Steelers 2020 Training Camp Recap, Day 1: No news can be a good thing

The Pittsburgh Steelers were back in pads for the first time since their 2019 season ended in Baltimore in Week 17 last year. Although the padded practice was at Heinz Field, not Saint Vincent College, the Steelers, and head coach Mike Tomlin, were ready to get this new year started right.

Fans might have been a bit disappointed with the lack of news coming from Heinz Field, but they should remember sometimes no news is good news.

While other NFL franchises lost players for the season due to devastating injuries, the Steelers first day in pads was rather uneventful. Sure, Ben Roethlisberger threw plenty of passes, more on that to come, but it was just another day at the office for the black-and-gold.

Yes, the Steelers did the famed ‘backs-on-backers’ drill, but other than Anthony McFarland and Alex Highsmith getting plenty of repetitions, no one necessarily stood out to those in attendance.

The 11-on-11 periods of practice were not filmed, for obvious competitive purposes, but there were still some nuggets of information to take away from Day 1 in pads.

Let’s get to it...

Players missed

After practice, Mike Tomlin said the following players missed practice for a variety of reasons:

Maurkice Pouncey (Personal)
David DeCastro (Non-Disclosed)
Chris Wormley (Lower Body Injury)
James Washington (Non-Disclosed)

All players except for Pouncey were in attendance, and some even did some individual work.

All about Big Ben

Of course what everyone wanted to see was Ben Roethlisberger throw for the first time since his elbow gave way in Week 2 of 2019. Roethlisberger didn’t disappoint, and here is some video of him throwing the pigskin around the field.

Roethlisberger did say last week he will be on a ‘pitch count’ during training camp, so don’t be shocked if you see Roethlisberger have a day off tomorrow or Wednesday to allow his arm to rest and recover.

Joe Haden calls his shot with Chase Claypool

Haden took to his verified Twitter account to make a very strong statement about Steeler rookie Chase Claypool. When a defensive back like Haden says the rookie receiver is going to be a “problem”, that is a good thing for the Steelers, and a bad thing for the opposition.

PODCAST

A recap of the day’s happenings, in audio form:

Live Look-In at Monday’s Practice

Mike Tomlin Post-Practice Conference

Video

Photos