LATROBE, Pa. - Cloudy skies and rain drops early gave way to a fall like day at Saint Vincent College and the work on the field was as crisp as the air.

"A good afternoon of work for us today," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "I like the energy that the group came back out with. It's important that we move on from our last performance and prepare for the next one.

"It's a big improvement week for us individually and collectively. I thought it was a good start in that regard today."

The Steelers will spent the remainder of the week preparing for preseason game two, against the Buffalo Bills at Heinz Field on Saturday night, and that means two practices against the Bills this week at Saint Vincent College.

"I just think we need to put these guys in as many challenging situations (and) uncomfortable situations as we can," said Tomlin of working against the Bills on Wednesday and Thursday in practice. "(We're) working against an unfamiliar opponent and unfamiliar scheme in a lot of instances in a practice setting, and I just think that raises the level of urgency. We'll get an opportunity to learn more about these guys and that's what it's about. We want to put them in as many positions as we can to evaluate them and give them an opportunity to show what they are capable of."

While mandatory roster cuts don't take place until after the third preseason game, this week will be another big opportunity for some young players, as well as those on the 'bubble' to show what they are made of.

"If you're going to make a move it's going to happen," said Tomlin. "There are no new surprises, speed of the game, environmental things and so forth. If somebody's going to make a substantial move it's going to happen this week."

Practice highlights:

• In what has become a regular occurrence during training camp rookie Dri Archer pulled in a catch and broke it for a long gain, much to the pleasure of the fans.
• Receiver Markus Wheaton had two touchdown receptions during receiver/defensive back drills.
• No live tackling in practice today, but Will Allen laid a hit on running back LeGarrette Blount that knocked him to the ground.

Injury Update: Coach Tomlin on the injuries:

"We got some guys working themselves back into participation in different forms or fashion. (Ryan) Shazier worked today in a limited capacity. We had some guys that had some bumps and bruises from the game we wanted to take care of, nothing major (with) Matt Spaeth (and) Mike Mitchell. But again we expect those guys to be back out here tomorrow. Michael Palmer is dealing with an ankle injury. Justin Brown was limited today. He's got a little thumb injury.

"We'll monitor those guys, but overall from a health standpoint we're doing pretty good, and we need to because we need to put a good exclamation point on the remaining work here in Latrobe."

The Steelers will practice at Saint Vincent College on Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 2:55 p.m. They will hold joint practices with the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday, Aug. 13 (2:55 p.m.) and Thursday, Aug. 14 (5:30 p.m.), the final practice of camp.