's just
Speaker 3: all young guys in the three.
Speaker 2: Way again, maybe he does the first series and then
Speaker 2: it's all it's all young guys the rest of the way.
Speaker 3: How would you do it for this one?
Speaker 2: For the first preseason game, Yeah, I would. I would
Speaker 2: give Mason, uh two series, okay. And then however, like
Speaker 2: then I would split the other try and make it
Speaker 2: as close to fifty to fifty for the other two
Speaker 2: if it's if it's forty five to fifty five.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard to predict, right, but you have to
Speaker 3: pull him in the middle a series or ends, and
Speaker 3: you know, right.
Speaker 2: You're not gonna call on a pinch hit or anything
Speaker 2: like that. I don't think though, that we'll know this
Speaker 2: maybe until Thursday. I don't think Mike McCarthy's gonna come
Speaker 2: out and say this is exactly how we're gonna He
Speaker 2: might come out and say Mason's gonna start, but I
Speaker 2: don't know if we'll get real deep into the weeds
Speaker 2: with him in terms of that information.
Speaker 3: Labs and Rob were talking about it today and I
Speaker 3: just half overheard it. That's why I almost didn't repeat
Speaker 3: it now. But I think he said something along the
Speaker 3: lines of McCarthy will not tomorrow. But you know he
Speaker 3: speaks before practice. He will not give us that answer
Speaker 3: that I would be shocked right right. So it'll be
Speaker 3: sometime we won't know this when we're on the drive tomorrow,
Speaker 3: we won't have that answer.
Speaker 2: Ian a lot of quarterback questions and conversation today. Ian says,
Speaker 2: Happy Monday, gentlemen. With Mason getting more and more of
Speaker 2: the second team snaps in practice, is the possibility of
Speaker 2: keeping four quarterbacks on the roster becoming more likely? Or
Speaker 2: are they trying to showcase Mason or other teams. My gut,
Speaker 2: someone is gonna get quote hurt and go on.
Speaker 3: I r they might the problem with getting quote hurt
Speaker 3: they can't.
Speaker 2: Practice practice, which I haven't found about that too.
Speaker 3: I need to practice anyone, I need to use them.
Speaker 2: Okay. But also because you would know this better than me.
Speaker 2: How much is your third quarterback really practicing throughout the
Speaker 2: course of the week. It's not. I mean, it's better
Speaker 2: than running, it's better than nothing. It's not.
Speaker 3: They're throwing balls and they're involved. Yeah. I mean, now
Speaker 3: they'd be in the meeting rooms and they can like
Speaker 3: lift in all those things, but that wouldn't be the
Speaker 3: end of the world. Again, I I don't get the inclination,
Speaker 3: but to be determined that they're comfortable enough with Howard
Speaker 3: to be the game day number two yet, I mean
Speaker 3: it seems like a stretch.
Speaker 2: Be very surprised if that were the case.
Speaker 3: And four, I mean we're aways from this, but if
Speaker 3: you start really putting a fifty three together, you're awfully light.
Speaker 3: If you keep four, I mean somewhere.
Speaker 2: Right in in a not so not in a vacuum,
Speaker 2: in a bubble. I I I think the idea of
Speaker 2: keeping four quarterbacks is very plausible.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, on the surface, until you actually build
Speaker 3: a fifty three.
Speaker 2: Then it starts to become pretty difficult.
Speaker 3: Now, there is some finaggling, especially early in the season,
Speaker 3: where you can put veterans on the practice squad and
Speaker 3: pull them up on game day and move them around,
Speaker 3: and that buys you some times. And there are some
Speaker 3: loopholes and things. They're not loopholes. Everybody does it. That
Speaker 3: makes it easier because you'd have probably two quarterbacks inactive
Speaker 3: on game day if four were on the fifty three.
Speaker 3: But there's a reason teams don't do it, you know.
Speaker 2: Jeff says, in your opinions, has Howard or Aller looked
Speaker 2: significantly better than the other so far in camp?
Speaker 3: I wouldn't say both like what you thought they'd be,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: I think Aler's highs have been a little higher, Yeah,
Speaker 2: but Howard's been a little more steady, aety consistent throughout
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 3: They both turned the ball over. They both been throws.
Speaker 3: They both look young. No, I think they both have
Speaker 3: been as expected for better or worse, to be honest, and.
Speaker 2: I know that not every single day, but there's been
Speaker 2: some days that Mike McCarthy said, we need better from
Speaker 2: the quarterback play. We need better from the offense. Too
Speaker 2: many turnovers, too many issues. So I think he would
Speaker 2: probably echo that centiment as well. RJ. We got a
Speaker 2: couple more to get to here before we close down
Speaker 2: this first segment of the first hour. RJ says, what's
Speaker 2: been the biggest breath of fresh air this training camp
Speaker 2: so far with the new coaching change and new regime.
Speaker 2: That's a good question.
Speaker 3: I was just say, like Roman Wilson, but then we
Speaker 3: said when he made a coaching specific I love how
Speaker 3: open McCarthy is and how organized he is.
Speaker 2: I love how much there is going on during practice tempo.
Speaker 3: It's not the most it's not the.
