Steelers inside the ropes: Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf already show great connection

For more than a half-decade, one of the sweetest sights for Pittsburgh Steelers fans who enjoy good football was the daily connections between Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. Two of the best of their generation at their positions, the chemistry Roethlisberger and Brown provided those at Saint Vincent an up-close-and-personal view of the magic that ensued when Brown’s crisp route-running combined with Roethlisberger’s quick release and accurate throws.

For the first time since after Brown was traded in 2019, fans at training camp are privy to a similar elite connection: Aaron Rodgers to DK Metcalf.

The former is one of the greatest to ever play quarterback; the latter one of the better receivers in the game today. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that Rodgers is hitting Metcalf early and often during team 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills.

On Wednesday, the “seven shots” 2-point conversion simulation that begins the team portion of each practice began and ended with a Rodgers completion to Metcalf. On the first, Metcalf was running along the back of the end zone. On the seventh snap of the drill, Metcalf snuck across the middle of the field when Rodgers hit him at the goal line between defensive backs Beanie Bishop and James Pierre.

During another 11-on-11 period later, Metcalf caught a pass from Rodgers on a post route in stride and took it in for a “touchdown.” Not long after, he added another reception from Rodgers of 20 or more yards. In the 2-minute drill at the end of practice, Rodgers’ only completion was to — you guessed it — Metcalf.

Throughout camp, almost unfailingly, during the first snap of any team period with the first-team offense, Rodgers looks to the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Metcalf. Little wonder why.

• Roman Wilson has stacked together arguably his two best practices of camp after a slow week-and-a-half to start. A candidate to start opposite Metcalf, Wilson on Wednesday had at least three catches in team drills, two of which went for 20-25 yards. One was along the sideline with decent coverage by Pierre.

•Rodgers was 2 for 4 in “seven shots,” making him 0 for 2 when not targeting Metcalf. One probably would have been a coverage sack (by Isaiahh Loudermilk) anyway but did not connect with Darnell Washington. The other was batted down at the line of scrimmage by 6-5 rookie defensive tackle Yahya Black.

•The second-team offense scored on two of three snaps: a Lew Nichols delayed draw run up the middle and a pass from Mason Rudolph to Robert Woods in the back of the end zone under the left upright. Bishop made a nice play to break up a prior attempted pass from Rudolph to Woods in the back-right corner of the end zone.

•Coach Mike Tomlin again called for a 2-minute drill to end practice — and on its sixth such attempt over a five-day span the offense finally prevailed in one — albeit, it comes with the caveat that the rules of engagement were only that a field goal (and not a touchdown) was needed. On Wednesday, the second-teamers engineered a 51-yard drive in 1 minute, 20 seconds culminated by Ben Sauls’ 37-yard field goal. Brandon Johnson had the two biggest plays of the drive, first-down catches from Rudolph. On one, Johnson toe-tapped along the sideline for a gain of almost 20; the other was a one-handed catch.

•For the second day in a row, a Juan Thornhill interception ended the first-teamers’ drill.

•Fourth-string quarterback Skylar Thompson had maybe his best play of camp on the day he was promoted to QB3 for the foreseeable future after the injury to Will Howard. In 11-on-11 play, Thompson deftly moved around in the pocket and threw while scrambling to his right, connecting with Lance McCutcheon.

•The day after the official depth chart released featured an “OR” at punter, Cameron Johnston and Corliss Waitman put on a show during a special-teams period. First, it was punting while near midfield, working on “coffin corner” and downed punts inside the 5-yard line. Each excelled at that, seeming to work to out-do the other. Then, the players switched sides of the field, and the punters stood in their own end zone and showed off their respective leg strength. Each had booted balls consistently 70 or even 80 yards into the air (the equivalent of 55-65 yards of gross yardage in a game).

•A mini melee ensued when defensive lineman Esezi Otomewo made a high, “clothesline”-like tackle on rookie running back Kaleb Johnson during a team period early in a practice that was not supposed to be full contact. Offensive linemen Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick were perhaps the most involved.