Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin explains why he made a change to training camp that a lot of his players won't appreciate
Training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers is far from easy. A physical camp that involves a ton of live reps and best on best, it's not for the faint of heart. Mike Tomlin further cemented that with a change to the practice schedule… Mike Tomlin explains why he changed the practice times to the afternoon […]
Training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers is far from easy.
A physical camp that involves a ton of live reps and best on best, it's not for the faint of heart.
Mike Tomlin further cemented that with a change to the practice schedule…
Mike Tomlin explains why he changed the practice times to the afternoon
"Wasn't hot enough last year. To be quite honest with you, heat aids in the development of physical conditioning. It makes it a more stressful environment, and that's what we go to camp for," Tomlin said on Thursday after the Steelers' mandatory minicamp, according to NFL.com. "We go to camp to get better, and if it's a little bit more miserable late in the day, man, that's what we want."
The Steelers practiced in the afternoon in 2023, but Mike Tomlin then moved the time to mid-morning last year. He cited a lower appetite from players in the afternoon due to the grueling nature of practice.
But that apparently has gone out of the window and for good reason. The Steelers, and the rest of the teams in the AFC North, are bullt for cold-weather football, but if you can condition and communicate when it's triple digits, you can also do it when it's single digits.
And let's not get too carried away here. Afternoons in Pittsburgh aren't the same as Texas or Florida in late July. There will be a lot of 80-degree days during the team's three weeks in Latrobe.
But on the off chance it does push triple digits and a lot of humidity, Mike Tomlin is making sure his team is getting together physically for what will be some testing scrimmages and periods of play.
