Steelers Upcoming Joint Practice With The Bills Will Be Unique From The Rest Of The League

The Pittsburgh Steelers rarely participate in joint practices throughout their training camp. It is a common thing around the league for a team to host another team for a practice or two ahead of a preseason matchup, and there are pros and cons to this. Team are able to evaluate their players against outside competition, but often times these practices get chippy and many fights break out. Pittsburgh will be hosting the Buffalo Bills for a joint practice on August 15th ahead of their preseason matchup on August 17th. 

There have already been some joint practices that have taken place during training camp across the NFL. The New York Giants and the Detroit Lions had a pair of practices together, and there were multiple violent fights that broke out where players were seen throwing punches. NFL insider Mike Garafolo went on the Puck Sports podcast, where he discussed these fights and made a guarantee that fans won't see anything like that when Pittsburgh hosts Buffalo.

"Now, the Steelers-Bills one, I guarantee you with those two head coaches who know each other and the William & Mary connection and all that stuff, there will not be one player that looks at another player the wrong way. I guarantee it, I'm putting that on the line right now. I'm giving you a clip you can throw back in my face if there is a melee of course."

Garafolo is of course referring to the fact that Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott were teammates back when the two played college football at William & Mary. The two have a close relationship dating back many years, and Garafolo insinuates that the respect they have for one another will lead to a clean practice between the Steelers and Bills.

Despite the close relationship between the two head coaches, there are a few things that could spark a heated exchange when Buffalo comes to Pittsburgh. The first being the recent history between the two organizations. Pittsburgh season ended in 2023 at the hands of Buffalo when they lost 31-17 in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. If tensions rise, a mention of this could easily spark a fight.

The Steelers have also shown a ton of physicality and intensity in their practices so far in training camp. There have been multiple noteworthy skirmishes that have occurred. A brawl broke out when the defense hit Justin Fields while he was running the football, and the backs on backers portion of Pittsburgh's practices have leaded to arguments as well.

Another important factor to pay attention to is a new member of the Bills: Chase Claypool. Claypool was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and he spent two full seasons with the organization. He was traded in the middle of his third year after he became a bit of an issue in the locker room. It will be interesting to see him back in Acrisure Stadium, and see how he interacts with some of his former teammates.

Steelers Will Be Able To See If They Can Compete With Contenders

Buffalo will give the Steelers a good idea of where they are at as a team. The Bills are a strong contender in the AFC, and they have been for the past several seasons. They haven't been able to get past the Kansas City Chiefs in order to get a shot at the Lombardi Trophy, but nonetheless it'll provide Pittsburgh with a good measuring stick of what they could expect out of the 2024 season. 

Pittsburgh will take on a gauntlet at the end of the season which includes all six of their divisional matchups, along with games against the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. That makes this practice crucial, as the Steelers need to prepare to take on some of the league's best.

What do you expect from the Steelers and Bills joint practice? Let us know in the comments below!

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