Speaker 2: Most physical everywhere certainly, which takes away I think some
Speaker 2: of what you can deduce. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: there is always so much going on during practice. There's
Speaker 2: always so much to watch that you almost have to
Speaker 2: tell yourself, Okay, for the next ten minutes I'm watching
Speaker 2: the quarterbacks. You'll find your ADHD brain will be looking
Speaker 2: all over the place. It's seven different.
Speaker 3: Things going on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot going on. There's a lot to
Speaker 2: take in every day. It's not necessarily the most physical
Speaker 2: or the most violent or and intense, but there's a
Speaker 2: lot going on.
Speaker 3: There's a lot going on, and it's it's it is
Speaker 3: almost impossible to digest it all, like in real time.
Speaker 2: Oh, this is pretty cool. And he tweets us and
Speaker 2: she's it's a picture of a Cleveland Brown Stadium Huntington
Speaker 2: Bank Stadium. She says, I'm about to enter the belly
Speaker 2: of the beast for a good cause. Food Fighters show
Speaker 2: tonight in Cleveland. Okay, very nice, and he have fun.
Speaker 2: I was there at a Huntington Bank Stadium back in
Speaker 2: May for a Zach Bryant concert. Good concert venue there
Speaker 2: right on the right on the lake in Cleveland.
Speaker 3: I saw the food fighters when he had the broken leg.
Speaker 2: Okay he deave girl.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Dave Girl had a like this huge like throne
Speaker 3: built that he couldn't.
Speaker 2: Is this when you were with the Brown still or no?
Speaker 3: No, no, I was. It was a starlake Okay, But
Speaker 3: I did see the food fighters.
Speaker 4: Nice.
Speaker 2: I've actually never seen the food fighters and uh, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't mind it. Yeah, I wouldn't like go crazy out
Speaker 2: of my way to see the food fighters, but I
Speaker 2: would definitely like to see see them in cons Andie.
Speaker 2: Hopefully the weather holds out for you in Cleveland, and
Speaker 2: has been a little bit better there today, good point,
Speaker 2: And then it has been here in uh in Pennsylvania. Oh,
Speaker 2: let's see, we think we got time for one or
Speaker 2: two more here, Uh, Steelers Burner says, your guys. Thoughts
Speaker 2: on the running back bought battle. You know, Caleb Johnson
Speaker 2: often looks like he has got brick shoes on to me. Uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I am still kind of uh you know,
Speaker 2: looking for for an explosive back to emerge outside of
Speaker 2: Warren With Rico, I don't think the you know, the
Speaker 2: contrast matters as much between him and Warren. So who
Speaker 2: do you feel like is the last one on the roster?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 2: He's saying he likes Eli hiden Reich. That's just that's
Speaker 2: an interesting one though, because it's gonna be tough for
Speaker 2: Eli at running back.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm also starting to think it might be tough for
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson, man, I know, because I do think Travis
Speaker 2: hom Travis Homer is the real kicker in this. And
Speaker 2: again you're kind of what you just laid out of.
Speaker 2: You could get the fifty three really quick.
Speaker 3: If you think for running backs it's real tough, especially
Speaker 3: the full back.
Speaker 2: I don't see how, and they are going to keep
Speaker 2: a full back it seems yeah, So I don't know
Speaker 2: how you could keep four running backs and four quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: Nowakowski's making the team, Rico and Warren are making the team.
Speaker 2: So I'd said that leaves one spot for Caleb or Homer,
Speaker 2: and Homer's the personal protector.
Speaker 3: That's such a giveaway.
Speaker 2: He's a special teams guy.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's your killer Brew, he's your you know,
Speaker 3: your most important non kicker punter on special teams as
Speaker 3: the personal protector, so he's probably gonna make the team.
Speaker 3: That doesn't mean it. No one else could possibly do
Speaker 3: it Caleb. But I think what's gonna be really important
Speaker 3: for Caleb is the three games. I mean, if you're
Speaker 3: not breaking tackles out here too, running back evaluations are
Speaker 3: pretty darn tough.
Speaker 2: Very tough, yeah, very tough. And there's been times where
Speaker 2: he's looked uh.
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah yeah. But the cement feet thing, I don't
Speaker 3: see a lot of that here.
Speaker 2: I I don't. I don't either.
Speaker 3: I saw some indecision as a rookie, but you know.
Speaker 2: Right, absolutely, But again, it's just running backs have been
Speaker 2: so hard to judge out here. Because they're they're not
Speaker 2: live tackling, and they're not protecting Steeler Nation. Nine to twenty. Well,
Speaker 2: here's a here's a good here's a good call back
Speaker 2: joke from our Freaks list earlier. Who was the freakiest
Speaker 2: athlete to come out of each of your colleges? Carlon Asselry,
Speaker 2: that's a good one for you.
Speaker 3: All right, that's the only one we got though a
Speaker 3: football team. I mean, all right, but he counts Yours
Speaker 3: might be Austin.
Speaker 2: Probably Tavon Austin. Yeah, I know it's from a long
Speaker 2: time ago, but but uh, Chuck Halley would be a
Speaker 2: tough one. It was a really five sport letterman and
Speaker 2: Super Bowl MVP and Jerry West Jerry West logo of
Speaker 2: the NBA. But if we're going recent days, I think
Speaker 2: it's I think it's definitely Tavon Austin. But that's a
Speaker 2: good question.
Speaker 3: I'm sure there's some sharpshooter that's pretty good at what
Speaker 3: they do. But oh, without a doubt, that depends how
Speaker 3: you define athletes exactly right.
