Pittsburgh Steelers
Though the Steelers' offense won its first "seven shots" drill of training camp in Sunday's practice, the defense won the day. Not only did cornerback Donte Jackson grab the first interception of camp, picking off a misplaced Justin Fields' throw, but rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson turned heads by ripping the ball away from tight end Pat Freiermuth in an 11-on-11 period."I thought the guys were really aggressive in terms of going after the football, punching it out, raking it, and so forth," coach Mike Tomlin said. "And that's just a component of laying a foundation for some things that are important to us."
Wilson got his first extended look with the first team defense in Sunday's practice, primarily playing alongside Patrick Queen as veteran Elandon Roberts got a partial rest day. In addition to the forced fumble, Wilson also tipped another Fields pass over the middle intended for Connor Heyward.
"He's highly conditioned," Tomlin said of Wilson. "I think it starts there, and it's showing itself in the form of hustle and finish and sometimes hustle and finish puts you in position to do some of the things that you mentioned. We don't ask a lot of the new guys, but we do ask him to come ready for the work."
The third-round NC State product is one part of a well-rounded inside linebacking corps, complementing Queen and Roberts with his length and speed. After Sunday's practice, Wilson stayed on the field to get some work on the JUGS machine, pausing briefly to get a few pointers from Minkah Fitzpatrick.
"Russell Wilson says it all the time: Your mental is 80 percent of this game and just being confident and flying around," Wilson said after the JUGS work. "Yeah, I'm going to make mistakes, but I'm making 'em 110 percent." -- Brooke Pryor
(Last update: July 28)
ESPN camp updates
Payton Wilson learning from vets
Steelers camp winners and losers (5:25 mark PW mention as a winner and kudos from the vets)
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