The Pittsburgh Steelers will welcome the Detroit Lions to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe on Tuesday for what will be the first of two joint practices between the two teams. While Tuesday’s training camp session figures to be entertaining, apparently it won’t include any tackling.
According to Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network, the Steelers and Lions will only “thud” on Tuesday and that means no tackling as defensive coordinator Keith Butler apparently said, “I don’t want fights. I want to get football work done.”
It will be interesting to see what level of “thudding” winds up happening on Tuesday as you know these two teams can’t wait to start competing against a different uniform color. While full-on tackling reportedly won’t be allowed, apparently those in attendance today will be treated to a session of backs-on-backers. That drill could certainly get interesting and especially if Steelers linebacker Vince Williams is allowed to play in the center of the ring.
As I previously wrote about this morning, a few former Cincinnati Bengals players who are now Lions will be present at Latrobe starting Tuesday and so it will be interesting to see how they are welcomed to Saint Vincent College.
The Steelers and Lions will hold a second joint practice on Wednesday and then square off against one another in a preseason game Friday night at Heinz Field.
Our very own Alex Kozora will once again be on hand for the Tuesday session so look for his full recap of the first joint practice between the Steelers and the Lions on the site later on this evening.
