Steelers inside the ropes: Rookies Joey Porter Jr., Darnell Washington make big plays

Ever the psychological protagonist eager to push buttons, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made sure he walked past George Pickens late during Thursday’s training-camp practice.

Pickens vs. Joey Porter Jr. has been the unofficial headliner among practice battles through a week at Saint Vincent. The second-year Pickens has mostly gotten the better of the matchup, but Tomlin was compelled to stoke the fire in the young wide receiver Thursday.

“Hey, G.P. Joey won today!” Tomlin called out as he walked down the sideline during a two-minute drill simulation in the waning minutes of practice. “Joey won today!

“The young gun’s getting better!”

A rookie second-round cornerback, Porter had two impressive interceptions Thursday: one early during the team period of practice and one to cap the first-teamers’ two-minute drill simulation at the end of the session. Porter’s first interception of the day came by way of muscling the ball away from 6-foot-5, 227-pound wide receiver Hakeem Butler in the end zone on a jump ball.

Porter’s second interception came off Kenny Pickett on a nifty lunge in front of Cody White along the right sideline about 15 yards downfield as the clock was ticking down and the offense at midfield.

Despite the “splash” interceptions, Porter’s day wasn’t perfect. Early on, he was flagged for illegal contact, and yet Pickens still managed to make a “combat catch” over him along the right sideline. Afterward, while Pickens demonstratively celebrated, secondary coach Grady Brown put his arm around Porter and offered instruction and counsel.

In 11-on-11 play a little later, Porter had good coverage on a deep ball down the right sideline and deflected Pickett’s pass into the air, but it landed in Pickens’ arms anyway.

Porter looked to the sky in almost disbelief, but his fortunes turned as practice went on.

• Darnell Washington had not done much as a receiver through six-plus practices at Saint Vincent, but that changed in a big way during the final drill Thursday. With the clock ticking down inside of a minute in a matchup of second-teamers in the two-minute simulation, Washington made two catches of approximately 20 yards each seconds apart, the second of which provided a touchdown that claimed a win for the Mitch Trubisky-led offense. Washington’s score came after the team ran to the line as the clock ticked and when Washington found the soft spot in the zone between Trenton Thompson, Kwon Alexander and Chris Wilcox. He reeled in Trubisky’s pass at about the 3-yard line before falling into the end zone (at least as so defined by Tomlin).

• The defense prevailed in all but one of the snaps of the “seven shots” 2-point conversion drill. The lone score came on the second snap when Pickett scrambled to buy time to find Pickens in the back of the end zone.

• The defense’s wins among Pickett’s reps came via Alex Highsmith tipping a ball at the line of scrimmage, Tre Norwood breaking up a pass intended for Pat Freiermuth and when Wilcox was in good coverage on Calvin Austin III, who could not hold onto a pass that hit him in the hands.

• Trubisky’s three snaps were thwarted by a breakup by Kenny Robinson on a ball intended for Ja’Marcus Bradley, an incompletion to Connor Heyward when Norwood and Madre Harper were in coverage and on a drop by Butler, albeit on a pass that wasn’t perfect but still a catchable ball that Norwood did not have a chance to defend.

• Robinson drew a rare taunting flag during an intra-squad practice when he yelled an obscenity while pointing at Bradley as Bradley was getting up from the ground. Miles Killebrew, a much more mild-mannered safety, drew laughs from onlookers when he joked, “Hey, I tried to calm him down.”

• Another light moment with NFL officials on hand for practice came when Tomlin was politely asked by down judge Derick Bowers to step aside as he blocked Bowers’ view of the play from the sideline. Tomlin quipped, “I like being in front of you here (at camp). If this was Sundays (in a game) you’d be ringing my (rear end) up (with a penalty flag)!”

• Another line overheard from Tomlin, directed at tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts after Heyward fumbled (with Harper punching the ball out) following a reception: “Hey, Fredo — don’t put the ball on the ground!”

• Pickett repeatedly showed a fine, accurate ball with good pace during a one-on-one receiving drill that called for receivers to run posts routes as Pickett stood from spots 5 to 15 yards out of the end zone. Throw after throw was zipped into perfect windows leading receivers away from defenders while still staying inbounds.

• Read into it with caution on a day in which several veterans (including starting left guard Isaac Seumalo) sat out, but during one team series with the starters, first-round pick Broderick Jones was at left tackle and Dan Moore Jr. at right tackle.

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