Steelers Like What They Got Out of Joint Practice with Bills
PITTSBURGH — There was a little bit of chippiness and trash-talking during the Steelers-Bills join practice on Thursday at Acrisure Stadium, but nothing went overboard. It was just good hard competition. With Mike Tomlin’s close relationship with Sean McDermott, that was to be expected.
The last time the Steelers had a joint practice was against the Detroit Lions in 2016. It’s not something the Steelers usually do, but Tomlin felt comfortable with having a joint practice since it was a unit led by McDermott, who was a teammate of his at William & Mary.
“The Buffalo Bills are a good dance partner. We had a really productive practice,” Tomlin said after Thursday’s joint practice. “… Sean and I have known each other since we were kids. I just think it created a really good and competitive atmosphere while maintaining professionalism, so I’m appreciative of that.”
Tomlin said “we’ll see” with a little smile when asked about the possibility of returning the favor and participating in a joint practice in Buffalo in the future.
Steelers quarterback Justin Fields didn’t expect any brawls to breakout. Getting in a camp melee doesn’t accomplish anything, and it’s a risk for an injury.
“I mean guys on our team aren’t dumb. I think we’re all trying to be smart here,” Fields said. “We don’t want anything extra to happen. We’re all professionals at the end of the day and really don’t want any after-play fighting and stuff to happen. So I think guys are being smart and of course, guys are going to check the defense and stuff like that if they’re getting chippy and stuff like that, just because it’s what we do. It’s what football players do. But I mean, nobody’s going to go over the top, at least from our side.”
There is a professional component that Tomlin expects from his club. After the Steelers had a skirmish in week 2 of training camp, Tomlin told Kay Adams of Up & Adams, “We’re not putting together an MMA team.”
“I expected it to be chippy,” Steelers rookie center Zach Frazier said following the joint practice. “It wasn’t too bad, but definitely a couple of scuffles, nothing too crazy.”
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