Throughout the offseason after a busy free agency and NFL draft that brought in a bunch of new faces and new voices, Pittsburgh Steelers veteran outside linebacker Alex Highsmith saw quite a bit of buy-in.
Now, after reporting to training camp for the start of another training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Highsmith is looking forward to seeing the Steelers’ progress from the offseason to the start of the season.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday after reporting to Latrobe, Highsmith praised the buy-in the Steelers had throughout the offseason workouts. Now with real football returning, he’s hoping to see that investment continue as the Steelers ramp up for the 2024 season.
“I think there’s a lot of guys who are really bought into this process, and we saw that during OTAs,” Highsmith said, according to video on Twitter via the Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski. “We had a lot of guys in the building, and I think we just had to get a good offseason.
“And so I’m just looking forward to seeing how we progress and get better every day during camp.”
Alex Highsmith on Steelers Reporting Day 2024 pic.twitter.com/iAmUpkN6oe
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) July 24, 2024
The Steelers did have quite a bit of buy-in during the offseason as they had a high percentage of players show up for OTAs. Of course, there were some players who skipped out on some OTA sessions, like team captain Cameron Heyward and young wide receiver George Pickens.
Even running back Najee Harris missed some sessions, including one mandatory minicamp practice, though head coach Mike Tomlin stated that the Steelers were aware that Harris had some scheduling conflicts.
While those were some notable names that were absent at times, the Steelers still enjoyed a huge turnout for OTAs. That allowed the team to really get after it from a preparation standpoint, which included learning a new playbook offensively and getting familiar with a new voice calling out the signals on the field defensively.
That work put in and the chemistry developed throughout the offseason process should be able to help the Steelers hit the ground running in training camp as they gear up for a much-anticipated 2024 season. Like Highsmith said, it will be very interesting to see just how the team progresses daily in training camp with all the new faces and the talent added this offseason.
