Steelers @ Buccaneers Joint Practice + Preseason Week 2 Pregame Thoughts
On Thursday, the Steelers and Buccaneers got together in Pittsburgh for a joint practice ahead of their preseason week two matchup tomorrow evening. In these final days leading up to the regular season, I think these joint practices against unfamiliar faces are absolutely critical to team development, and I’m happy that the Steelers participate in them.
We shouldn’t spend too much time worrying about outcomes in a practice setting, but I suppose it’s worth noting that the Buccaneers “won” the practice by all accounts. The biggest talking point from this practice, at least in Tampa Bay, is the allegedly dominant performance by Mike Evans, who was being trailed by Jalen Ramsey most of the day. I say allegedly, because since this was a private practice, the media is not allowed to report on anything specific unless a coach or player does so first. All I’ve really got to go on that Ramsey got cooked is a reporter from the Tampa Bay Times, so do with that information what you will. Todd Bowles seemed pleased with the work that he got out of his receiving corps, and if that leaves a bad taste in our DB’s mouths, then let’s hope they wear that as a chip on their shoulder on September 7th. Before you panic: these were not live reps; the pass rush wasn’t allowed to touch Baker Mayfield. Everything’s ok.
As for our offense, the reports coming out from the joint practice are kinda what I expect in the regular season: inconsistency. On one hand, we won the ‘7 shots’ drill 6-1. For those that don’t know: ‘7 shots’ is seven attempts by the offense to convert a 4th and goal from the 2-yard line. That’s phenomenal goal-line work by Arthur Smith and the offense. But, we also went three-and-out in the two-minute drill, with a couple turnover-worthy plays by Aaron Rodgers. It’s tough to find anything concrete about the Steelers run game in this practice, which tells me it probably looked similar to last week’s preseason game @ JAX; subpar.
As for tomorrow’s game, Mike Tomlin says the Steelers are going to sit a significant number of starters again, citing Nick Herbig as the lone player that sat last week that could play this week. That means we will not see: Aaron Rodgers, T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, DK Metcalf, Alex Highsmith, Patrick Queen, Joey Porter Jr., DeShon Elliot, Isaac Seumalo, Jonnu Smith, or Jaylen Warren. Calvin Austin III also figures to sit this one out as he deals with a nagging abdominal injury.
With that in mind, everyone that starts has seen some preseason action already, so what I want to see last week versus this week isn’t too different. Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones have been trending in the right direction over the past two-or-so weeks, which has done wonders for my mental health, and I would be GEEKED if they could put together another clean operation tomorrow.
Kaleb Johnson has been quiet as a mouse lately, at least in my algorithm, and after a slow start last week, I think it’s reasonable to expect to see him look a little more comfortable this time around. He mentioned that the speed of the game got to him a bit after last week’s game @ JAX, and that’s why preseason does still matter, despite popular opinion. These reps he’s getting are going to be critical to his readiness on September 7th. I haven’t reached a point where I’m worried about him yet, but it would do my brain a lot of good to see him display that breakaway speed in tomorrow’s game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the pass rush has to do better this week. 0 sacks isn’t gonna cut it no matter how many of our defensive linemen aren’t dressing up. We spent a first-round pick on the trenches, and Derrick Harmon flashed last week, but I’d like to see him wreak a little havoc against the Bucs. The potential addition of Nick Herbig could certainly help him in that regard. Also, Jack Sawyer had an awesome training camp, and I loved his motor early in last week’s game, but I’d like to see him affect the game more than he did.
Beanie Bishop Jr. is another guy I’ll be keeping a close eye on during tomorrow’s broadcast. His name has become quite divisive among Steelers fans, but I still think he’s the team’s best bet to play NB in relief of Jalen Ramsey (assuming that’s how Ramsey is even utilized). Outside of the pick play from last week (which was an incompletion anyways), I thought he had a strong performance despite what many other fans think. He’s not guaranteed a spot on the 53-man roster, but I think he has extremely strong odds, especially if he tackles like he did last week.
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