The third day of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp has now concluded, with CBs Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Kent and DB Jalen Ramsey remaining on the PUP list. Ramsey will likely spend a few weeks on PUP, while there’s no clear timeline for Porter or Kent’s return, though the two seem to be getting closer.
After Kent worked out on a back field yesterday running and cutting, there’s some hope he may be able to return before camp breaks in Latrobe. Porter has been active around the team during drills on the sideline.
OLB T.J. Watt and DL Cam Heyward received off days, while S Darnell Savage didn’t do any work in team. With Friday being almost entirely a walkthrough with players not even wearing helmets, there were no injuries suffered during practice today.
The Steelers remain in a good spot injury-wise, and the pads won’t come on until Monday’s practice. With a light day on Friday, we’ll see if things ramp up a little bit on Saturday in what should be Pittsburgh’s final non-padded practice of training camp.
With Watt and Heyward receiving an off day on just Day 3 of training camp, it’s reasonable to expect the two of them, and likely others, will continue to receive off days sprinkled in throughout the rest of the Steelers’ time in Latrobe. Aaron Rodgers may join them if he winds up getting his wish for full off days, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see other veterans get some time off.
Rodgers told reporters on Tuesday that he’d enjoy some veteran off days this summer, and that while some were planned for him last year, they were wiped out due to Pittsburgh’s weather-adjusted practices.
Veteran off days were relatively common under Mike Tomlin, but nothing can be assumed under a new regime. It seems like Mike McCarthy is also a fan of keeping his older players well-rested, and we’ll see how things go throughout the rest of camp.