Steel City Blitz
Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Monday.
Much like the sun rises in the East, the injuries in Training Camp are a given. Despite the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t even put on the pads yet, the injury bug is starting to bite. The worst of these was a torn ACL suffered by rookie DJ Thomas-Jones. The FB/TE was having a nice Camp but his 2025 season is now over. While not nearly as serious, a couple of soft tissue injuries have slowed WR Montana Lemonious-Craig and Broderick Jones. While neither can afford to miss much time, the latter is trying to prove he can be the man at Left Tackle. Let us hope – despite knowing better – that the injury bug has moved on.
There’s an old saying that the most popular guy on a football team is often the backup quarterback. Why? Because there’s always a group that believes the team would be better if the backup were the starter. Enter Will Howard, the rookie QB is actually listed as the FOURTH QB right now. The Camp crowds go nuts for him every time he gets under center and this leaves many to ask “why?” Two reasons. First, there are a LOT of Ohio State fans who are also Steelers’ fans. Second, the fan base is desperate for a long-term, franchise quarterback. It doesn’t hurt that Howard is a super-friendly and well-thought of young man. The truth however is that we are a long way from this so I guess… Enjoy it.
Well, we’ve got our first fight of Training Camp. Backup Center Ryan McCallum and Linebacker Cole Holcomb ended up on the ground in some form while ripping each other’s helmets off. These things always happen but I’m a little surprised this occurred in the first week AND before they even got fully padded. You’ll also notice that the two guys mainly involved are both fighting for roster spots. In other words, these guys understand the significance of finding any way they can to make the team.
We are less than a full week into Training Camp and the hyperbole, in what whatever direction it comes from, is already off the charts. I beg of you… Keep in mind that Aaron Rodgers is still in the early stages of learning this offense. He had all of three days at the June Mini-Camp prior to getting to Camp so we’ve got to have some patience. He’s going to make some bad throws and poor reads and some of it may not even be on him. Let things play out before we start declaring the season a success or not based on a few practices before pads even come out.
The addition last week of Safety Chuck Clark is interesting. He’s got experience playing both free and strong safety but seems more fitted to the strong safety spot. He’s battling Juan Thornhill and...
