LATROBE, Pa. -- It's been difficult to ignore the work slot receiver Eli Rogers is doing at Pittsburgh Steelers camp.
On the offense's first series from scrimmage Wednesday against the Detroit Lions, Roethlisberger fired back-to-back throws to Rogers, an undrafted player from Louisville who spent last year on injured reserve. The first pass zoomed between two defenders, and Rogers caught it in traffic and ran for a big gain.
By my unofficial count (while keeping track of two fields of work), I had Roethlisberger at 9-of-14 with three touchdowns (two from goal-line work) and an interception by safety Rafael Bush.
Rogers was in the first package with Darrius Heyward-Bey, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell. Sammie Coates ran primarily with the second team. The Steelers like to mix and match lineups, and will do so in camp. And often the lineups depend on which packages coaches choose to run. But it was noteworthy that Rogers got significant play with the ones early in the practice.
A few other notes ...
Brown was jawing at the refs all day. He wanted a flag. He wanted many flags. After a beautiful back-of-the-end-zone catch the officials deemed incomplete, Roethlisberger had to tell Brown to relax as he kept talking. Brown was treating this practice like a Week 8 matchup.
Tight end Jesse James caught a beautiful opposite-shoulder touchdown in the back of the end zone that the tight ends worked on specifically with Roethlisberger in recent practices. The tight end runs downfield with his head turned to his left, then shifts his hands to the other shoulder and tracks the ball.
A teammate to linebacker Steven Johnson after he gave up a completion: "C'mon, Stevie. That's two in a row."
Reserve offensive guard Chris Hubbard didn't lose a one-on-one in two days that I saw.
Guard David DeCastro was stout in his one-on-ones. Ramon Foster got pushed back a few times but regrouped and held his ground.
Safety Sean Davis put an ice pack on his left knee about halfway through the practice. I'm told he has quad tightness, so nothing serious.
Defensive back Montell Garner was trailing an over-the-middle touchdown, but he responded a few plays later with a pass deflection.
Daryl Richardson has some shake. Shifty.
There was Javon Hargrave's first step again.
Lions safety Don Carey knocked running back Fitz Toussaint, causing a mini-scuffle, but overall the physicality was controlled well.
Heyward-Bey will be a factor. Big Ben likes throwing to him.
