The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2026 training camp has been one filled with much intrigue, as new head coach Mike McCarthy runs his first camp with the Black and Gold. He does have a tremendous amount of NFL experience as a head coach already, but he comes into Pittsburgh looking to turn things around and get the team back to playoff success. Following a big offseason filled with moves to bolster the roster, he is getting a chance to get some long looks at players before he and his staff eventually have to trim the roster. Many are wondering what is to come, as well as what has already been switched up by the new regime.
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Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy gets emotional during opening press conference.
One new member of this staff that joins McCarthy is Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham. He previously spent four years under the same role with the Las Vegas Raiders. He has plenty of work cut out for him, despite seemingly having more resources and weapons at his disposal than he did in Las Vegas.
With all that said, McCarthy recently mentioned one change that will take place in this 2026 training camp. The idea of the team not tackling is not as far-fetched as some may believe, especially given the data and analytics that support it, but some still question the strategy. In a recent episode of Steelers Collective, team insider Mark Kaboly spoke to why he believes Graham's defense may be the first to give some resistance to this change.
“Was practice not physical today?” Kaboly asked. “They got into like three fights. It’s going to come to the point where some people on this defense say, ‘Screw this, I’m tackling.’”
During the episode, Kaboly did mention that the first padded practice on Monday appeared to be less physical than some may be used to. However, his comments on Tuesday's practice indicate that along with the weather heating up, so are players emotions on the practice field. If that continues to happen in the dog days of summer, his prediction of someone on defense abandoning their head coach's plans and ultimately starting to live tackle are more likely to happen.
It is certainly possible that things continue to ramp up from a physicality standpoint, especially as training camp fights among teammates are not something that is uncommon in the NFL. While Kaboly's theory may come to fruition given the physical presences of newcomers like safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Jamel Dean, they may want to heed their head coach's protocol for this training camp.
Steelers May Be Trying To Avoid The Inevitable
In order for Graham to accomplish his mission of turning around the defense in 2026, he is going to need to see guys staying healthy and on the field making an impact. Star edge rusher TJ Watt was forced to miss some time due to an injury in 2025, albeit due to an unfortunate accident during a dry needling procedure at the team facilities. However, safety DeShon Elliott saw his 2025 season cut short due to injury. Those are just two examples of key players being sidelined last season that didn't necessarily have to do with preparation in training camp.
In 2024 during his first season with Pittsburgh, Elliott made 14 starts with the team. In those starts, he produced an interception, as well as two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Having him back at full health can provide a huge boost not only to the secondary, but to the defensive production as a whole in the 2026 season. Trying to avoid any additional harm to him in the offseason is a logical strategy.
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Steelers safety DeShon Elliott making a big play in his first game with Pittsburgh.
Things may end up turning physical at training camp regardless, especially if a couple defenders decide to abandon the plan of no live tackling as Kaboly mentioned. However, it will be important for McCarthy to bring his leadership and lengthy NFL experience to calm things down in order to avoid any sort of unnecessary or unfortunate injury ahead of the 2026 season. It will be interesting to see how things unfold as these practices progress, but staying healthy on defense can go a long way in turning things around on that side of the ball in 2026.
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