The Official Steelers Training Camp Thread 2026 the new era begins

If that's a laser I need to get my eyes checked...but ok, better than an incompletion

 

It's possible.

We'll see.

It seemed to me that when we played teams like Cincy early in the season (who I think has had better talent than us recently), one of the advantages we had early in the year was that our guys were already used to playing football.

Maybe this is not the reason and just Ohio is generally cursed re football teams (as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I empathize with them).

But I do think that our record in close games under Tomlin over a very long period of time with and without Ben means that there was some "special sauce" to what we were doing.

Certainly it's not all down to hitting in camp.

And maybe it's not down to hitting in camp at all.

My guess is that the biggest part of it is that we played those "rock fight" games and we were hyper focused on not beating ourselves with turnovers. It was some of the least entertaining football possible (once Ben left). But I think it's probably the biggest reason we won more of those close games than we should have.

My guess is that we will have a worse record in close games in the next 7 seasons than it was in the previous 7. But I'd be lying if I said that I know exactly why we were so good at it under Tomlin.

 

It's funny.

To me this is pretty discouraging...from a team perspective anyway. From a human interest perspective, I'm happy for him.

It's early, so it may not matter.

But I had high hopes for Wilson that took a pretty big hit last year. But if he can't play the run, I don't think he can be a very effective ILB in the AFCN (assuming BAL doesn't dramatically change their philosophy with a new coach).

Also...love the PJ Alive shirt on that guy!

 

I mean...it's this or who's running as the 4th string QB.

They're all going to write a ton of stuff that doesn't matter this time of year. Because most of the stuff that's even mildly interesting in camp is about position battles at the end of the roster. Guys you hope never get snaps except on teams.

It's easy enough to not read it IMO.

 

If You were the HC before, and the new HC came in , and every time I said wow Im glad we are now doing it differently than before, or anything is better than how we were doing it, tell me how that is not downing the past HC???

 

Yes, and only the I Can't praise one with out the downing of the other crowd did what they are doing now.
Guess what, I Loved what Tomlin did when he came in, but I didn't have to down what Cowher did to do it, and I didn't have to down what Noll did when Cowher came in. Some people can't do that. They can only raise one by downing the other, I've seen it every HC change for the Steelers since Noll to Cowher

 

Stop, you are the leader of the I Can’t Raise One Without Downing the Other Club. I've seen it with player on our team, and coaches when they left since I've been on here with you, and now You are doing it with the HCs. Would you like me to show some post of your to show you???
I would bet money You did the same about Cowher when Tomlin took over. What was You name on the old board??
Its cool, but I have never understood the thought process of it.

 

Did You actually watch the games?? Never mind.
I forget that some have no Idea at what they are seeing.
I guess next you'll say we never ran stunts with him.

 

Just a thought. There are a ton of things in my mind anyway that Tomln deserved to be criticized on. We replaced him with a coach that is almost identical to him except no superbowl. He had some really good QBs yet couldn't win the big one. Maybe we went sideways on this.

 

Ummmm...... He sure the hell has a SB and was against the Steelers.

 

I hope not. No matter what anyone thinks, I want Mike McCarthy to succeed.
I want 5 years from now to say that McCarthy is the Greatest HC we have ever had. I just don't think I must throw another Steelers HC under the bus to do so.
I've never understood that mentality.
I promise you I will be sick to my stomach if McCarthy sucks, and we suck.

 

I have a feeling Tomlin will get a ton of mentions this season. There will be, Tomlin would have done this or Tomlin would have never done that, etc. etc.

 

McCarthy won a super bowl in 2010 with the packers against the steelers

 

And???
The Steelers beat L. Jackson most of the time they play him, matter of fact they make him look very bad a lot. So therefore L. Jackson isn't good??

 

Pretty sure he was commenting on the comment that MM had no SBs. He did.

 

I said this because he said that McCarthy had no super bowl

 

My bad to @Steelersfan43 .
Sorry.

 

It's all subjective. When Cowher left Steelers in 2007... Steelers had won a Super Bowl the previous year in February of 2006. When Noll left Steelers in 1991... two years prior, he coached an overachieving team with not-so-great talent to a playoff victory over the Oilers and almost defeated John Elway in his own stadium.

When Tomlin left... he was 9 years out from a playoff victory in 2016 (longest streak since the 1960's) with stagnating Steelers franchise, gazing at it's belly button, 6 straight playoff defeats starting with Jags in January of '18.....with only winning seasons to show for it... basically participation trophies!

Cowher left a great team in place... and Noll left an average team with a good core to build around.

I will bash Tomlin until the end of time for wasting my late 40's and early 50's Steelers Fandom years.

The puppy has yapped. Carry on.

 

Quite puppy

 

Early trouble brewing:

Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Is Already Dealing With The Same Exact Problem As He Did In 2025

The Pittsburgh Steelers were very eager to bring back quarterback Aaron Rodgers for 2026 as the four-time MVP may have a little bit more in the tank. At very least, he has a very high football IQ to the point where he can help mentor the young passers, and hopefully help at least one of them become a capable starter at the NFL level. There are some concerns around his ability, which is fair for any 42-year-old athlete, but he's looking to prove all the doubters wrong and end his career on a high note.

Unfortunately, Rodgers' first impression at training camp appears to be a negative one. This isn't just a one-off problem; it's something that plagued the Steelers throughout the 2025 season. Nick Farabaugh explained what happened after the first day of camp concluded.

Of all the critiques of Rodgers, the one that has proven to be true time and time again is the fact that he does not get along well with young receivers. He is rarely able to develop chemistry with them, and that already feels like the case in Latrobe. With two young receivers competing for his trust, this is already off to a bad start for all parties involved, and who knows if it will actually get better?

The issue is very simple: Rodgers has a very particular way of doing things. He wants everything to happen in a very specific manner, but that usually doesn't translate to the young receivers. They are trying to figure out how to make things work at the NFL level in general, so it's harder for them to put all of their time and effort into learning how to do things the way that one quarterback wants it done.

Germie Bernard is just a rookie. Obviously, he's not expected to be perfect in his very first day of training camp. It's not the miscommunication part that's troubling, as that is normal for players like him. It's the fact that Rodgers does not take kindly to issues like this, and it could result in him getting demoted. Instead of competing to be WR3, he might end up as a WR5 if things don't turn around quickly.

Steelers Still Can't Get Key Connection Working
At least Bernard is new and his issues are more excusable. Roman Wilson, on the other hand, has had a year to try and develop some kind of chemistry with Rodgers, and it hasn't worked out at all. The fact that it's Year 2 of the veteran quarterback being on the team and they still can't get on the same page is a very bad sign for things to come. History says that things likely won't change here at all.

In training camp of 2025, Wilson was competing for WR2, but he quickly fell in the depth chart. He became a bubble player that had to fight for the ability to make the 53-man roster, let alone get any sort of action on game days. The two had frequent miscommunications all the way into practice in the preseason, and he only had one target in the first four weeks of the season.

Right when it looked like Rodgers and Wilson were potentially getting on the same page, everything became awful. Wilson did not have a single reception in two weeks, and then he became a healthy scratch in favor of a waiver-wire pickup and an old friend from the Green Bay Packers. He only appeared in one game in the final six weeks, which includes the Wild Card game. He was not targeted in that game.