The second week of OTAs is now concluded for the Pittsburgh Steelers and veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson is impressed. Peterson is entering his 13th season in the NFL and first with the Steelers and today he spoke about how intense OTAs have been in Pittsburgh.
In a video posted to the Steelers YouTube page, Peterson told reporters how much he loves what the players have been putting into the OTA practices.
“I’m telling you man, the intensity level is definitely [training] camp type vibes, but I love it because coach [Mike Tomlin] is definitely building that mindset for us right now,” said Peterson.
Because of how young the Steelers are and how many new faces are on the team it is important for head coach Mike Tomlin to instill what he wants his team to play and train like. It makes sense that OTAs are going to be intense as he molds his new players to be the best fit for this team.
Even though Peterson is a veteran, he clearly loves the intensity this young Steelers team is bringing early on in the summer. For how intense this year’s OTAs supposedly are, expect a very intense training camp as only then will pads and hitting be allowed.
Pittsburgh isn’t building a team that will out-finesse opponents. Instead, the Steelers have built a team that is determined to bully their opponents. For that to happen the intensity has to be cranked up to 11 and to get that during the season the process of creating that mindset starts early.
You can argue this mindset began last season after the bye week when Pittsburgh really committed to the run game, but after this offseason the Steelers are truly committed to it. The team beefed up its offensive line and added a great blocking tight end and a nose tackle in the NFL Draft to control the line of scrimmage.
While OTAs are intense now, Peterson is in for a whole new world once training camp in Latrobe gets underway in late July.
