While this week’s slate of Pittsburgh Steelers practices are mandatory, the team wasn’t at a full 90-man squad yesterday. Three players — OLB T.J. Watt, C Ryan McCollum, and P Pressley Harvin III – didn’t attend the practice. But according to Mike Tomlin, those players returned for Wednesday and the Steelers had a full 90-man squad.
“I think we did,” Tomlin said via Steelers.com when asked if everyone was on-hand. “Sometimes this time of year, there’s things that come up and we’re afforded the opportunity to take care of people and their individual need.”
The reasons for those three missing yesterday’s session is unclear but they were all excused absences by Tomlin. Pittsburgh will have one more practice with presumably the full group for tomorrow’s final day of minicamp before breaking and not coming together as a team again until July 26th, when the Steelers report to Latrobe for training camp.
For Tomlin, he’s less focused on the players who aren’t working and more on the opportunity that creates for others, especially the young players who need the reps.
“When people miss work, it’s opportunities for others,” he said. “To elevate in the groups in which they work. The number of reps they get.”
Tomlin said if Patrick Peterson is seeing a reduction in snaps, it means more chances for the Steelers’ young corners in Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. While Peterson is new to the team, he’s a veteran player, and the rookies need to have the chance to make as many plays – and mistakes – as possible this time of year.
For yesterday’s practice, Watt missing likely gave more chances for the team’s young group of pass rushers. Guys like Nick Herbig, Quincy Roche, and David Perales, in what should be a fun camp battle for the bottom of the depth chart there. With McCollum out, it likely meant more reps for rookie Spencer Anderson, whose versatility will be his calling card to make the squad. And without Harvin, Braden Mann may have gotten a couple more boots. He’s not new to the league but new to the Steelers. More reps now offer more chances to evaluate him as he battles Harvin for the punting (and holding) job.
By all accounts, the Steelers are also a healthy team, though TE Pat Freiermuth has evidently been held out. Barring anything unforeseen occurring tomorrow, they should stay that way for training camp, always a good note to kick off the new season.
