It may still be early in training camp, but that doesn’t mean that the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t already finding themselves getting physical.
Today at camp, Justin Fields ran a read option, taking the ball past the right side of the offensive line. He was met by Elandon Roberts, who gave him a decent (albeit not huge) hit. This goes against the procedure, as you are not supposed to tackle the quarterback even in padded tackling practice sessions.
The offensive line took particular offense to this, and rookie G Mason McCormick immediately got in the face of Elandon Roberts. He was soon joined by his fellow offensive linemen as a fairly major scrum broke out.
For C/G Nate Herbig, this type of hit from Roberts was unacceptable, and he shared his thoughts after practice, with video courtesy of Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker on Twitter.
#Steelers guard Nate Herbig on the offense’s side of today’s fight in practice.
“Nobody’s gonna hit our quarterback, cheap shot, and get away with it. It’s a big emphasis for us, a big emphasis for our unit. It’s nothing personal, we just protect our quarterback.” pic.twitter.com/a9vZ02rk8k
— Aaron Becker (@Aaron_M_Becker) July 31, 2024
“Nobody’s gonna hit our quarterback, cheap shot, and get away with it.” Herbig said. “It’s a big emphasis for us, a big emphasis for our unit. It’s nothing personal; we just protect our quarterback.”
While it’s just practice, and yes it wasn’t a real intense fight and closer to a bunch of guys pushing each other, it’s still a positive sign in my eyes. That the first instinct of the offensive line was to protect the quarterback at all costs is great, and it wasn’t just veterans. McCormick having that mentality as a rookie shows how quickly and effectively it’s getting instilled in these linemen.
And what makes it better is the fact that it was the presumed backup. It isn’t about loyalty specific to starting quarterback Russell Wilson, it’s about loyalty and respect for the whole team, and the understanding of what their true job is as offensive linemen.
You don’t love to see it from Roberts, but it’s fair to give him some of the benefit of the doubt here. He’s a respected veteran, and although there are probably better ways to do it, he may have thought practice needed a spark of energy for whatever reason.
The Steelers have invested heavily in their offensive line over the past two offseasons, both through the draft and free agency. This will be the year when we see if it pays dividends. There isn’t a ton of faith in the skill-position guys, but the passing game should at least take a step up from where it was last year. Whoever it is, Wilson or Fields, will need to have time to be successful without a ton of elite passing targets.
