The Steelers made a bit of a splash on Thursday when they traded for Jaguars linebacker and former Pro Bowler Joe Schobert.
Now the six-year NFL veteran will try to make a similar splash on the field.
Schobert arrived during Saturday’s Training Camp practice at Heinz Field. While he did not participate, he did take time to meet his new coaches and teammates.
After the session, his new head coach, Mike Tomlin, sung Schobert’s praises.
“Productivity, when I think of Joe,” Tomlin sad. “He needs no endorsement from me. We’re familiar with him, a former AFC North guy. (He’s) been highly productive in every circumstance that he’s been in.
“He’s a sideline-to-sideline tackler, he’s good in coverage, he has coverage production in terms of interceptions, he has sack production. He plays a well-rounded game and so we’re excited to infuse him into what we do.”
So were Tomlin, general manager Kevin Colbert and the organization out searching for an inside linebacker trade when Vince Williams suddenly retired at the start of training camp, or was this offered up by Jacksonville?
“It was available,” Tomlin said. “It presented itself to us, but it didn’t take us long to consider it, because we’re highly familiar with his skillset and productivity.”
Tomlin, however, is not yet ready to say if Schobert or Devin Bush will see the majority of time on the field, particularly in dime sets.
As for when Schobert will be able to suit up with his teammates?
“Joe will be practicing tomorrow,” Tomlin said. “We’re excited about having him.”
Dotson back with the first team
Following a demotion to the second team, left guard Kevin Dotson was back working with the starter Ono Saturday.
Tomlin openly questioned Dotson’s portfolio and seemingly took a jab at the second-year guard’s work ethic last week following the demotion.
He also wanted to make it known that Dotson’s apparent move back up the depth chart may not be what it seems.
“He was working with the one’s,” Tomlin confirmed. “I think we gave some guys a day off, so sometimes when you give a guy a day off, it gives other guys an opportunity to elevate… He did perform well in the (Thursday’s preseason game against Philadelphia), but I wouldn’t anoint him just yet.”
As for Dotson’s development, offensive line coach Adrian Klemm has seen it come along decently.
“Kevin’s been getting better every single day,” Klemm said. “He missed the early part of camp, but is doing everything we’ve asked of him. It was a process, but he’s done what was asked of him.
“He’s progressing along. Is he where he needs to be? No. But he did some good things in the last game and we wanted to give him some opportunities to work with that group.”
Right guard Trai Turner did not practice, and neither did rookie center Kendrick Green, who was excused from practice by Tomlin.
Seven Shots/Roethlisberger picked 3 times
The top three quarterbacks all got to run the offense through the team’s ‘seven shots’ period, where the offense gets seven opportunities to score from inside of the 3-yard-line.
Ben Roethlisberger and the first-team offense converted on of their three chances, with Roethlisberger finding Diontae Johnson for a touchdown but also throwing incompletions to Johnson and Najee Harris.
Mason Rudolph’s tries were fairly miserable. Rudolph slung a ball high and over the head of 6-foot-8 tight end Zach Gentry on his first attempt, and threw a ball wide of receiver Mathew Sexton on the next try.
Dwayne Haskins hit .500, finding Rico Bussey — who continues to have a strong camp — with a perfectly placed back shoulder throw in the left side of the end zone. Haskins’ second pass was unable to find tight end Marcus Baugh.
Following ‘seven shots,’ and during team drills, Roethlisberger and the first-stringers stumbled. Roethlisberger was intercepted three times, including an impressive over-the-should grab by corner James Pierre on a deep ball to Eric Ebron.