Speaker 2: There's been a couple of gold medal riflests to come
Speaker 2: through Morgantown. But some people might that's like NASCAR, Matt like,
Speaker 2: is that it's it's it is. It certainly takes levels
Speaker 2: of athleticism and coordination and all that stuff. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: is shooting a gun really a sport? Is driving a
Speaker 2: car really a sport? I think it probably is, But
Speaker 2: I also think it's a discussion. Like I've done, it's
Speaker 2: more of a sport than playing poker, is right?
Speaker 3: I mean, like, does athleticism count for bowling? Or you've
Speaker 3: got to have hand eye corn. There's reasons someone's better than.
Speaker 2: Even with you know, even like NASCAR and Formula one.
Speaker 3: Of the F one four. I mean, they do so
Speaker 3: much off the field in terms of conditioning and their
Speaker 3: eyes and their reaction time. So I'm not discrediting at all,
Speaker 3: you know, but but it's.
Speaker 2: A different than football, basketball, baseball.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like the the tweet was who was the best
Speaker 3: athlete that came out of w if they had the
Speaker 3: best rifle shooter? Ever, I'm not sure I can give
Speaker 3: it to that person. If you're saying an athlete, if
Speaker 3: you've got like best, that such a different question.
Speaker 2: You've got some swimmer or some track person who's winning
Speaker 2: all championships. Absolutely, but that's that is I've always that's
Speaker 2: one of those like late night random.
Speaker 3: Laying on a hillside with a gun. I mean, I'm
Speaker 3: not sure that that's super athleticism.
Speaker 2: Definitely more. I used to laugh though, like what people
Speaker 2: would say, like poker is a sport. I'd be like,
Speaker 2: get out of here. That ain't a sport. I ain't
Speaker 2: a sport at all. But certainly rifle and NASCAR and
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: Oh, they're a sport. I mean they're competitive. Yeah, they're
Speaker 3: just in terms of athleticisms too big a term.
Speaker 2: To very wide spanning term. Certainly talk to little special
Speaker 2: teams in some of those things. With Travis Homer and
Speaker 2: some others on the show. Today, we'll hear from special
Speaker 2: Teams coordinator Danny Crossman. He spoke for the first time
Speaker 2: during camp earlier. Maybe we'll continue to get to some
Speaker 2: of your tweets. Continue to keep you post on all
Speaker 2: the moving and shaking here on campus as we roll
Speaker 2: along in this bonus hour, West Shuler, Matt Williamson. It
Speaker 2: is the Drive High a top Chuck Nolefield on the
Speaker 2: campus of Saint Vincent College. All part of our ongoing
Speaker 2: training camp coverage Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 2: Rolling along here in the bonus hour of the drive,
Speaker 2: as we're getting closer to the conclusion of today's coverage, Matt,
Speaker 2: a lot of UH with the off day yesterday, a
Speaker 2: lot more kind of audio and UH and coordinator speaking
Speaker 2: of things like that. As we're getting to the end,
Speaker 2: it is and you know, again, Matt and I have
Speaker 2: we've laid it out, are kind of honest feelings. Sometimes
Speaker 2: some audio can get a little redundant, but I think
Speaker 2: when it's all new coaching staff, new offensive coordinator, new
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator, new head coach, and new special teams coach
Speaker 2: Danny Crossman. Matt, we always want to take a listen.
Speaker 2: We go from Danny Smith to Danny Crossman. Maybe that's
Speaker 2: a new bylaw in the Steelers organization right here. First
Speaker 2: name has to be Danny if you're going to be
Speaker 2: the special teams coach. But it's certainly been a different
Speaker 2: training camp from that perspective, but a lot of familiar names.
Speaker 2: Chris Boswell at the forefront of them with that special
Speaker 2: teams group. Danny Crossman, new special teams coordinator, speaking for
Speaker 2: the first time at training camp this team.
Speaker 6: In the past several years under the previous special teams coordinator,
Speaker 6: I've watched a lot of kicks and punts from on
Speaker 6: the top of the NFL. Is that something that you
Speaker 6: specialize in as well as far as something that you
Speaker 6: want to recreate and how do you go about creating
Speaker 6: more moments where you're he your.
Speaker 4: Unit can can do that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean we look at the numbers. Yeah, we've
Speaker 5: had a pretty good history of blocking kicks and getting
Speaker 5: some scores out of them and setting up good field positions.
Speaker 5: So that's always going to be part of the plan.
Speaker 5: But again it's a week two week and opposition, base
Speaker 5: protection personnel, and then situation of the game. I've gone
Speaker 5: into games with what you think are is a great
Speaker 5: plan in the return game and you don't get any
Speaker 5: ops to work the return game where you have some
Speaker 5: blocks that you really like, but the situations really never occur.
Speaker 5: So we'll have stuff in and you know, we'll be
Speaker 5: aggressive when we can, we'll be smart when we need
Speaker 5: to be, and try to make plays for the stillers
Speaker 5: to end up with a dub. It's all anybody cares about.
Speaker 7: I know that we're not supposed to take put much
Speaker 7: stock in the first stepth chart that came out that
Speaker 7: Katie Leegen was listed as the starting returners.
Speaker 6: What have you liked about him so far in camp?
Speaker 2: Just getting into that role.
