If you are a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers you have to be pleased with what transpired over the course of the offseason practices as it relates to the team as a whole. Sure, there are depth questions that need to be answered and several training camp battles forthcoming, but there were no serious injuries reported outside of the unfortunate stabbing of tackle Mike Adams; attendance was a great; the draft picks are all signed and there appears to be no real drama associated with any of the players right now. It was four weeks of nothing but football in shorts with a minor knee scope of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and a trip to Dave & Busters mixed in.
Head coach Mike Tomlin seems to be pleased with the foundation that was laid over the course of the offseason and now school is officially out for the summer. Tomlin did, however, stress to team this past week before they left that there is a difference between being ready for training camp and being prepared for training camp.
“The word that I used was ‘prepared,’” Tomlin said during his Thursday morning press conference. “Oftentimes we talk about being ready for camp. I think ready is an emotional thing. I’m ready for camp as I sit here today because I love camp. I love the process of team building. Prepared is another thing. Daily actions between now and then are to ensure that we’re ready to take the actions that we desire to take. I’m more concerned about our guys being prepared than ready. We talk openly about the differences between the two.”
Those daily actions that Tomlin talked about include players having to keep their conditioning level up and making sure they stay brushed up on the playbook. While several players will remain in Pittsburgh to continue their training, others will scatter out across the country to work with their favorite personal trainers.
If we\’re lucky, the next six weeks of the news cycle will consist of us recapping player interviews done between now and the start of training camp with an occasional report of who is training where and who is participating in what kid camp. Who knows, maybe there will be a surprise free agent signing or two, but I wouldn\’t necessarily bank on it
Around the league, there is bound to be a player or two that shows up on the police blotter before camps open, and the Steelers players need to make sure that they are not included in that.
So here\’s to what we hope will be a quiet offseason as the team “prepares” for what awaits them at Latrobe. As the old adage goes, no news is good news from this point forward.
