4 takeaways from first Steelers training camp practice

The Pittsburgh Steelers hit the practice field in Latrobe for their first training camp practice on Wednesday. Here are the four biggest things we noticed.

The Steelers held their first training camp practice of the summer at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA on Wednesday. It was an overcast day and practice wrapped up a bit earlier than it typically does, but there is still plenty to take away from Pittsburgh’s first performance on the practice field.

Though we need to be careful not to read too deeply into some potentially insignificant things after just one practice, it was interesting to see what all went down. Here are my four biggest takeaways from the first Steelers training camp practice of 2022:

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson appears to be ‘holding in’

Many of us feared that Diontae Johnson would attempt a ‘hold-in’ during the Steelers 2022 training camp as he awaits a new contract extension. That appears to be the case. Though Johnson participated in positional drills, he never took a rep during team sessions and could be seen on the sideline working out with a personal coach.

Just hours before the Steelers took the practice field, Johnson essentially implied that his agent didn’t want him to risk unnecessary injury. This is the same approach that T.J. Watt’s agent had him take a season ago.

We have no idea at this point in time how long this ‘hold-in’ will last or if Omar Khan and his staff will be able to come to terms with Johnson on a new extension at all. But if you were hoping to see him start developing chemistry with his new quarterbacks in team drills, don’t hold your breath.