On June 11, the Pittsburgh Steelers will get together for their three-day minicamp. It will be the last time we see the whole team together before they get back for training camp on July 26. This is the first round of mandatory team activities and will give everyone the closest thing to real football anyone has had in six months.
Here’s what I want to see during minicamp.
No injuries
If the Steelers learn nothing about each other but come out of minicamp without any significant injuries, it will be a win. This team is too thin at too many positions to have any big injuries in a glorified practice.
Chemistry in the passing offense
Ben Roethlisberger has two new targets to work with this year and there will be no No. 84 on the field as a safety net. We want to see Donte Moncrief and Diontae Johnson working with Big Ben and how they fit with JuJu Smith-Schuster on the same field. The same goes for James Washington, who is coming back for year two in better shape and a new commitment to getting on the field.
New looks on defense
There were long stretches last season when it was hard to watch the Steelers defense work. They were relegated to such a passive game plan at times it wasn’t a matter of if the other team would score, but when. The additions of Steven Nelson, Mark Barron and Devin Bush should help this unit be much more aggressive regardless of the game situation.
Lack of drama
It is going to be great to see a Steelers team focused solely on football. There will be no wondering about petulant running backs showing up or the bruised egos of flighty wide receivers. The whole thing can simply be about football and getting this team back on track to the playoffs.