Speaker 5: A lot, a lot of the same things that we
Speaker 5: celid tape. You know, good decision maker, it's got good
Speaker 5: bursts and got very good visions. So you know it's
Speaker 5: we're still, you know, in my opinion, very early in
Speaker 5: this race, but we've been very happy with what we've
Speaker 5: seen from him so far.
Speaker 6: With Kate for a minute, I mean he was very
Speaker 6: productive at the college level.
Speaker 4: Kickoff is a.
Speaker 6: Little bit different, the punts a little bit different at
Speaker 6: this level. Where do those changes show up and what's
Speaker 6: going to be important for him to adapt to some
Speaker 6: of the differences within there.
Speaker 5: Again, there's a very different game, but a lot of
Speaker 5: the skill sets are going to translate, you know, so
Speaker 5: making good decisions, catching the football and getting vertical in
Speaker 5: both phases, just like you did at the University of Iowa,
Speaker 5: those same traits continue. We feel very good about him
Speaker 5: having some success at this league. May not happen right away,
Speaker 5: you know, obviously we hope it does, but you know,
Speaker 5: we're very early in the process and we're very fortunate
Speaker 5: to have him and we think he's going to be
Speaker 5: a good player for us.
Speaker 8: When you look at his I would say a lot
Speaker 8: of broken tackles just in really short areas that look
Speaker 8: like it's.
Speaker 2: Tough to get out of, but he gets out of.
Speaker 8: What traits do you think Kateen has that allows him
Speaker 8: to be such a great tax breaker breakout of those losers?
Speaker 5: Well, they said, if number one is vision number two,
Speaker 5: you know, all the great ones that have the ability
Speaker 5: to make people miss in a short area which is
Speaker 5: what this is all about. So you know, he's show
Speaker 5: you showing that in the past at the collegiate level.
Speaker 5: Obviously we believe that that will translate to our level.
Speaker 5: But all the really good players can make people miss
Speaker 5: and or run through arm tackles. You know, you can't
Speaker 5: be brought down by arm tackles. If you are, it's
Speaker 5: gonna be hard because there's gonna be people, you know,
Speaker 5: in the vicinity that's the National Football League. There's great
Speaker 5: players on every club. So but we feel very good
Speaker 5: about where and what direction this is gone with Caden
Speaker 5: and some of the other returners.
Speaker 2: When you play off the draft board.
Speaker 4: On drafting, I mean you're like, wow, I got this
Speaker 4: kid to work with.
Speaker 2: What was your reaction to?
Speaker 5: How much maybe input did you have it as well?
Speaker 5: Obviously you know I voiced my opinion in terms of
Speaker 5: rankings and players that we like. But that's with you know,
Speaker 5: every position. You know we're going to coach the daylights
Speaker 5: out of whoever they give us. Obviously, you know you're
Speaker 5: excited to get a good player, but I mean believe
Speaker 5: I mean, that doesn't last more than a second and
Speaker 5: then you're just tracking what's happening. Next, what's the next
Speaker 5: thing available? I mean, as soon as it happens, it's done,
Speaker 5: it's history. Let's move forward. But it gives you a
Speaker 5: piece to start planning around with the idea of what
Speaker 5: you may have.
Speaker 8: Danny the death of running back with like Caleb and
Speaker 8: Travis and Euli.
Speaker 4: You know, those guys. You know, in order to make
Speaker 4: the roster are going to have to be able to
Speaker 4: contribute on special teams.
Speaker 7: But imagine, so where do you see from those three guys,
Speaker 7: the roles that they're playing and how they're contributing so far.
Speaker 5: Well, I wouldn't even say three, I'd say four with
Speaker 5: you know, with with Lou Nichols. Well, it's a very
Speaker 5: good group. I mean it's a very good group. And
Speaker 5: I'm not going to speak for the offense, but a
Speaker 5: lot of versatility in that room, a lot of very
Speaker 5: good football players, a lot of intelligent football players. You know,
Speaker 5: we like that whole group. Each of them brings something different.
Speaker 5: You know, some of them are more working with return
Speaker 5: in the kickoff from punt return phase, and you know,
Speaker 5: and obviously all of them working in the coverage phase,
Speaker 5: but some other guys working in the in the block,
Speaker 5: in the front line. So it's a very good room
Speaker 5: to work with. As far as a Special Teams coach,
Speaker 5: Dandy Mike Toman once described Chris Boswell as a serial killer.
Speaker 5: What if when you talk about that in the spring,
Speaker 5: that's that's somebody else. I don't honest that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you continue to get to know him.
Speaker 2: What's impressed you about his day to day work?
Speaker 5: Ethnic He is an outstanding kicker. He knows his body,
Speaker 5: he knows what work he needs to get done. He
Speaker 5: is a true professional, and you know so very glad
Speaker 5: that he is our kicker.
Speaker 4: You got a number of young players that looked like
Speaker 4: they had the potential to be sort of core special
Speaker 4: teams guys, Guys like Riley Eli, Priver, Spiars, Jennings. Have
Speaker 4: you seen the rookies who are coming in, maybe for
Speaker 4: the first time, into that role taking to special teams work.
Speaker 5: So far, it's really good class, I mean, and what
Speaker 5: really helps the young players is some of the veteran players.
