LATROBE, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Steelers took the field for their first padded practice on Monday, and it had a different vibe than those padded practices under Mike Tomlin. McCarthy’s padded practice had a more laid back vibe than Tomlin’s ever did.
McCarthy even admitted the practice was a little bit ‘sloppy’ rather than crisp. The rhythm for the offense failed to come until later in practice, and even then, there were multiple miscommunications.
“Today is ramp-up, today and tomorrow will be limited time on the field, but definitely a chance to get into the pads, get the padded individual work, special teams work. A little bit of combination, then we’ll stay with the team periods that we’ve been working,” McCarthy said of the first day.
The Steelers will likely have a similar practice on Tuesday before quieting it all down on Wednesday. However, with a full week of practice and no off day until Sunday, the Steelers should expect to have a branded practice full of physicality.
The rookie shows up — Rookie offensive tackle Max Iheanachor came out with something to prove as the ‘raw’ tag has been thrown on him, but he made a case he is more ready to play than people believe on Monday.
Iheanachor’s footwork stood out in a big way. Alex Highsmith tried to beat the rookie by juking him out to the inside, but the swift feet of the Arizona State product mirrored Highsmith perfectly and stonewalled him.
It is the free-flowing play style that allowed Iheanachor to step up and make the plays like the one he did against Highsmith.
“Just be myself. Go out there confident. Know your rushers. Know their main moves,” he said. “Just go out there and play fast. Don’t overthink whoever is in front of you. Different people lined up. Just play fast.”
Iheanachor was not perfect. T.J. Watt saw Iheanachor’s hands get wide and bull rushed right through the rookie’s chest. That is a welcome to the NFL moment, but Iheanachor stumped second-year pass rusher Jack Sawyer twice in a row following that.
Iheanachor’s hands need work, but the feet are so patient and fluid it makes a lot of sense that he would have a higher floor in pass protection right away.
OL-DL One-on-One Notes — The offensive line and defensive line one-on-ones were by far the story of the day. Sure, there were a few spirited team drills, but these had the guys in the trenches going at it in a way that was just like a physical Tomlin practice.
Keeanu Benton won from just about everywhere the Steelers put him on the day. He played nose tackle, 3-technique, and 1-technique but wreaked havoc anyways. It was hard for most of the interior offensive line to block him, though Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick each had their back and forth reps with the fourth-year man out of Wisconsin.
McCormick and Frazier might have outright been the best two players of the entire session. Frazier stunned Yahya Black and even Cam Heyward twice. Meanwhile, McCormick pulled out a slow down a Derrick Harmon bull rush to open his frame. No one looked better from a year ago than McCormick.
All four top edge rushers moved around, but T.J. Watt was especially active in moving around. He pulled off a sweet spin move against Troy Fautanu on the right side and even got a rep against Spencer Anderson over the middle. Nick Herbig was the most efficient of the edge rushers with two clean wins on speed rushes.
A surprise standout from the drills was Brock Hoffman. Hoffman is still in the running for a starting spot, but he at the very least showcased why the Steelers can easily trust him to be a plug-and-play swing man on the interior. He handled power incredibly well and was even able to stave off Herbig’s quickness from the interior.
Other Notes:
— The quarterback battle continues to be rather topsy-turvy. Will Howard threw an interception to Doneiko Slaughter, but had some impressive throws in rhythm in the two minute drill. Ultimately, however, both two-minute drills fell short. Aaron Rodgers and Rico Dowdle had a miscommunication near the end zone that ended in a Patrick Queen interception. Howard failed to finish his drive when Daylen Everette broke up a corner route for Brandon Smith.
— Defensive lineman Logan Lee did not practice. He was in his short, but did not don the pads, giving some more reps to Esezi Otomewo. Otomewo had at least two pass breakups and a few pressures.
— Gennings Dunker has yet to record a first team rep, instead working off to the side with the third team. Hoffman took a first team rep at right guard while Spencer Anderson gets most of those snaps.
— The aforementioned Doneiko Slaughter was impressive. He intercepted Howard, but also had a few very solid run fits from the slot.