A lot has been made about the new verbiage and formations that will be used by the Steelers on offense this season as Matt Canada takes over for Randy Fichtner as offensive coordinator.
Rome certainly wasn't built in a day, but at least the Steelers have had an offseason program on which to learn everything. And they're all in this together, which makes things a little easier.
But at 39, Ben Roethlisberger is learning a "new" offense for the first time since he arrived in Pittsburgh in 2004. Back then, the coaching staff built a small package for the rookie quarterback and worked up from there when he was forced into the lineup after injuries to both starter Tommy Maddox and primary backup Charlie Batch.
"We had Tommy Maddox to start. We also had Charlie Batch to back up, so he could be our third quarterback," then-head coach Bill Cowher said last week. "As it unfolds, Charlie Batch gets hurt in the third preseason game and won’t be ready until the fourth game of the season. That’s fine. We’ll have a little package for Ben until Charlie gets back. Tommy goes down in Week 2. Now, ahead of Philip Rivers, ahead of Eli Manning, the guy I thought was supposed to sit a while was now starting."
This time around, everyone's learning the new offense installed by Canada.
Roethlisberger has gone through coordinator changes in the past, moving from Ken Whisenhunt to Bruce Arians to Todd Haley and finally Fichtner. But they all kept the same verbiage.
"My daughter makes flash cards for me. We’ve done that," Roethlisberger said Thursday as the Steelers opened their 2021 training camp at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex. "There have been some quizzes at home. It’s become a mental offseason as much as a physical. You talk about the percentage of new things, the run game formations, everything. It’s a high percentage of new. It’s a challenge.
"It’s a little tougher, but I’m going into it full speed ahead to be the best I can be."
There are still some similarities. After all, Canada didn't come in to reinvent football.
For example, Thursday, the Steelers ran a staple of their offense in previous years -- a screen -- to one of the wide receivers. The play broke free for a long gain -- though there was no tackling -- down the sideline.
It looked familiar, but ...
"The interesting thing about it was that the play looked familiar, but not one thing was called the same," Roethlisberger said. "The blocking was different. Plays may look the same, but they’re going to be called differently. Hopefully we’ll see those results a lot."
Perhaps Roethlisberger is sandbagging just a bit. Mike Tomlin said the offense isn't massively different. And thus far things have looked pretty smooth. Nobody has run into anyone else over the course of the install. There haven't been mishandles of the football or passes that are thrown to no one in particular.
"It’s not all new verbiage, new concepts. It’s not. It’s really not," Tomlin said. "Matt’s done a really good, thoughtful job of easing the transition. Sure, there are some new things, and sure, there are some new words, but it’s really not a blank slate. Ben’s been on the job long enough where I don’t want to make that seem like something significant. It’s an adjustment, but by the time we’re able to play, I doubt it’s going to be of any significance."
But they're all still learning.
"I’m looking at the wristbands quite a bit. We all are," Roethlisberger said. "All of the quarterbacks are trying to pick up on it. New isn’t always bad, it’s just new."
• T.J. Watt didn't do much at the first practice on Thursday. Then again, the 2020 NFL sack leader doesn't need to do much. He never lets himself get out of shape.
Oh, and the Steelers were trying to get Melvin Ingram, signed as a free agent earlier this week, up to speed, giving him plenty of snaps opposite second-year outside linebacker Alex Highsmith.
"This is a long process. We’re here a week earlier," Watt said. "It’s all about acclimating the body the right way. No games are won today. It’s all about doing things the proper way, getting my body right and making sure I’m ready for Week 1."
How exactly Ingram, a three-time Pro Bowl player who is now 32, is used remains to be seen. But Watt isn't concerned. He's just happy to have Ingram on board after the Steelers saw Bud Dupree leave as a free agent for Tennessee.
"I just know that I’m going to be at left, and whoever is at right or what the rotation looks like, I’m just excited to have more depth and have a guy like Melvin in our rotation, in our room, a guy that I’ve watched a lot of film on over the years and a guy that I can learn a lot from," Watt said. "I’m excited to have more depth in our outside linebacker room and excited to have more depth as a whole."
• It wasn't that long ago that Ingram and Joey Bosa, his teammate with the Chargers, were considered the top pass rushing duo in the league.
In fact, prior to Dupree's breakout season in 2019, Watt and Dupree openly talked about matching or surpassing Ingram and Bosa. Watt watched a lot of that duo given the fact his brother, fullback Derek Watt, also played for the Chargers before joining the Steelers last year.
The past two seasons, the Steelers, who have led the NFL in sacks an unprecedented four straight seasons, have had the league's top duo.
In 2019, Watt and Dupree combined for 26 sacks. Last season, with Dupree -- who still had eight sacks in 11 games -- sidelined, Watt and defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt combined for 26 and were two of just three players in the AFC to reach double digits individually.
Still, Watt is eager to learn from Ingram, who has been named to the Pro Bowl three times and has 49 career sacks.
"I am excited. I worked with him during the Pro Bowl and I used to watch Charger games when Derek was playing in San Diego and Los Angeles," Watt said. "He’s just a player that has a lot of burst off the line of scrimmage. He’s got a phenomenal spin move and just seeing him in person, he is a colorful guy and I am excited to work with him."
• The Steelers held their first practice Thursday, just two weeks before they take the field for the first time in the Hall of Fame game against the Cowboys in Canton, Ohio.
The Cowboys put a bevy of players on the PUP List Thursday, including wide receiver Amari Cooper and star pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. The Steelers didn't have anyone open camp on the PUP List, but in addition to Watt, guard Kevin Dotson and Tuitt didn't do much to varying degrees.
None of them seem concerning, though, at this point.
• The NFL continues to push teams toward having vaccinated players on their rosters. In fact, it went as far Thursday as releasing a memo to all 32 teams saying that if a team had a COVID-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players, it could be forced to forfeit a game.
The Steelers are in good shape there. They've had more than 90 percent of their roster vaccinated for several weeks now, well above the 85 percent threshold the league desires.
Can outbreaks still happen? Sure.
But should they be widespread? Probably not.
"We just checked that box. We’ve really kind of moved on, to be honest with you," Tomlin said. "That’s why we wanted to be so proactive about addressing it, so we’re not spending a bunch of time thinking or talking about it. It’s a non-issue for us, thankfully, due to the efforts and willingness of our guys. So we’re focused on the football."
Dale and Eddie break down the first day of camp:
Here's the video:
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