It's been seven months since the Steelers finished their 2020 season in disappointing fashion with a 48-37 loss in the playoffs to the Browns.
The sting of that defeat hung over the team for the entire offseason. But the Steelers hardly stood pat after that loss, making a number of changes despite winning the AFC North with a 12-4 record.
Thursday, the Steelers will get about the business of erasing the memory of what transpired on that chilly day last January when they open training camp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex with what will be a week of conditioning before they move over to Heinz Field next week for the bulk of their practices.
The NFL denied the Steelers a return to Saint Vincent College for a second consecutive time because of the pandemic, meaning the team will be away from its camp home since the late 1960s for the second consecutive year.
Mike Tomlin will miss that training camp setting, which offers a unique opportunity at team building. But he and his coaching staff will make the most of a difficult situation.
And at least this year the NFL will hold preseason games, starting with the Steelers' game against the Cowboys Aug. 5 in the Hall of Fame game. And unlike last year, the Steelers will hold 12 practices at Heinz Field that are open to the public starting next week.
"There are some advantages from a familiarity standpoint," Tomlin said of holding camp at Heinz Field. "A guy can move around the building and understand how to move and not have that uneasiness associated with trying to find your way around here on game day. But now that we have preseason games and things of that nature, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to gain that comfort. I just like the environment more than anything.
"I like the environment of Heinz Field and getting familiar with making plays in that space, and I think that it kind of helps in that way."
The Steelers will make the best of it. Besides, after not holding camp at Saint Vincent College last year, because of roster turnover, over half of the 90 players on the current roster have never been to a training camp in Latrobe.
The turnover from a year ago has been massive.
Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett were both jettisoned at the end of last season, replaced by Matt Canada and Adrian Klemm, respectively.
Center Maurkice Pouncey retired. Guard David DeCastro and cornerback Steven Nelson were released. Linebacker Bud Dupree, cornerback Mike Hilton, offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva, running back James Conner and guard Matt Feiler were among those who left in free agency.
The team has been active in the draft and free agency to replace those players.
Center B.J. Finney was re-signed after spending last season with the Seahawks and then Bengals. Former Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner was signed when DeCastro surprisingly was released at the end of minicamp in June. Monday, the Steelers signed veteran outside linebacker Melvin Ingram, another former Pro Bowl player, to add depth to that position.
Both Turner and Ingram played for the Chargers in 2020, as did running back Kalen Ballage, who was signed for depth.
The team also signed defensive backs Miles Killebrew (Detroit), Arthur Maulet (Jets) and offensive linemen Joe Haeg (Buccaneers), Chaz Green (Colts) and Rashaad Coward (Bears), as well. Green was added Tuesday.
But the biggest additions came in the draft. First-round pick Najee Harris is expected to take over for Conner to help boost a running game that finished dead last in the NFL at 84.4 yards per game, the worst for a Steelers team since 1966. The draft also brought in tight end Pat Freiermuth and center Kendrick Green, both of whom are expected to make an impact this season.
A big part of the jobs of Canada and Klemm in this camp will be continuing to install a new offense while doing so behind a completely rebuilt offensive line. Chuks Okorafor is the only player returning who started more than four games up front for the Steelers, and he's moving over to left tackle from the right side to replace Villanueva.
"I think the players have handled it very, very well," Canada said. "Certainly, been very receptive to it. We’re not making drastic changes. Terminology and the ways we want to call things, but football is football. The guys have been great."
One change the Steelers didn't make was at quarterback.
Ben Roethlisberger was a consistent attendee at the offseason workouts as he learned a new offense. The veteran quarterback, who returns for a team-record 18th season, took a $5 million pay cut to come back.
Now nearly two full years removed from an elbow surgery that cost him most of the 2019 season, Roethlisberger expects to be better than he was last season when he led the Steelers to an 11-0 start before the team lost four of its final five games, including the postseason loss to the Browns.
"It just felt like I had more in the tank," Roethlisberger said. "I felt disappointed about the way the season ended obviously and hate to go out that way. I just wanted to let them know that if they wanted me back, I felt like I could give them everything I got."
What that might be remains to be seen. But the Steelers feel they have what it takes to compete for another championship.
Whether that is a realistic goal or not will largely depend on whether Roethlisberger from the first half of last season or the one from the second half of the year shows up in 2021.
As he has done the past few years, Roethlisberger, now 39, cut down on poor eating habits in the offseason to better prepare himself for the season. More importantly, he didn't spend the offseason throwing constantly as he did a year ago, when he began a rigorous rehab program once he was able to start throwing again in February.
"Last year I threw thousands of balls in the offseason because we were rehabbing," Roethlisberger said. "This year, it has gone back to the normal routine of throwing here, doing a little bit at home with the trainer. But mostly taking time off. I took a lot of time off from throwing so I hope and think and really believe it will pay dividends this year."
It will definitely be something to keep an eye on.
Despite winning the division a year ago, blowing the Browns out, 38-7, at Heinz Field in October and sweeping the Ravens, the Steelers are widely picked to finish third in the AFC North this year.
That, however, is why the games are played.
"I think anybody that is told they can’t do something, they are going to be motivated to go prove people wrong," Roethlisberger said. "The other thing is I have been doing this for long enough that you let it motivate you but you don’t let it drive you or push you into just being so crazy that I have to prove that person wrong. Because at the end of the day you are just trying to win a football game and a championship.
"I’m going out to play for my teammates who are in this locker room and on this field, playing for the fans. That’s what it’s about."