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Head Coach Mike Tomlin**
Opening Statement:A spirited effort today. The featured drills of the day obviously were goal line and short yardage. Good work on the lines of scrimmage in those specific situations. Some bumps and bruises associated with it. Ramon Foster had some stingers. Jarvis Jones had a bicep contusion of some kind. Antwon Blake wasn't able to finish with a sore knee. We'll evaluate those guys. Hopefully they're short term. Some other guys have been working their way back. Josh Harris was out today with a shoulder injury. Shamarko Thomas was out with a shoulder injury. [Ryan] Shazier was out with a sore back. Mike Mitchell was out with a hamstring injury. Ross Ventrone, status quo. Markus Wheaton is out with a hamstring injury. Martavis Bryant had an infection in his elbow, [which] was fixed this morning. He's going to be out for a number of days to make sure that infection subsides. He should be back to us sooner rather than later, but it'll be a couple of days making sure that's behind him. Some of the PUP List guys are getting close. I anticipate Maurkice Pouncey working tomorrow. Obviously, we worked Will Allen today. We're short a little bit at safety, so we took the wrapper off of him and got some work in. But good work in general. I liked the energy and enthusiasm on both sides. A little ebb and flow. I thought the defense performed well, particularly in the beginning of the short yardage. I thought the offense dominated the goal line.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers welcomed the players' and coaches' families to Saint Vincent College to watch practice.
What can [Brandon] Boykin do for you, and did you like him coming out [of college]?**
We liked Boykin coming out, not only as a cornerback, but as a return man. He was established as a return man in his draft profile. He's a heck of a guy. He's a football guy. He's a guy that makes plays above the neck and also has some physical talent. He's just another NFL-capable veteran cornerback to put in the mix in a very competitive situation. We don't have a lot of experience and there are some questions at the position. We don't mind the lack of experience and the questions, but we need to have enough viable candidates. With Senquez [Golson] being out, we felt it was important to acquire another viable option to put in the mix and let those guys sort things out throughout the preseason.
What have you seen from Jawon Chisholm?
He's a hard working guy. He did some nice things in the rookie mini-camp. We had a short line at the position, so we like to pull from the pool of guys that we've had some exposure to.
Does the time Senquez has missed affect his ability to contribute?
It depends on the guy. As a young guy, we don't know a lot about him, so that's an element of it.
What have you seen from the guys at practice so far?
Everybody's competing, working hard and challenging each other. They are challenging the receivers. They are up against one of the best receivers in the league, so each day is a challenge for us. Those guys are really stepping up and getting better and better every day.