Speaker 5: We got pretty good veteran leadership in terms of in
Speaker 5: my meetings with some of the some of the older
Speaker 5: players who are who are helping those guys alone. But
Speaker 5: it's a very good class. They're very willing. They're anxious.
Speaker 5: Uh they understand that, you know, roles need to be claimed. Uh,
Speaker 5: so they are. They are working very hard along with
Speaker 5: you know, all the veteran guys too, but very happy
Speaker 5: with the rookie class. What's going to happen over the
Speaker 5: next four weeks will determine a lot in terms of
Speaker 5: what's going to happen on the field. But i mean
Speaker 5: until we start playing games, you know, it's it's still
Speaker 5: a lot of decisions are are truly unknown. I mean,
Speaker 5: we've got to be able to do it on the field.
Speaker 5: The rest of it's you know, in my opinion, really
Speaker 5: it's it's important. It's what we have. But you know,
Speaker 5: the relevancy is going to come when we play games.
Speaker 2: Ben was a Pro Bowl or for special teams.
Speaker 6: Has he's been one of those veterans helping out some
Speaker 6: of the younger guys in those rooms.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he has. You know, when you look at Ben
Speaker 5: and you look at Travis Homer and you look at Koholk,
Speaker 5: I mean, you look at Carson Bruin or I mean,
Speaker 5: we really have a good group that's that's been here.
Speaker 5: And then even you bring in guys like Robert Tanyan
Speaker 5: and guys that have our vet players, but understand what
Speaker 5: it takes to play in the National Football League. If
Speaker 5: you are not that number one guy at your position,
Speaker 5: you know, you better buy in and you better buy
Speaker 5: in quick. That's how you're going to help the club.
Speaker 7: What are traits or things that you're really going to
Speaker 7: focus on from this tape that you'll have after Thursday.
Speaker 5: Well, I think the biggest thing is it is truly
Speaker 5: full speed contact. You know, this is a collision contact sport.
Speaker 5: And I say you know collision first, because there is
Speaker 5: a lot of contact sports. I mean you watch the NBA,
Speaker 5: you watch it. I mean those are I mean those
Speaker 5: are contact sports also. But the collision aspect of the
Speaker 5: National Football League and big spaces, tight spaces, those are
Speaker 5: the things that are going to show up and those
Speaker 5: are the most important things that we'll be looking for.
Speaker 8: Danny, I want to specifically ask about Caleb Johnson when
Speaker 8: you talked about.
Speaker 3: The running back groove.
Speaker 8: You know a lot of those guys had special things backgrounds,
Speaker 8: Kleb's kind of learning special teams. How have you seen
Speaker 8: him embrace that new challenge and try to learn some
Speaker 8: of those roles on the special teams? When he hasn't
Speaker 8: played in the past.
Speaker 5: I mean he's been great. You know, he's very attendant
Speaker 5: at every meeting. You know, he's getting a lot of
Speaker 5: reps from the practice field. I mean he understands, you know,
Speaker 5: the situation and how things work in the National Football
Speaker 5: League with a couple of very good running backs that
Speaker 5: you know will predominantly be the running back. So I've
Speaker 5: been very happy with Caleb and you know, I think
Speaker 5: he's a very good football player and anxious to see
Speaker 5: what he does on Thursday, Friday, Thursday Day.
Speaker 4: With Cam Johnston don't with a serious injuries a couple
Speaker 4: of years ago, Do you guys feel that he's totally
Speaker 4: past that now and how's he performed for you so far?
Speaker 4: We do.
Speaker 5: He's had no issues, no setbacks, so we feel very
Speaker 5: good about where he is from the injury standpoint, and
Speaker 5: then we feel like he's had a very good start
Speaker 5: to training camp, which stacks on top of what we
Speaker 5: thought was a very good Spring. So very happy with
Speaker 5: where he is and anxious to see what the next
Speaker 5: couple of weeks spring.
Speaker 7: When it comes to the gunners, what kind of attributes
Speaker 7: are you looking for there and who are some of
Speaker 7: the guys that have own early that they could thrive
Speaker 7: within that role.
Speaker 5: I mean that's especially when you start talking about getting vice.
Speaker 5: That's one of the hardest things in the National Football League,
Speaker 5: you know. So number one, you have to have a plan,
Speaker 5: and then that plan, as Mike Tyson said, goes out
Speaker 5: the window and you get punched in the face. So
Speaker 5: you have to have a plan, but then you need
Speaker 5: the attribute. You need to be explosive, you need to
Speaker 5: have great change of direction, you need to have great hands,
Speaker 5: you need to be able to close and what we
Speaker 5: refer to as stacking players, so you'd be able to
Speaker 5: get behind the corner of safety and type position and
Speaker 5: know there's somebody else coming. So it is a very
Speaker 5: difficult thing to do. But we feel like between some
Speaker 5: of the older players Ben eccheles and then some of
Speaker 5: the new players and the young players, we have some
Speaker 5: guys that you know will show that they can be
Speaker 5: successful in that role.
Speaker 8: And when we talk about personal protector on the pump protection,
Speaker 8: you'll think about this as like the quarterback of that unity,
Speaker 8: how much is on their plate pre snap and why did.
Speaker 2: You trust Travis Holmer.
