The Steelers wrapped up their minicamp for the 2025 season Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and head coach Mike Tomlin and his staff won't see their players again until they report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., for training camp July 23.
Tomlin's message to his players before they head off for five weeks of time on their own was a simple one.
"This was a football-like environment," Tomlin said Thursday. "When we get to Latrobe, it's going to be a football environment. And so there's a difference. We respect that this work has been good, but we measure the quality of this work, of how it tees us up for the real football journey that awaits."
With a roster than includes what figures to be filled with new starters at a number of key positions, that message was important to drive things home, not just for the rookie players who haven't been to Latrobe before, but for the number of new veteran players, as well.
The majority of teams in the NFL no longer go away for training camp any longer, choosing to stay at their own practice facility. But the Steelers have been going to Saint Vincent College for camp since the 1960s because they enjoy the environment it creates.
With veterans such as quarterback Aaron Rodgers, wide receiver DK Metcalf and cornerback Darius Slay, let alone the team's rookies, understanding that environment and making the most of it will be critical.
For the young players, in particular, it will be about training their bodies for the rigours of a 17-game NFL season.
"They all know what it means, because we've had, we've been afforded the opportunity to playing football over the last several weeks, and they get a sense of the rigors of their roles and so, and then they've also had an opportunity to work alongside veterans and see the additional work that they do to to aid in the preparation," Tomlin said. "And so, our goal is to kind of define it for them and to teach them, but they're going to be gaining big time understanding about that and a lot of other things continually throughout this process."
The only veteran player who was not participating in the minicamp session was outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who skipped the sessions as he and the team try to hammer out a contract extension this offseason.
Tomlin said he has no concerns a deal will eventually get done.
"I'm optimistic we're going to get things done, because we've got two sides that want to get things done when that's going to occur, I do not know," Tomlin said. "There certainly has been communication with him and the communication between he and I."
One thing that will be different about training camp this year is a return to afternoon practices. The Steelers switched to having their main practices in the morning a year ago, but are going back to the traditional afternoon sessions this year.
"It wasn't hot enough last year, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said. "Heat aids in the development of physical conditioning. It makes it a more stressful environment, and that's what we go to camp for. We go to camp to get better, and if it's a little bit more miserable later in the day, man, that's what we want."
