LATROBE, Pa. — You could call it the first injury scare of Steelers training camp 2026, but it sounds as if first-round pick Max Iheanachor won't be out for long.
Iheanachor, the 21st overall pick, left practice early Thursday with what appeared to be an upper-body injury. He was looked at by a trainer and did not return to his usual right tackle spot.
"He won't go today," McCarthy said Friday morning. "I think we might not see him until Monday, but he's OK."
While it's not ideal for Iheanachor to miss a couple of practices in what McCarthy again referred to as "hump week" in camp, he was showing improvement the first few days in pads. As someone who didn't play high school football, he'll miss the chance to suit up for the night practice Saturday at Latrobe Memorial Stadium, but it shouldn't slow his development much.
Iheanachor made a good first impression in pads. In fact, it reminded McCarthy of the first impression Iheanachor made in the pre-draft process.
"I kind of went back to the Senior Bowl tape," McCarthy said. "He's a young man who, I think for everybody, jumped out that week when he was down there. And that's the same question you always look for with young players. It's that threshold of the padded work, the competition with the veterans, and he's definitely crossed the line now. All the little things, the techniques that he's being asked to play with and so forth, he has a lot of work to do. But, frankly, our whole team has a lot of work to do."
Cornerback Brandin Echols also exited practice Thursday and is likely to be out until next week at least, according to McCarthy. Echols has an ankle injury but McCarthy did not offer a timeline for his return.
Neither injury was a result of a skirmish, although it was a chippy practice. Perhaps it was the most intense day for the Steelers thus far, with a few kerfuffles spilling past the whistle, but nothing that went beyond usual camp hostility.
"I'd be more concerned if we didn't have that," McCarthy said. "That's part of football. It's part of the game, and it better be part of your training camp."
McCarthy's fine with some tempers flaring in such a physical sport, but he wasn't as thrilled with the overall performance. He called Thursday "not our best practice, by far."
"We had way too many mental errors, too many missed assignments," McCarthy said. "We had seven pre-snap penalties. They're working really hard. I mean, I thought the energy, the physicality, practicing some things we're asking them to do in practice, we're getting better, so they're definitely going about it and trying to do it the right way."
They'll have more grueling work on their plate Friday when McCarthy introduces his "smack-down" red-zone drill. That means spotting the ball at the plus 25-yard line, and keeping score for the offense versus the defense.
When he first learned of the drill in his coaching career, it was named the "lock-out" red-zone period. But McCarthy is an offensive-minded coach. And he's not trying to jinx the offense with a defensive-oriented title.
"You're going to like it," he said with a smile. "Obviously, the defense is trying to lock out the offense. But I'm not going to have that. The offense is trying to score, too."
McCarthy also was excited to see the team get in some goal-line work, albeit in a "thud" tempo rather than full tackling. The Steelers still were able to practice outside despite inclement weather, which forced campus to be closed to the public.