Speaker 5: Can kind of take that rule start well? You know,
Speaker 5: Number one, you're dealing with a player who's done it
Speaker 5: for several years in the National Football League. But along
Speaker 5: with Travis, some of the young players you know, have
Speaker 5: gravitated to understanding that is the role. I mean, you
Speaker 5: are the signal caller, you are the communicator. You got
Speaker 5: to own that operation. Everyone's going to respond off of you,
Speaker 5: even if you're wrong. If we're all doing the wrong thing,
Speaker 5: but we're doing it right, you know we're going to
Speaker 5: have a chance to be successful. But you've got to
Speaker 5: be a quick decision maker and make sure everybody's on
Speaker 5: the same page of what and how you see it.
Speaker 5: So the vision and the spending the time with the
Speaker 5: tape and with myself to make sure we're really doing
Speaker 5: a good job of understanding. We feel like we've got
Speaker 5: a good room and Travis is a great leader in
Speaker 5: that room. Appreciate you.
Speaker 2: That's Danny Crossman, special teams coach, special teams coordinator for
Speaker 2: your Pittsburgh Steelers and Matt I tell you what it's
Speaker 2: been different the emphasis on special teams here in this camp.
Speaker 3: Yeah, same time, I think the judge.
Speaker 2: But yeah, what's what's been weird is not even weird,
Speaker 2: but I think the difference that I've noticed is they're
Speaker 2: still doing the special teams periods. Maybe not. It felt
Speaker 2: like there used to be two in every Mike Tomlin
Speaker 2: practice and they and they'd be like ten to twelve
Speaker 2: minutes a piece. Right now it's there's one, and it's
Speaker 2: about that same ten to twelve minutes. But instead of
Speaker 2: in the past where all the offense and the defense
Speaker 2: kind of use that as a break time and get
Speaker 2: their drinks and talk to their coaches. Now while Chris
Speaker 2: Boswell's kicking field goals or Cam Johnson's punting, the offense
Speaker 2: and the defense are over on other fields getting working
Speaker 2: still too.
Speaker 3: So it's maybe that's why I feel like it's less
Speaker 3: because I'm watching other things.
Speaker 2: While that really grabbed me the other day, I meant
Speaker 2: to bring to bring that up to you. Of like
Speaker 2: in Mike Tomlin and Danny Smith era, when special teams
Speaker 2: period was going, special teams period was going and that
Speaker 2: was it. Now they're still having special teams, but there's
Speaker 2: still the offense and the defense doing their thing as well.
Speaker 2: But I will be happy to report, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: everyone will be happy to listen to. Chris Boswell is
Speaker 2: still doing his thing, drilled about a six fine, drilled
Speaker 2: about a sixty yarder out here earlier today in some
Speaker 2: of the portion of practice that we did get to see, Matt.
Speaker 2: One more segment to go on the other side. We'll
Speaker 2: close down the day's proceedings with some final thoughts. We'll
Speaker 2: hear some comments from the head coach, Mike McCarthy cross
Speaker 2: somet's dot some eyes before we get out of here
Speaker 2: on this Monday evening West ruler Matt Williamson. It is
Speaker 2: the drive all part of our ongoing training camp coverage
Speaker 2: Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 2: Final segment of the drive here on this Monday, as
Speaker 2: we get ready for hopefully a dryer, cleaner, more full
Speaker 2: practice tomorrow on Tuesday from the Steelers. Tomorrow will be
Speaker 2: our last day on campus here until the weekend is
Speaker 2: we'll have Wednesday off, then preseason game on Thursday, then
Speaker 2: Friday off, and of course the final stretch of practices Saturday,
Speaker 2: Sunday and Monday here at Saint Vincent College for this
Speaker 2: public portion of Steelers training camp. Public portion, right, Matt,
Speaker 2: because as Arthur Mos, as Arthur Mots would always tell us,
Speaker 2: trading camp isn't over just because you leave Saint Vincent.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it has gone quick though. I'm going to open
Speaker 3: the show talking about that. That the way the schedule
Speaker 3: this year hasn't been like a long stretch you know
Speaker 3: where it kind of feels like you're in the desert.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, exactly right, exactly right. And of course that's
Speaker 2: will continue to keep an eye on all the differences
Speaker 2: this year and new methods applied by Mike McCarthy and
Speaker 2: his coaching staff kind of heading into this important stretch
Speaker 2: of a couple of practices before your first preseason game.
Speaker 2: Here's what the head coach had to say.
Speaker 4: Last year from what he played, What have you seen
Speaker 4: from him in his first two weeks? Did maybe see
Speaker 4: in those three understands last year? I'd say Dylan has
Speaker 4: been consistent. Number one. I think clearly I really followed
Speaker 4: him in the past. Protection first, you know, and which
Speaker 4: which is a good thing, you know, because to be
Speaker 4: able to do that early in camp, you know, without
Speaker 4: the pads, you know, so I was impressed with that.
Speaker 4: And you know, just like the rest of the guys,
Speaker 4: I think they're starting to get their pads underneath them,
Speaker 4: you know, getting the padd level down. You know, really
Speaker 4: we need to get a paddlel down as the whole front.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I think he's having a nice camp with
Speaker 4: three year top defenders not practicing and said, when you
Speaker 4: did anything new, is it is that much of a
Speaker 4: setback or no? Uh, I mean I wouldn't say it's
Speaker 4: a setback because you know, they're they're still in the room.
