Steelers inside the ropes: Undrafted WR Rico Bussey steals the show

One of three undrafted rookies among an 11-man Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers corps in which there perhaps are six men fighting for one possible open spot, Rico Bussey has the odds stacked against him.

The rookie who played at the University of Hawaii was designated as the star of Thursday’s open practice at Heinz Field after puncturing the session with a touchdown catch of about 25 yards that gave the offense a touchdown to end a simulated 2-minute drill.

Bussey had another catch from Dwayne Haskins to kick off the drill, which to be precise began with 1 minute, 18 seconds remaining on the clock for the second-teamers after the first-team defense held in the first rep.

Bussey was targeted on three of Haskins’ five snaps, making two catches. The 6-0, 195-pound Bussey also had a pair of catches a few snaps apart earlier during an 11-on-11 drill — the first while leaping and fighting off Justin Layne, the second on a deep ball thrown by Josh Dobbs down the opposite sideline over Stephen Denmark.

Wearing the familiar No. 84 of former star Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, Bussey had a big year (1,017 yards) for North Texas in 2018 but suffered a torn ACL the next year.

• The first-team offense, led by quarterback Mason Rudolph, did not score on its 2-minute try — and coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t happy about it. With 15 seconds left, Rudolph hit JuJu Smith-Schuster over the middle but he was “tackled” (players did not wear pads Thursday) by Minkah Fitzpatrick inside the 5-yard line. Time expired before the offense could get off another play, and Tomlin fumed. Later, he said “everyone” was at fault — the route run, the decision to throw it and the lack of awareness to get out of bounds.
• There was plenty of punting work Thursday. And while much of it was done to help special teams coordinator Danny Smith assemble his coverage and return teams, most eyes were on Jordan Berry and Pressley Harvin III. The sixth-year Steelers punter and rookie seventh-round pick, respectively, are in a camp battle to see who will begin the season with the gig. Harvin was good enough that Tomlin quipped he “looked like Ray Guy” at points, albeit Harvin showed some inconsistency at other times. The work from both punters wasn’t limited to just booming long punts; each also repped on directional kicks and situationally such as from their own end zone.
• OLB Melvin Ingram playfully fielded some of the punts. The veteran newcomer mostly took the day off from team drills.
• Third-year TE Zach Gentry continued to raise eyebrows at camp. Part of his impressive Thursday was when he showed good body control in making catches over Robert Spillane and Jamir Jones on consecutive reps in a one-on-one passing drill.
• The drill had two groups working simultaneously — wide receivers vs. defensive backs near the south end zone and tight ends vs. linebackers near midfield. Quarterbacks rotated to each group. Though the offensive players have a significant advantage in the format, among the others who made standout catches were WR Ray-Ray McCloud (beating S Minkah Fitzpatrick to the pylon for a “touchdown”), WR Diontae Johnson (hauling in a perfectly-thrown Rudolph pass at a back-corner pylon with Fitzpatrick in coverage), RB Jaylen Samuels (using a double-move to score a long “touchdown” off a pass from Ben Roethlisberger) and TE Dax Raymond (who beat LBs Ulyesees Gilbert III and Quincy Roche for long “touchdowns” on separate plays).
• Raymond, who suffered an injury late in the 2-minute drill, also made a nice catch over LB Calvin Bundage off a well-delivered ball from Dobbs during an 11-on-11 drill.
• Smith-Schuster had a conspicuous drop when a deep sideline ball thrown by Rudolph appeared to clang off his facemask while CB James Pierre was in coverage.
• Haskins’ arm is proving first-round worthy. Perhaps his best throw Thursday was while on the run, delivering a strike to TE Kevin Rader about 25 yards downfield during a team drill.
• Rookie S Tre Norwood had two noticeable interceptions Thursday, the first during the one-one-one drill and the second of a Rudolph overthrow in 11-on-11 play.
• The offense continued its run of success in the daily “Seven Shots” 2-point conversion simulation drill. Thursday, touchdowns were scored on four of the seven snaps — WR Chase Claypool making a contested catch over CB Cameron Sutton, a wide open Claypool finding a soft spot in the coverage at the goal line, McCloud with a catch after Rudolph scrambled and Haskins finding Tyler Simmons, who beat Denmark running across the back of the end zone.

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