The Pittsburgh Steelers are entering the 2026 season with almost an entirely new coaching staff and a few new faces on the roster. That is a lot of change for just one offseason, and it is a rarity that a franchise that goes through all of that in a short period of time finds a way to have a super successful season the following year. Teams going through coaching changes are prone to slow starts, which is something the Steelers absolutely cannot afford as their schedule in the second half of the season is one of the hardest in the league.
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Steelers' Aaron Rodgers stands with Head Coach Mike McCarthy during training camp ahead of the 2026 season.
A fast start is going to be important for Pittsburgh, but things are not looking great so far. The good news is that the team still has three preseason games in front of it to figure things out as well as a bunch of practice time before the regular season opens up. It has been reported that the group has had a few sloppy practices when it comes to pre-snap penalties and missed assignments, which are the exact things that this team needs to avoid to open up the new season.
New Head Coach Mike McCarthy spoke to the media on Tuesday morning before practice began, and he shared some concerning remarks about where his team is at currently. Nick Farabaugh reported the concerning comments from McCarthy's press conference.
"Mike McCarthy says he 'doesn't like where we are' given the amount of missed assignments the team has had together." Farabaugh wrote. "McCarthy admits the amount of missed assignments the team has already had in training camp is a 'little higher than normal.'"
McCarthy is one of the more experienced head coaches in the league, so when he says things like this it is concerning. He has had very successful seasons and he has had disappointing ones, and he probably saw early signs of both in those respective camps. The Steelers have things to clean up, and it will be interesting to see how sloppy things might get on Thursday night for the team's first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
The more concerning part of this whole statement is that the head coach said something similar already in training camp. That means the problems have not been cleaned up, and they could have gotten even worse. Fans should start to look for some progression from the offense, especially on Thursday night. If things are disastrous, regardless of who is on the field, it is a sign for concern as there could be something wrong with the practice habits of this team.
The Steelers are under a ton of pressure to win a playoff game for the first time in nearly a decade, and the franchise is also under pressure to keep the non-losing season streak alive. Both of those things could be in jeopardy if these kinds of problems continue.
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Will Quickly Deal With Mishaps
Aaron Rodgers has not been shy about making his thoughts known when it comes to certain players making mistakes. He will get on players for pre-snap penalties and blown assignments, which is going to play a role in these issues getting fixed. He has called these mistakes out in the media before, which he did famously with Mike Williams while the two were with the New York Jets back near the start of the 2024 season.
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Former New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a game against the Miami Dolphins in 2024.
Rodgers is going to make it known when players mess up when the games start to count, so hopefully these issues are just younger guys getting issues out of the way early. This cannot continue on if the Steelers want to achieve their goals for the 2026 season.
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