LATROBE, Pa. — It was like adding some spices into the pot. All of a sudden, the stew had some kick to it.
There were a couple of familiar faces added to Sunday's practice at Saint Vincent College, which was the penultimate one that will be open to the public before the Steelers return to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex to continue the work of preparing for the 2026 regular season.
Or as Max Starks jokingly referred the familiar faces – DeShon Elliott and Elandon Roberts – "the repeat offenders."
Elliott was on the practice field for his first extended action this summer as he continues to work his way back from a hyperextended knee and a complete hamstring tear off the bone sustained in an Oct. 26, 2025, game vs. Green Bay. Roberts returned to the Steelers after playing the 2025 season for the Las Vegas Raiders, whose defense was coordinated by Patrick Graham, now doing the same job for the Steelers as a member of Coach Mike McCarthy's staff.
One of the recurring topics of McCarthy's inaugural training camp has been the differences in how he has operated compared to the way Mike Tomlin ran things for the previous 19 seasons.
Part of every answer has had to include an admission that Camp 2026 is a kinder, gentler version of those that preceded it, and when that changed tone somewhat during Sunday's practice, it seems fair to note the additions of Elliott and Roberts to the mix. And they certainly stirred the pot.
"My personal focus is to make sure we get these two padded practices in today and tomorrow. Obviously, navigating the weather," said McCarthy before the on-field work began. "Today is the last install, so we'll highlight that in practice with a competitive period there at the end with the red zone offense and defense competing. Then we'll have another call-up period, too, just to kind of get in the flow of the game now that we have one game under our belt, to continue to maximize the opportunities of the substitution patterns and so forth. We need to be cleaner there. That was one of the things we wanted to focus on coming out of last game. But yes, this is what training camp is for, taking advantage of this environment. (Monday's) practice will be all competition, offense and defense. So, really want to get these last two padded practices in."
They got the first of those two practices in by having the foresight to protect the field with a tarp overnight, and the Steelers got lucky when a window of no rain allowed them to get the work done on the grass instead of being forced into the indoor facility.
During the red zone period, Roberts put a shoulder into WR Levi Wentz, and then RB Kaleb Johnson and knocked him off his feet. What followed that was some verbal back-and-forth between Roberts and LG Mason McCormick that didn't seem to be about the weather.
And on one of the final plays of the period rookie safety Robert Spears-Jennings hit WR Max Hurleman to ignite a "debate" about whether that was a late hit. Spears-Jennings and Hurleman tussled, and then Elliott put himself in the middle of a scrum that seemed to stop and re-start a few times before finally coming to an end.
For the comic relief portion of the "event," senior citizens and team captains Cam Heyward and Aaron Rodgers pretended to square off. The final play of the period was an attempted shovel pass from Rodgers that was tipped away by Alex Highsmith.
"It felt good being out here in Latrobe. I was in the dorm room last night and I was looking up at the walls and just enjoying it," Roberts had said after his signing became known on Saturday night.
"It's just different playing for the Steelers," Roberts added. "I wanted to be back.
"I don't think I changed much. Probably the only thing to change, I got a little smarter from a football standpoint. The more I'm in it, I'm able to get around a lot of good coaches, good defenses, to be able to learn different systems and see different things. So that's all it is.
"But from a physicality standpoint, I'm always getting it."
