LATROBE, Pa. -- Kenny Pickett claps once as he breaks the huddle, coolly, slowly striding toward the line of scrimmage. Two yards from the end zone. Base formation. Standard number of bigs. Some pre-snap motion. Options all over.
Across from him, staring squarely back at him ... Mike Tomlin.
That's how these roll. The drill's called seven shots and, on its face, the challenge for the offense couldn't be simpler: Score. But thumb back up to that photo I snapped for the top of this column. That's the head coach with his back to the goalpost, arms folded, eyes no doubt screaming-wide-open under those shades. And probably, if I had to guess, focused on the fledgling quarterback more than anyone else.
First snap: Pickett drops two steps, looks to his left, thinks he's got Pat Freiermuth on a curl halfway into the end zone, but Levi Wallace reads the pass, pounces and swats it away.
No reaction from Pickett. None. Glances at his wristband, walks back.
Second snap: A more elevated throw. Same side, but this one's a fade to George Pickens who capitalizes on Joey Porter Jr. and Chandon Sullivan apparently getting crossed up by a distracting curl from Diontae Johnson. Huge roar from the thousands on hand, particularly from the hillside just behind us.
No reaction.
Third snap: Pickett's got nothing. And he's got less with every elapsing millisecond. He bails the pocket to his left, still clearly with no Plan A, but spots Zach Gentry, who'd smartly adjust by presenting a standing straight-line target and, per his old Pitt preference of throwing back across his body, Pickett pinpoints the ball between the 8 and 1 on Gentry's jersey.
No reaction.
Fourth snap: Empty set. Connor Heyward's set in the right slot. Freiermuth, who'd been between the line and Heyward, busts off the line and makes a hard right on the out route to beat Miles Killebrew. As Freiermuth turns, a Pickett bullet's already on the way. Easiest score of the day.
No reaction from Pickett. None from Tomlin. End of first-team drill.
KARL ROSER / STEELERS
Kenny Pickett pauses between drills Sunday in Latrobe, Pa.
Look, I don't have much to offer of worth at this stage of camp. I really shouldn't, either. This was "football in helmets," as Tomlin reminded reporters afterward, whereas, after the players are off Monday, they'll return here Tuesday in full pads for the first time. That's when the drills come with accompanying audio that can be heard across campus. That's when bodies -- and egos -- can finally bruise.
But in the same breath, I'm plenty comfortable assessing that the single most important individual present ... yeah, he's doing OK.
No hype. No hysteria. Nothing overblown or underplayed.
Just like the man himself.
I could condense that to a single, slo-mo video the team distributed from this session:
KP ➡️ DJ @kennypickett10 | @Juiceup__3 pic.twitter.com/ODMJkpXIVf
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) July 30, 2023
The broader bulk and strength Pickett's added might have something to do with this, but the ball's coming out of his hand with an ease, a tightness, a velocity that's suddenly -- and strikingly -- similar to the ones thrown by Mitch Trubisky, who, for all his flaws, can really zip it. Visually, as anyone out here can attest, it stands out as the sharpest difference between 2022 and 2023 in any facet of this entire football operation.
And that goes double for the intermediate throws, as with the strike above to Johnson. No more of those weird wobblers. Some of those would still get where they needed to go, but they were flying in cargo rather than first class.
I could also cite a 40-yard bomb to Pickens in a later 11-on-11 from midfield, one that somehow spanned Corey Trice Jr.'s arms. And an 11-yard out route to Freiermuth, only this one to the left. And a flagrant drop by Calvin Austin III that drew no show-him-up negative reaction from Pickett. And a simple tuck-and-run after he'd likely have been 'sacked' on two previous plays by Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig or both.
I could also cite a fun sequence in which, while most others were taking a breather, Pickett shouted out 'KEEM!' to massive wide receiver Hakeem Butler from nearly half a field away, then motioned with his left hand. It couldn't have been clearer that Butler, standing a few feet away from me, had no clue what Pickett wanted. Pickett, maybe not caring if he did or didn't, then heaved a monster up toward the nearby end zone, and Butler, figuring this out in a hurry, sprinted that way, twisted toward the ball as he leaped high and impressively came down with it.
"Nice catch!" Johnson would say to Butler.
The catch? How about how the whole thing came about?
Nah. Back at midfield, Pickett just turned around and asked an equipment manager for another ball.