Speaker 4: You know, they're still part of the communication. And you know,
Speaker 4: I think, just like anything, you know, we need everybody
Speaker 4: and and this is actually a very healthy, normal exercise
Speaker 4: when when younger players get opportunities. So, I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: when you have veterans that are going through injuries, it's
Speaker 4: important to get them to get them back. You know,
Speaker 4: obviously they have there's history there, you know, but they
Speaker 4: are part of the meetings and the communication and so forth.
Speaker 4: So I just think it's it's really a good opportunity
Speaker 4: for the younger players.
Speaker 5: In particularly taken advantage of that opportune Oh.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think all the young guys. I mean it's
Speaker 4: I mean, going through last night and I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm I'm a little bit focusing on the pre snept
Speaker 4: right now because we're not We're not where we need
Speaker 4: to be, you know there. But yeah, I think you know,
Speaker 4: you know, with the injuries in the practice Saturday night,
Speaker 4: I thought Jeremy he really stepped up with his extra
Speaker 4: his extra reps, you know, in the receiver room. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't, I don't have anybody specific. I'm
Speaker 4: not good other things we're focus on a right now.
Speaker 5: Mike is not today.
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, Maxwell will not be He won't be out
Speaker 4: there today.
Speaker 5: Do you have a timeline as far as what we
Speaker 5: might be about.
Speaker 6: No, I don't, sorry, Mike, what's different for you guys
Speaker 6: this week as you're preparing.
Speaker 4: For the well today is installed recall seven, So we
Speaker 4: have one more installed today. So we have a lot
Speaker 4: of going in as far as you know, this is
Speaker 4: our last third down installation. Uh, we're gonna work backed up.
Speaker 4: So we'll have a segment where we you know, have
Speaker 4: a competitive backed up situation. We have three series of that,
Speaker 4: So just trying to make sure we're hitting you know,
Speaker 4: all the situations, highlighting them, you know, get reviewing them
Speaker 4: into in the in the team meetings and you know,
Speaker 4: the meeting part of it. And we'll hit that again today.
Speaker 4: So and then we'll we'll shift gears tomor and start
Speaker 4: trying to focus on you know, who's gonna play and
Speaker 4: how we're gonna play, and you know what we want
Speaker 4: to do against Green Bay. Wait, when you're having a
Speaker 4: lot of turnovers in practice, can you say you good
Speaker 4: for the defense? Are you mad at the offense? Or sometimes?
Speaker 4: Does it depend? I think that's the beauty of being
Speaker 4: the head coach. You get to you get to answer
Speaker 4: those questions, you know, standing on the fence. But uh,
Speaker 4: you know, you know Obviously, as as an offensive player
Speaker 4: or coach, you don't want to have giveaways like that.
Speaker 4: And I think the biggest thing that I look for is,
Speaker 4: you know, how did the giveaway or takeaway happen? You know,
Speaker 4: someone there self inflicted giveaways. That's it, you know, that's
Speaker 4: you know, and that's we're not looking for that. But
Speaker 4: when the defensive guys make a tremendous player, you know,
Speaker 4: and they're definitely taking the ball away, you know, there's
Speaker 4: a difference between a giveaway and a takeaway. So you know,
Speaker 4: that's that's the way we break them down. That's how
Speaker 4: we calculated, and that's how we present it to the
Speaker 4: to the team.
Speaker 2: When we talked to you back in the spring, you talked.
Speaker 6: One thing you said that you're excited about this roster
Speaker 6: was the first guys off of us to be the
Speaker 6: big guys on on your team.
Speaker 4: Gabriel Rubio seems to.
Speaker 6: Be getting getting in a lot of work and doing well.
Speaker 6: What have you seen from him as a rookie like
Speaker 6: late round pick who's been able to rest plenty.
Speaker 4: Well, I think the biggest thing, you know, down in
Speaker 4: the trenches, you know, for all the guys when they
Speaker 4: first get in there, and and you could throw Max
Speaker 4: in the in the same categories. You know, do they belong?
Speaker 4: You know, can they and you know they jump out
Speaker 4: there in their first one on one, their first you know,
Speaker 4: inside run type situation and so forth, And Gabriel's definitely
Speaker 4: that guy. So I think he definitely belongs. And but
Speaker 4: he's young. You know, he's young, but he's got great
Speaker 4: bitter presence around him.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: I think the you know, the one thing we're trying
Speaker 4: to focus on is get more reps for those guys.
Speaker 4: You'll see us walk the field after practice is over
Speaker 4: with the with the younger players and just doing focus
Speaker 4: more in two minutes and so forth. But but he
Speaker 4: definitely belongs.
Speaker 7: Mike, what's been your history keeping nine or ten offensive
Speaker 7: linemen and when you keep what are the reasons that you.
Speaker 4: Want to keep the extra guns? Well, I think the roster,
Speaker 4: the overall roster, you know, answers that question. You know,
Speaker 4: it's you know, I I I I'm really focused on
Speaker 4: since you know, sixty eight players, you know, we need
Speaker 4: to come out of here. You know, it's a it's
Speaker 4: a it's a good ninety man roster. I'm I'm really
Speaker 4: focused on you know, who are those sixty eight players
Speaker 4: and you know see those there's decisions and you know
Speaker 4: projection that comes, you know, down to that there at
Speaker 4: the end. So but I I think we definitely can
Speaker 4: make a case for at least ten making our team.
