LATROBE, Pa. -- The Pittsburgh Steelers planned to practice Monday at an alternate site -- the team's South Side practice facility -- because of soggy grass at Saint Vincent College and more rain expected in the late afternoon. The commute via bus, plus time to load all the players and coaches, is at least 90 minutes each way.
So center Maurkice Pouncey proposed a bet with coach Mike Tomlin during the morning walkthrough -- if he could hit the goalpost with a throw from at least 30 yards out, the team stays home to practice at around 11, before the rain. Tomlin agreed to the deal.
Those who saw the exchange say Steelers players erupted when Pouncey actually hit the goalpost.
"He saved us (the trip)," outside linebacker Jarvis Jones said.
So, instead of getting ready for interviews with reporters before lunch, anticipating a 3 p.m. practice near downtown, there were the Steelers on the Saint Vincent fields at 10:50 a.m., in full pads, stretching and ready to go.
Steelers quarterbacks eventually played a game of garbage can toss -- see who can sink footballs into the can from about 30 yards out. Landry Jones almost made one. Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and DeAngelo Williams were discussing the wonders of Usain Bolt, who just won the gold medal in the 100 meters for the third consecutive Olympics.
In other camp news...
First-round cornerback Artie Burns returned from a left quad injury after missing about half of training camp. Burns is reminding himself to stay patient instead of overplaying the football because of eagerness to make up for lost time.
Wide receiver Markus Wheaton also returned after missing most of camp with what the Steelers call a "soft tissue" injury.
Noticeable undrafted free agent from Monday: 6-foot-3 safety Jacob Hagen, who broke on a route for a near-interception in goal-line work and dove high for a deep-ball interception later in practice.
Ben Roethlisberger's unofficial stats in 11-man settings: Completion (Brown), completion (David Johnson), incompletion, completion (Brown), completion (Brown), completion (Eli Rogers), completion (Bell), completion (Brown), incompletion. That's 7-of-9 for Roethlisberger, with four of his nine passes going to Brown, not counting a deep ball attempt to Brown where the receiver would have been hit with pass interference.
Brown jawed with safety Mike Mitchell the interference play. He's been jawing a lot this camp. He could rack up a few unsportsmanlike penalties if he doesn't cool down.
Brown also got rookie Sean Davis on a deep ball. Davis was covering well but Brown made a diving catch. Nothing you can do. Davis had a few bright moments Monday, including a timely corner blitz off the edge for what would have been a quality quarterback pressure.
After a slow start to camp because of a minor injury, sixth-round outside linebacker Travis Feeney showed good quickness in one-on-one matchups.
Part of offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva's issue right now is his hands are just so high, which is natural at 6-foot-9. He keeps getting pass-rushers around the neck. His footwork is good but hand placement will take time.
Javon Hargrave definitely has created a healthy buzz with his play. The Steelers like his mixture of quickness and power.
Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about experimenting with Doran Grant at safety. Tomlin didn't rule that out, but said the team is tinkering with a lot of things at this stage of season prep.
