The Pittsburgh Steelers are known to run one of the most difficult training camps in the league. There are very few camps that get held off-premise, and even fewer that feature full contact and tackling. It is an old school approach, which is maybe fitting given that Mike Tomlin is among the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL. As he has explained multiple times now, “It’s tough to box without sparring.” They don’t want to leave any evaluations up to the imagination, and tackling is the best way to achieve that goal. For Justin Fields, entering his fourth season in the league, he called it the hardest camp he has been through.
“This is personally the hardest training camp that I’ve been through – six-day stretch. So, just proud of the guys, how we all handled it, how we fought through. And we knew it was gonna be kind of the thickest part of training camp,” Fields said in a video posted by Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube. “I think we got better each and every day.”
As Fields mentioned, the Steelers just finished a six-day stretch of practices, and four of those six were in pads. One of them was the annual Friday Night Lights practice, too, which is always among the most intense and physical practices of camp.
Several players have echoed one of Tomlin’s oldest sayings, which dates back to his first training camp with the team—’Are you thriving or surviving?’ The camp is a grind, and coaches look for players to thrive in that environment. Fields has certainly done that so far. While Russell Wilson has been out with a calf injury, Fields has gotten nearly all of the first-team reps and has forced a more serious conversation around the nature of the quarterback competition.
Fields expanded on what makes the Steelers’ camp so hard.
“I don’t know how many teams are full-on tackling at camp. It’s gotta be under three if they are,” Fields said. “That, and just how we do it. Seven shots, I don’t think anybody else in the country does that. So just the parameters, just how practice is ran and the intensity of everybody and the tempo of practice. So, very competitive out here and you wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Elandon Roberts mentioned the intensity of the Steelers’ camp on arrival day a couple of weeks ago. Now, in his second season with the team, he was well prepared for the second camp, but he said it was a surprise when he showed up in his first year.
Fields also got a little taste of that physicality. Quarterbacks are generally protected, but Fields caught a late hit on the second padded practice of camp, which resulted in a dustup between the offense and defense.
Of course, there is an added risk of injuries when you are tackling in training camp. Fingers crossed, but the overall health of the team has been pretty solid at camp outside of Roman Wilson’s ankle and David Perales’ knee. But there are certain things you can only evaluate by tackling. How good are defensive players at finishing tackles and the fundamentals involved? And on the flip side, how good are offensive players at eluding and breaking tackles? The physical camp sets the tone for the season while allowing for accurate evaluations of all these factors and more.
