Things have gotten chippy in Latrobe, Pa., this week with fights among the Pittsburgh Steelers during back-to-back training camp practices. After the first fight, Mike Tomlin said the Steelers were a “bit less than professional.” He criticized them again in an interview with Kay Adams on her Up & Adams Show before practice on Saturday.
“Absolutely not,” Tomlin said when asked by Adams if he was “encouraging” the fights during camp. “I understand we need tough guys in this business, but we’re not putting together an MMA team. It doesn’t help us win games. We get penalized, we get kicked out of games. When they do occur out here, I understand that, but it’s a growth opportunity. We gotta eliminate that from our competitive spirit as we step into stadiums.”
The context of the fight matters. Pittsburgh’s first fight occurred after a hit on Justin Fields, a big no-no in camp as quarterbacks aren’t hit. The second fight just seemed like a scrap after guys were jawing after the play. While it’s all well and good in camp when there are no consequences, if that happened in a game, it would cost the Steelers, which is Tomlin’s point.
At least at this point, the fights show that this team has an edge and is competitive. It’s a group that cares and each unit wants to win. That shows when things get a little chippy during team competition. From Tomlin’s perspective though, welcoming and encouraging fights can set a bad precedent that it’s ok, which allows things to get out of control when you’re facing guys who aren’t teammates and brothers at the end of the day.
Training camp fights happen pretty much every year in Pittsburgh, especially in a camp that encourages physicality as the Steelers are one of the few teams that still go all-out when it comes to tackling during training camp. But once camp breaks, it’s the type of stuff that can’t really happen because it’s only going to hurt the team when things get going for real.
There are exceptions, at least when it comes to protecting your teammates. If someone takes a late shot at the quarterback, the offensive line should step in and protect him. Players can’t leave their teammates out to dry, and while the setting matters (you don’t want a costly penalty in a big spot), protecting one another on the field is important. While Tomlin obviously isn’t going to outright say that fights are okay in a certain context, deep down I think he’d be okay with guys protecting each other in the right setting.
Either way, the fights can’t become a habit when the Steelers get down to facing a live opponent and minimizing anything that will cost the team yardage is going to be important, and that includes fighting.
