The first mandatory Steelers practice in the books after the Steelers took to Heinz Field to start minicamp Tuesday.
Mike Tomlin made it clear that the Steelers' practice was normal, but both Ben Roethlisberger and JuJu Smith-Schuster left the field on their own strength early for injury concerns that Tomlin assured weren't serious.
"None concerning whatsoever," Tomlin said when asked if there were any injuries during practice. "I don't talk injuries in great detail this time of year, but rest assured if something was significant I would address it."
When pressed further on their status, Tomlin declined to comment on how Roethlisberger's injury came about during the team's two-minute drill close to finished or when Smith-Schuster left the field early. He was also asked why David DeCastro only attended practice but didn't participate in any of the activities, about which he also declined to comment.
Injuries became a significant problem for the Steelers in 2020 with Devin Bush, Bud Dupree, Zach Banner, each to season-ending injuries with other players enduring shorter-term injuries that left different spots of the depth chart bare with experience down the stretch, including Robert Spillane and Ulysses Gilbert further thinning out the team's linebacker options.
"I can stay up a lot of nights and worry about potential injuries as far as attrition," Tomlin said. "But at the same time I acknowledge attrition is part of this game. I'm comfortable with the guys we have now at linebacker. We're going to coach those guys up and hope attrition doesn't set in, but I have the same mentality about all positions. It's just not a lot of depth if you're talking about injuries setting in the way they did on us at linebacker in 2020."
The good thing for the Steelers' depth concerns is that the large majority of Steelers were at Heinz Field for the first minicamp practice.
"Everyone was in attendance besides Stephon Tuitt," Tomlin said, acknowledging Tuitt and his family mourning his brother being killed in a hit-and-run. "Everyone knows the personal circumstance of Stephon Tuitt and his family and what they're going through. Our hearts go out to him and his loved ones for their loss."
The other players got plenty of action, including rookies like Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth and free agent signings like Arthur Maulet who got their first experience working on Heinz Field.
"Really excited about putting the finishing touches on what's been a really good offseason at minicamp," Tomlin said. "We always want to give the new Steelers, whether a guy going from college to pro or a guy that's just new to use a feel for what it's like to work in this environment. General conditioning is always where we start. Physical conditioning precedes all discussions. The best thing the guys can do between now and training camp is ready themselves that way. We're also talking schematics and doing new things both offensively and defensively."
Second-year players like Chase Claypool and Alex Highsmith weren't unfamiliar with practicing at Heinz Field, as the Steelers had to do that all of training camp last year during the strict COVID-19 protocols. But this year, Tomlin is much more comfortable with those protocols after how the team handled them last season.
"Man, I'm really comfortable," Tomlin said of the Steelers' COVID-19 protocols. "I like the overall trajectory of our participation in the vaccination process. Guys have worked hard to adhere to the policies and protocols. It's been a continuation of 2020 in regards to our attitude. We're doing really well relative to the rest of our peers. We had a couple more (vaccinations) today. I don't know the exact percentage but from what I understand we're tops in the league in this process."
The Steelers begin their second minicamp practice Wednesday at Heinz Field, at 1 p.m.