Speaker 7: Might could have been a while since Broderick had played,
Speaker 7: however you set him to progress, especially with the pads.
Speaker 4: I thought Roderick picked it up the last two the
Speaker 4: last two practices, you know, I I think you know,
Speaker 4: obviously at the opportunities, you know, the reps available with
Speaker 4: Max naw practicing. You know, we had a conversation about
Speaker 4: his ability to play both left and right. You know,
Speaker 4: you know, but you could remember he's coming back from
Speaker 4: a significant injury. You know, he's he's not one hundred
Speaker 4: percent back, and then you know, so, but I I
Speaker 4: thought he definitely picked it up the last two practices.
Speaker 7: When it comes to the quarterbacks, especially the two young guys,
Speaker 7: I mean, is there a way to kind of gauge
Speaker 7: or stimulate or evaluate their playmaking sack avoidance in a
Speaker 7: practice setting or do you kind of just have to
Speaker 7: wait for I mean two.
Speaker 4: Point yes, I mean two point I mean we that's
Speaker 4: why we do the drills that we do and then
Speaker 4: and and it's how we practice in team periods. You know,
Speaker 4: there's when a when a when a defender rushes the
Speaker 4: passer and wins the pass rush, you know, and he
Speaker 4: gets the sack he's taught to you know, run by it,
Speaker 4: you know, and and he's credited with a sack when
Speaker 4: we grade to take but you know, there's still twenty
Speaker 4: one other guys working. So you know, you'll have eight
Speaker 4: times a game where the quarterbacks are gonna have to
Speaker 4: slide his feet, scramble and make a play. So we
Speaker 4: try to simulate that the best we can in practices.
Speaker 4: So that's why you'll see the scrambles and extended plays
Speaker 4: in the team periods. And and those are important reps.
Speaker 5: Like both uh.
Speaker 4: Peco and Jory. I've played in this league a long time.
Speaker 2: How have you seen their coach and translating the message
Speaker 2: into the players and what does that mean to them?
Speaker 4: It's fun to watch, you know, both those their outstanding
Speaker 4: men number one. I mean it's obviously their playing career
Speaker 4: speaks for themselves. I mean it's you know, you're talking
Speaker 4: about two Hall of Fame caliber UH type careers. But
Speaker 4: they're just high quality men. They're great examples for our players. Uh,
Speaker 4: and I just really enjoy watching them work the one
Speaker 4: on one relationships. You know, their voice in you know,
Speaker 4: and their voice will in how they handle the room.
Speaker 4: And you know they'll fund the voice more in the
Speaker 4: in the commanding, demanding way as they grow as coaches.
Speaker 4: But they have done it, I thought, I think an
Speaker 4: excellent job, particularly in the one on one opportunities.
Speaker 7: Last year, Will Howard talked a lot about how Aaron
Speaker 7: was such a will ding toward to him.
Speaker 3: Now that you've had a chance to be around.
Speaker 8: This, just what stands out about the way that Aaron
Speaker 8: has worked with these two young quarterbacks.
Speaker 4: You know, Aaron always has done that which which I
Speaker 4: have a lot of respect for, and I think it's
Speaker 4: an important component of your quarterback room, the dynamics of
Speaker 4: the quarterback room and developing everybody, the coaches included, and
Speaker 4: and you know, keeping the accountability you know, throughout that process.
Speaker 4: But it's at a different level now. I mean, he's uh,
Speaker 4: you know, he he he shares constantly, he's you know,
Speaker 4: I think he's very reflective and obviously as you make
Speaker 4: tweaks because it's it's not really about the plays we
Speaker 4: decide to run. It's it's it's it's really down into
Speaker 4: them in the specific of every single one. So you know,
Speaker 4: and because you got you have an offense that's you know,
Speaker 4: there's some things from the past you like to grow
Speaker 4: with the guys that have been here. You know, obviously
Speaker 4: we've always built a court in my time, built the
Speaker 4: offense around making the quarterback successful. So you know, his
Speaker 4: input is is very important important, But really you know,
Speaker 4: Taylor and down it's in triming and get the little things,
Speaker 4: the details, and you know, he's he has tremendous history
Speaker 4: in these concepts. You know how they were defended fifteen,
Speaker 4: twenty years ago and how they're being defended now. So it's, uh,
Speaker 4: it's it's a fun. It's a lot of fun to
Speaker 4: be in that quarterback room.
Speaker 2: That's Mike McCarthy and that will do it for us
Speaker 2: on this edition of The Drive, Matt A little bit
Speaker 2: different of a day today, a little weird why we
Speaker 2: had to pull some content from out of the ether.
Speaker 2: But hopefully tomorrow's practice, mother nature won't get in the
Speaker 2: way and we can really get some good work in
Speaker 2: before a little time off here in that first preseason game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I haven't checked the weather, but I'm hoping that's
Speaker 3: something we can get a real good look at it.
Speaker 3: I feel like it's been a while. Yeah, good stuff.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, it sure was. Thanks to our guy Justin Miller
Speaker 2: for producing back at the ranch as always, for Matt Williamson,
Speaker 2: I'm with Shuler. Take care everybody, and we'll talk to
Speaker 2: you tomorrow. As always, you know where to find us.
Speaker 2: It's on your twenty four to seven home of the
Speaker 2: Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.