LATROBE, Pa. – The Steelers didn't take the field until 3:55 p.m. on Sunday, in part as a response to their preseason opener being played less than 48 hours earlier. And as another response to their preseason opener, the script for the session reflected what happened during that 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans.
"Really an important day for us in the get-better (category) following a players' off day. We spent the morning analyzing our game tape from Friday and making necessary corrections and really plotting a course for this week so we can position ourselves to be better. We've got a lot of work ahead of us this week, but it's good to get back out here this afternoon for a corrections-like practice. I think it's always important at this stage of development that our physical labor matches our needs. Since we saw some things in the stadium that we didn't like, we catered a lot of the work that we did today to kind of address some of that. We'll continue to push forward through the week."
Keeping with the "physical labor matches our needs" theme, one of the early individual drills centered around catching punts. Calvin Austin III, Quez Watkins, John Rhys Plumlee, Scotty Miller, and Cam Sutton participated, with the exercise made a bit more difficult by having the guys field the punts while holding a tennis ball in each hand.
TOMLIN'S INJURY UPDATE
"Troy (Fautanu) got a knee sprain (during the preseason game), and he'll be out this week. I'll just kind of leave it at that. We're really optimistic about a quick return from him, but we'll take it day by day. WR Tariq Black had a hamstring today and wasn't able to finish; CB Kalon Barnes had a quad today and wasn't able to finish. We minimized some guys today, like we do in the process to give them some rest, but more importantly than that, it's to provide opportunity and elevated opportunities for others. We lessened the workload of some of the top cornerbacks in the effort to see some of the other ones – Darius Rush for example, Cory Trice for another example, but that's just part of the process."
With Fautanu not practicing, the No. 2 offensive line was aligned as follows: (left to right) Dylan Cook, Mason McCormick, Zach Fraser, Ryan McCollum, and Spencer Anderson. The No. 1 offensive line continued to be aligned as follows: (left to right) Dan Moore Jr., Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig, James Daniels, and Broderick Jones.
When Tomlin was asked about Fautanu's performance during the preseason opener prior to the injury, he said, "He was doing really well. Obviously, we wanted to get him a lot of work, because that's where he is in development. But I like the general trajectory of it."
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
• Quez Watkins made a few nice plays at receiver during the practice, including a diving catch deep down the left sideline on a pass thrown by Justin Fields. Watkins also made a tough catch at the goal line for a touchdown during the first repetition of the 2-minute period. "He needed a day today," said Tomlin.
• Another receiver who stood out at times was Scotty Miller, with a catch for the offense's only touchdown during 7-Shots, and a 21-yard catch during the second repetition of the 2-minute period.
Sunday's practice was in helmets only. Monday's practice is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and is expected to be in pads.
