Overview
- Veteran running back Jaylen Warren called the team’s first padded practice under McCarthy the “most tame, uneventful” first day in pads he has seen.
- Offensive lineman Spencer Anderson said practices feel like an adjustment and that coaches now “temper it down” compared with the nonstop intensity of previous camps.
- Coach Mike McCarthy has removed live tackling and split up workload at camp to limit contact and manage players’ training load as part of his player-focused approach.
- The softer sessions are taking place while the team evaluates roster spots, including a running back competition that features Warren, Rico Dowdle and rookie Kaleb Johnson.
- This is the Steelers’ first camp under a coach other than Mike Tomlin since 2006, and observers say it is too early to know whether McCarthy’s method will pay off in health or game readiness.