Aug 7, 2016 5 min read

The Steelers wrapped up their longest stretch of training camp practices Sunday, ending six consecutive days of work at Saint Vincent College.

Mike Tomlin challenged his team with some competition periods, starting with, as usual, seven shots.

The offense, run by Landry Jones and then Dustin Vaughan won the seven shots.

Jones led the offense to three consecutive touchdowns after throwing incomplete on first down. He tossed a perfect strike to Antonio Brown in the back corner of the end zone against Ross Cockrell for the first score, then connected with Brown on a crossing route the next time around. Brown was wide open on the play and Jones had to step up to get the ball to him.

On the next play, Jones took the snap and rolled to his right, firing pass to Le’Veon Bell at the pylon.

Vaughan hit Sammie Coates at the goal line for his first score, then made an easy throw to DeAngelo Williams in the flat, with Williams walking into the end zone. On his final attempt, Vaughan stepped up and scrambled into the end zone.

Though he’s 6-5, Vaughan has shown pretty good mobility.

• Those two quarterbacks also got a chance to lead offensive units in two-minute situations. Both offensive units started at their own 45 with 1:23 on the clock and one timeout with which to work.

Working with the first-team offense against the top defense, Jones threw back-to-back passes to Eli Rogers in the slot to get the first down to the defensive 45.

He then went with back-to-back passes to Jesse James, the second of which was a big gain down the seam to the 18 with 19 seconds remaining where he used his timeout.

Jones overthrew Brown in the back corner of the end zone on first down and then scrambled to the 6 on second before spiking the ball with 3 seconds on the clock.

The defense appeared ready to double Brown with corner William Gay and safety Mike Mitchell, but Mitchell blitzed at the snap and it was an easy pitch and catch for Jones to Brown, who had screened off Gay just inside the goal line.

Vaughan had some issues early but rebounded. He was sacked by Mike Reilly on first down and then fired a pass that was too hot for Demarcus Ayers to handle on a short route on second down.

He then completed a 18-yard pass to Isaac Blakeney to convert the first down to the 42. From there, he stepped up to avoid pressure from Vince Williams up the middle and scrambled down the left sideline to the 25 before getting out of bounds.

“Great job, Dustin,” Tomlin yelled after the play.

He threw a great pass on his next play after stepping up to avoid pressure, this time threading the ball into Levi Norwood in the back corner of the end zone. But Norwood only got one foot down as he was forced out of bounds by Al-Haji Shabazz with 23 seconds remaining.

Williams came free for a sack on the next play and hit the ball free from behind, but Vaughan got everyone back to the line of scrimmage and found Ayers all by himself down the seam for a score.

Ryan Harris gave up both sacks, by the way.

Had the fumble actually been contested, the play might not have happened, but Vaughan did a nice job of keeping his composure.

• The final competition period was goal line and it didn’t disappoint, either.

Fitzgerald Toussaint scored on the first play, going around right and end diving for the pylon, where he was met by Lawrence Timmons and others.

But the defense got stops on the next three plays as nose tackle Daniel McCullers blew into the backfield to allow Anthony Chickillo and L.J. Fort to stuff Toussaint in the backfield.

Robert Golden then made a nice play on a pass from Jones to Xavier Grimble to break it up. Jones was pressured heavily by Arthur Moats at the snap.

Jordan Dangerfield blitzed into the backfield to drop Cameron Stingily for a loss on the next play and the defense was letting the offense hear about it.

But the defense celebrated too soon as Toussaint scored off left guard and Daryl Richardson powered his way into the end zone around right end to tie the score at 3-3.

Stingily then lowered his shoulder and got into the end zone off left guard to give the offense the win.

• The more I see of Vince Williams in this camp – and he plays well every training camp – I’m convinced that Timmons just might be playing his final season in Pittsburgh.

That’s a shame. Timmons has always been a consummate pro but will be 31 next season.

Williams also will be a free agent but will still be just 27. And he’ll be a lot cheaper to keep.

Considering the other guys the Steelers will have to sign after this season, Williams is the younger and more sensible option.