LATROBE – Day Three of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp was unlike any Steelers practice I’ve covered in terms of its layout. It was an incredibly light day for the Steelers that featured players in caps and bucket hats rather than helmets as the team ran a walkthrough for the entire two hour practice.
The plays were ran at 50-60 percent speed, and it was a very energetic, laid back environment. So, with that as a prerequisite, there frankly wasn’t much to take away from Day Three, but Joey Bray
and I will both share the few takeaways we had from Friday morning’s practice.
Germie Bernard, Roman Wilson movement on offense
Germie Bernard took the field with the First-Team during practice, working largely from the slot while DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman were on the outside. Roman Wilson took some reps on the outside with the second team. This was by design, as head coach Mike McCarthy said ahead of practice that he would be looking to give Wilson some outside reps as to not pigeon hole him at one spot. – Jarrett Bailey
Get used to seeing Aaron Rodgers under center more
Throughout practice, Aaron Rodgers was under center a lot. This is something that Rodgers had stressed in his pre-training camp presser on Tuesday. He wants to be under center more this season and it looks like McCarthy is going to grant his wish and give him those opportunities this season. – Joey Bray
Mike McCarthy watched Will Howard and Drew Allar closely
Mike McCarthy spent the majority of practice with the third and fourth teams coaching up Will Howard and Drew Allar. Howard is the guy McCarthy has arguably talked up the most this offseason, while Allar is the hand picked developmental quarterback. It’s refreshing to see a head coach so involved with the development of his young quarterbacks. If anything, it shows that McCarthy is looking toward the future and wants to get every opportunity he can at these young guys. It would be much better for the Steelers long term if one of the guys on the roster ends up being their future franchise guy, and McCarthy knows that. Howard has much more to prove over the next few weeks of camp and preseason compared to Allar, but getting that increased one-on-one time with their new head coach is crucial. – Joey Bray
Mike McCarthy’s impact is already being seen
These first handful of practices have gone a long way to let everyone know this is Mike McCarthy’s team now. Practices are meticulous, yet efficient. And today, even in a more laid back setting, the energy was brought by every player. We never saw a practice like this under Mike Tomlin. They could often feel too repetitive, which led to sluggish days that lacked drive.
Offense has become a much larger focus. Seven-on-sevens, half-field drills, 6-on-8 offense-defense, and full team drills and scrimmage have all taken place over the first three days, and there have been plenty of reps to go around, allowing just about every player to get a taste of offense vs. defense in some way. These are much different than the days in Latrobe that we grew accustomed to seeing over the last two decades, which is something important to establish early on for a new head coach – McCarthy’s done that, and then some. – Jarrett Bailey
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