LATROBE, Pa. -- When the pads get put on at training camp, the physicality and intensity obviously increases. Thus, the competitiveness increases, and sometimes things boil over as they did Wednesday when the first fight of training camp broke out.
On the surface, fights are just a part of training camp. But, the underlying theme to take away from Wednesday is this team has a bit of a nasty side.
"I like competitiveness, I like the fire," Teryl Austin said. "But we just have to make sure we understand we can’t fight."
Of course, that's what a coach is going to say. And he's right. Stuff like that will cost 15 yards one way or the other in games that matter. But the beauty of training camp is peeling back the layers and finding the intent behind incidents such as today's, when Elandon Roberts took his liberties with Justin Fields and hit him late on a running play, in which Mason McCormick retaliated and all hell broke loose.
"The offense did what they were supposed to do," Roberts said after smiling ear to ear. "You're always supposed to protect your quarterback. I think it's a really good thing. You can see the mentality of your offense, protecting the quarterback and stuff like that. ... They should. Always protect the quarterback."
Roberts knew exactly what he was doing. And, it does say quite a bit about the offense because this kind of fire on that side of the ball has been lacking for far too long.
So far, the offense has been doing a good amount of things right. The first two days of padded practices at Saint Vincent College have tilted in the direction of the offense. When the physicality ramps up during this portion of training camp, the defense typically prevails early.
That hasn't been the case thus far, specifically in the "seven shots" drill, in which the offense has prevailed, 4-3, in both padded practices. And you bet the offense is letting the defense know about it.
"It was real quiet today, I don't know if you guys noticed," Dan Moore Jr. said with a smile after Tuesday's practice. "I don't know if they didn't care or what, but it was real quiet."
But, to go back to Roberts' little test, it's crucial for this team because, well, the offense has been behind the defense for a few years now. That matters in an offensive league. If you were to go through all of the teams that won the Super Bowl, about 75% of them had a quarterback that is already in the Hall of Fame or had one that undoubtedly will earn a gold jacket upon eligibility.
With Russell Wilson in the twilight of his career and Justin Fields still figuring things out heading into Year 4, it sounds like you might as well just write off this team.
But, there is a way to win, or at least be competitive. If a team doesn't have a franchise quarterback, the most likely way for them to defy the odds and win it all is with great defense.
You can go back through the history of the game and find it time and time again. The 1985 Bears had Jim McMahon. The 2000 Ravens had Trent Dilfer. The 2002 Buccaneers had Brad Johnson. The 2013 Seahawks had Wilson, who may earn his place in the Hall of Fame one day, but that's not certain. You could even tap into the latter years of great quarterbacks when they were far beyond their prime such as Peyton Manning and look at the 2015 Broncos and see that team won because of defense.
On paper, this might be the best defense this team has had since the early 2010s. T.J. Watt is the best defensive player on the planet, and he and Alex Highsmith are among the best duos at edge rusher in the NFL. The inside linebacker room has elite talent in Patrick Queen, a solid 'backer in Roberts and a ton of potential in Payton Wilson. The secondary boasts the best safety in the league in Minkah Fitzpatrick and they have a budding shutdown cornerback in Joey Porter Jr.
But the rest of the holes on the defense are being filled out, and we're seeing that play out in training camp. Donte Jackson has looked like a great addition to have opposite of Porter. He's feisty on every rep and is seldom out of place. DeShon Eilliott could be one of the more undervalued additions as he not only brings an added physicality to the safety position, but gives the Steelers the flexibility to run the three-safety package again as an answer to their nickel defense while Cam Sutton serves his eight-game suspension.
Another option for that conundrum is Beanie Bishop, who's come in as an undrafted free agent and been one of the talks of camp thus far.
"With Beanie, he gives you some speed, he gives you some ability to cover," Austin said. "He is -- from what we saw with college tape and things we are starting to see now -- he is a pretty tough guy and he’s a pretty competitive guy. So, that gives him the baseline that you need him to play in there."
The defensive line is built on physicality, and there are a few younger guys stacking some good reps. DeMarvin Leal looks to have the best burst we've seen since he was drafted, Isaiahh Loudermilk has had some quality reps in run defense over the past two days, and Logan Lee has even gotten into the action against the run, too. Montravius Adams looks a lot like the guy we saw last season before his midseason injury.
So, at the very least, the Steelers will have options to weed through when looking for depth up front behind Cam Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi and Keeanu Benton. Options are always better than being forced to look elsewhere.
But, the theme among Austin's comments throughout his several minutes with the media Wednesday afternoon was having a physical presence. It's been noticeable on the field, even before Wednesday's skirmish. But, that's not by accident. This team wants to be nasty, wants to beat up on other teams:
"A lot of defense is about temperament, how you play and what you're willing to dish out," Austin said. "I think our guys are tough, are edgy. I like that, and I would never discourage that at all. Our identity on defense, we're going to be tough, physical, hard-nosed. That's what we are. You don't want to legislate that out of those guys."
Right now, the other team is the Steelers' offense. It'll remain that way until the Texans come to town in nine days. For now, they'll have to keep messing with the same guys that fired right back with the same intensity Wednesday afternoon. That'll help lay the foundation for a defense that needs to perform if this team is to compete in a loaded division and conference.
After all, the Steelers don't have the firepower at quarterback to compete with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. But, they might have enough firepower defensively -- both in terms of talent and temperament -- to make 2024 a season in which this team get back to playing deeper into January.