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LATROBE, Pa. (AP) \u2014<\/p>\nRodgers says there’s ‘zero debate’ 2026 will be his final season as Steelers open new-look camp<\/p>\n
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) \u2014<\/p>\n
Aaron Rodgers says there\u2019s \u201czero debate\u201d that this season will be his last.<\/p>\n
The future Hall of Fame quarterback\u2019s status beyond 2026 is seemingly one of the few certainties for the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>, where the only thing familiar about their annual pilgrimage to Saint Vincent College for training camp<\/a> might be the venue.<\/p>\n Having a new head coach for the first time in a generation will do that.<\/p>\n While native son Mike McCarthy\u2019s Pittsburgh roots<\/a> run deep, he also brings a career full of experiences built coaching elsewhere to a franchise that has done certain things a certain way for a long, long time.<\/p>\n Times are changing. Right from the jump.<\/p>\n The quaint spectacle of players being swarmed by cameras and microphones as they lugged their bags and personal items into Rooney Hall is no more. Most of the roster arrived quietly late Monday. Nearly all of them were on the field for a post-breakfast conditioning test on Tuesday, a glorified jog that was typically done in the late afternoon during former coach Mike Tomlin\u2019s 19-year run.<\/p>\n No wonder linebacker T.J. Watt<\/a> likened the beginning of his 10th year in the NFL to the first day of school.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just a lot of unknown,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The next three weeks in the western Pennsylvania hills are a feeling-out process of sorts for players and coaches alike. Watt insists he is embracing the new.<\/p>\n Good thing, because there\u2019s plenty to go around.<\/p>\n The afternoon practices in the midsummer heat that Tomlin leaned into, often clad in black sweatpants and a sweatshirt, will now be held earlier in the day. Team meetings will start at 7:30 a.m., with all practices scheduled to wrap up by 1:30 p.m. at the latest, around the same time Tomlin\u2019s practices usually began.<\/p>\n McCarthy said he\u2019d be fine with practicing right after breakfast if he could. And tackling? Well, that\u2019s mostly out, too.<\/p>\n \u201cYou try to reduce risk,\u201d said McCarthy, who said the emphasis will be on trying to make sure players correctly do all the fundamental things required for good tackling form \u2014 like footwork \u2014 so they\u2019ll be ready when the games count.<\/p>\n Still, McCarthy is well aware that trying to prevent all injuries is a fool\u2019s errand. If he needed a reminder, he got one when veteran defensive back Jalen Ramsey tweaked a knee during minicamp, a setback that landed him on the physically unable to perform list, though McCarthy stressed the move was precautionary and that Ramsey is expected back in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n A little more uncertain is the status of cornerback Joey Porter Jr.<\/a> The club placed him on the PUP list on Tuesday but offered no details. The timing comes with Porter angling for a new contract as he enters the final year of the rookie deal he signed in 2023 after Pittsburgh selected him with the first pick of the second round.<\/p>\n Porter held himself out of certain team drills<\/a> during minicamp in June in an effort to protect his health, saying at the time that he feels like he\u2019s one of the elite players at his position in the league.<\/p>\n While the Steelers have signed Porter\u2019s draft classmates tight end Darnell Washington and outside linebacker Nick Herbig<\/a> to new contracts in recent months, general manager Omar Khan said there is nothing else \u201cimminent.\u201d Asked if he\u2019s concerned that the longer it takes to reach an agreement Porter, the more expensive it will get, Khan shrugged.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the nature of the beast,\u201d he said. \u201cWe understand where we are, and we have communication. We know how the process works. But at the end of the day, we can only go so far with certain negotiations and see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n