Observations from Thursday's Pittsburgh Steelers Practice

Training camp officially began today with the traditional Hokey Pokey dance by none other than Chris Hoke during stretches.

The CBA had been ratified and Hoke, along with Ike Taylor, Willie Colon, Jonathan Scott, William Gay and 11 other recently signed veterans joined the rest of the Steelers for practice.

Pittsburgh pushed the start of practice back an hour from the usual 2:55 pm start time and then delayed it again to 4:30 pm to accommodate the veterans awaiting the CBA vote.

Now with the veterans in the place, the pieces to the 2011 Steelers became clearer. It also took many young players out of first and second team reps.

That did not mean that a few young players did not stand out. The Steelers have some definite eye openers from the drafted and undrafted ranks.

It was particularly important that they made an impact in the drills on this day as the Steelers used the practice for situational football.

Practice Focus

Pittsburgh spent a large portion of their practice on special teams with the focus being on kickoffs.

There were a number of players returning kicks including Baron Batch and Jonathan Dwyer.

Without hitting, no player stood out on returns.

Al Everest had his special teams unit perform drills for coverage as well as blocking techniques.

Offensively in the first 11-on-11 drills were primarily running plays with only two or three passes mixed in.

For the most part the defense dominated the line of scrimmage and held the offense to short gains.

Later they switched to third down football and worked exclusively out of the shotgun. This provided great action with quick passes along the sidelines and across the middle as well as a couple of deep shots.

The defense did get good rush at times but the offense was able to play on as the quarterback couldn't be touched.

The wide receiver screen continues to be a staple of Bruce Arians’ offense.

Veterans Return

There was a clear difference with the veterans back on the offensive line. Willie Colon looked quick when pulling to catch the outside rusher and overall had a solid first practice back.

Jonathan Scott held his own on the left side of the line but did have trouble a couple of times against the speed rush of Jason Worilds.

Doug Legursky stepped in at left guard for the injured Chris Kemoeatu.

The starting line gave Ben Roethlisberger time to throw in passing situations. It was encouraging.

Ike Taylor made an immediate difference on the defense as there is not a more physical cornerback on the team.

The defense had several plays with blanket coverage forcing the quarterback to dump it off and this was in part due to Taylor’s presence. He did get beat once by Wallace deep.

William Gay had a nice pass defense along the sideline when defending Wallace. He was initially beat on but recovered nicely to make the play. Then again, he did have the sideline as his friend.

Dennis Dixon Fourth String

Dennis Dixon returned to practice as the fourth string quarterback and could remain there.

Dixon did not impress in his limited snaps as he twice scrambled on plays specifically designed to throw the ball.

This continues a trend from last year when Dixon would rather run than make a play with his arm.

His only opportunity may be if the coaching staff likes his athletic ability more than the reliability of veteran Charlie Batch.

Batch has struggled in practice with a number of missed passes but this has been a pattern for him. He is always ready and solid in game situations.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends Impress

Mike Wallace continues to shine getting open on deep and short passes and catches everything that comes his way.

Hines Ward spent a lot of time teaching Wallace how to break out of routes and use his hands to beat defenders.

Antonio Brown still is having mental lapses with the occasional easy drop and miscommunication with Roethlisberger on routes.

He also goes out and makes great plays including a fantastic leaping grab.

Tyler Grisham had an overall solid day with only one drop in team drills and beat Ryan Mundy deep for a big gain on a pass from Roethlisberger.

Limas Sweed had a decent day but did have one drop when he appeared to have heard footsteps from an oncoming defender.

Maybe with the most impressive day from a backup was Wes Lyons. He was the target of multiple passes and caught every ball that came his way during team drills (he did have one easy drop earlier in position drills). It was the best day of camp that I have seen from him.

David Johnson had another solid day of camp as the Steelers continue to throw passes his way near the line of scrimmage, and Weslye Saunders had a great day showing solid route running ability across the middle of the field.

Saunders was also hit on a short route and is beginning to look more comfortable.

Cameron Heyward Developing

Cameron Heyward had a good day of practice and stood out on one particular play during 11-on-11.

Heyward overpowered the lineman he was matched against when Bryon Leftwich lined up in the shotgun and forced him to scramble.

It was good to see some pass rush from Heyward, but he was picked up by Saunders.

Heyward also did a nice job holding his ground against the run helping stop a couple of run plays for no gain.

Linebackers Impress

Jason Worilds showed a good first step. LaMarr Woodley was solid against the run but it was two backups who were the best of the day.

Larry Foote made multiple stops at the line on running plays. He plugged the hole to stop Batch on a series of runs showing his veteran savvy.

The biggest standout, though, was Stevenson Sylvester.

Sylvester sniffed out a screen pass to stop Mewelde Moore for a loss of eight. At the end of practice he made another play on Moore, making great contact and knocking him down. It was one of the biggest hits of camp.

Before too long Stevenson will be an outstanding compliment to Lawrence Timmons on the inside of their defense.

Camp Notes

Site of the day: Dan Rooney chatting with Joe Greene on the sidelines.

Officials were in camp today. No, James Harrison was not flagged.

Jonathan Dwyer actually shied away from contact on one run. This is a stark contrast from John Clay who looks for contact and can make his own holes.

Baron Batch continues to dance a lot near the line but does so many things well.

John Gilmore, known as a blocking tight end, got a good bit of coaching when working on blocking from the fullback position. He had to go up against Worilds twice in a row.

Armand Robinson was quiet on the day and had one drop.

Donovan Warren got beat by Brown and Mike Tomlin was not happy with his lack of effort after the play yelling, “It’s okay to finish!”

Niles Brinkley is repeatedly targeted by quarterbacks.

Night practice tomorrow and I plan live updates.

Check out my Twitter feed to review live updates from Thursday’s practice and for updates from future practices.

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