The Pittsburgh Steelers had their first practice of training camp on Friday. The pads don’t go on until Sunday and even then it is difficult to glean a whole lot from what happens on the field. But when we think about early practices at training camp, here’s what we are watching for.
Conditioning
When guys show up to camp, an area of emphasis for head coach Mike Tomlin is conditioning. Over the past several seasons when we see rookies have early impacts it is because they showed up to camp with a level of conditioning which allowed them to push them harder in camp and the preseason.
Communication
Last season when things went wrong for this team — especially on defense — it was oftentimes due to either a lack of communication or miscommunication. Tomlin has already told his defensive backfield, in particular, his safeties it is up to them to manage the back end of the defense through proper communication.
Understanding of the system
There is a ton to digest and the players have had several opportunities to dig into the system and learn their role in the scheme. Training camp is where you show you’ve done your homework and the coaches don’t need to re-teach terminology and the like. With all the new faces, both veterans and rookies, getting up to speed on the playbooks could mean a significant edge down the road.
