The Pittsburgh Steelers have had some hot, muggy days through the first full week of training camp. They finally got to put on the pads on Wednesday for one of the hottest practices so far.
Naturally, fans got to see some scuffles, some physical disagreements. But Wednesday was otherwise fairly straightforward, with most issues being settled between the whistles.
Then Thursday’s practice was moved up to 10 a.m. to beat the incoming storms, and the pads came off. Despite cooler weather, the practice was filled with heated tempers and more chippiness from both sides.
Even without pads, Thursday’s Steelers training camp practice brought serious heat
Among the mixups on Thursday was an exchange between recently signed safety Chuck Clark and No. 1 wideout DK Metcalf. Reportedly, Clark took some swings at Metcalf. Of course, there’s no video of the incident, and there wasn’t much context beyond Clark 'throwing some punches'.
Metcalf has something of a reputation for getting heated with opposing cornerbacks, but of course, he wasn’t the only one. Jonnu Smith and Juan Thornhill went back and forth a few times on Thursday, too.
Luckily, head coach Mike Tomlin seemed to let everything play itself out with the exchanges. It’s more than understandable for a team that is actually away at camp, facing hot temps, a schedule change, and a day after pads to get heated a few times. It’s doubly understandable when the offense starts to catch up to the defense, which is typical in training camps across the league.
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Metcalf caught a few touchdowns on the day, one in seven shots and a longer reception over the middle in 11-on-11. Pair in Smith’s catches over Thornhill or even Roman Wilson’s big catch on Joey Porter Jr., the defensive backfield took one on the chin Thursday.
Still, the fights not getting too out of hand is a good sign for teambuilding, as ironic as that statement always is. The guys on both sides won’t have to wait too long to get their hands on someone wearing different colors. The Steelers face the Jaguars in their first preseason contest on August 9.