LATROBE, Pa. -- In front of about 12,000 fans under the Friday night lights of Latrobe Memorial Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers conducted a nearly 2½ practice. The highlight was, once again, what's called the backs-on-backers drill.
It's simple -- linebacker rushes a phantom passer, the running back or fullback must stop him.
Seventh-round rookie Tyler Matakevich was the star of the drill.
Matakevich had seven matchups, and he won all seven, even with coach Mike Tomlin matching him against against starting fullback Roosevelt Nix.
And on every move, Matakevich used his leverage to spin move off the defender. After the final win, Matakevich's teammates jumped him and clapped.
The player Steelers coaches call "Dirty Red" -- and Matakevich has no idea why they call him that -- is having an awfully clean camp thus far. Rookies sometimes cool off later in camp, but Matakevich has shown no signs of that yet. The Steelers have good depth at inside linebacker and could face some difficult decisions among Steven Johnson, Matakevich and L.J. Fort.
"Football justice," said Tomlin during the draft about Matakevich getting selected, a nod to his football instincts.
Another former late-round pick, second-year linebacker Anthony Chickillo, also acquitted himself well in the drill by using his hands
A few other observations from practice ...
Seven practices in, running back Le'Veon Bell has seen a sizable workload. He's done everything save being tackled to the ground. He looks confident on that knee. Maybe he was right when he said last week that he could play a game now. Only live game reps will signal whether Bell is working with a full arsenal again. But the open-field cutting appears to be no problem (ask Jarvis Jones, who got the shake in the backfield Friday night).
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and linebacker Bud Dupree got the night off.
Speaking of Jones, the fourth-year pass-rusher had a productive session. He slithered his way to the quarterback in the backs-on-backers drill and batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage in 11-man work.
If tight end Xavier Grimble masters the nuances of the position, watch out. The raw athleticism is obvious. Blocking will determine whether he sticks, but he's been willing to throw his helmet into traffic for the greater good.
Still think cornerback Doran Grant finds a role in the defense. The stage is set with Senquez Golson out.
Tight end Ladarius Green, who's on the physically unable to perform list with an ankle injury, barely broke a sweat Friday. I asked him what was up with the light workload, and he said he did most of his running and cutting during the day, and that the rehab is progressing well. This is one to monitor. Sooner or later, the Steelers must get him ready for game action.