I should have expected this. This isn’t my first rodeo.

Yet, there I was on Day 1 of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp watching reports and video clips on social media and watching people overreact to the first day of practice (without pads).

Notice I didn’t say I was watching fans overreact, but I used people in the aforementioned sentence. I expect fans to overreact, but when the mainstream NFL media jumps on board it does make your head spin. Take this gem from the NFL Network where their “The Insiders” show try to draw some crazy conclusions to Russell Wilson missing Day 1 of camp with some calf soreness and Justin Fields potentially taking advantage of the opportunity to run with the starters.

Here is a clip:

From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: #Steelers QB Russell Wilson’s calf injury is minor. But injuries can create openings… 👀 pic.twitter.com/DZ2PrhF4F8

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 25, 2024

This isn’t to disagree that Wilson missing practice isn’t an opportunity for Fields. It absolutely is, but to suggest one practice could somehow alter the trajectory of the position is a little hasty, in my opinion. Naturally, the talking heads at the NFL Network were not the only people to draw the same conclusion, but when Mike Tomlin labeled Wilson, who threw passes after passes to receivers, as day-to-day it seems to be a crazy knee jerk reaction.

But it didn’t stop there. Almost like a cheesy infomercial, “But wait! There’s more!”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Ray Fittipaldo went on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh and spoke about how George Pickens and new wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni got into a “heated exchange”. Here is the recap from Andrew Fillipponi:

Steelers insider @rayfitt1 on @937thefan said George Pickens had a “heated exchange” with new Steelers WRs coach Zach Azzanni near the end of the practice today. George wasn’t having it. And didn’t like the way he was being coached. Per Fittipaldo. Wow. pic.twitter.com/cHYyWsPpsw

— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) July 25, 2024

I’m not disputing this took place, but I feel as if this might be just a little sensationalism on many fronts. Anyone who has coached from High School or above knows there are times when coach and player get into “heated exchanges” and it doesn’t mean there are underlying issues and potential pitfalls ahead.

The same story can be told when the reports of the starting offensive line for 11 vs. 11 drills hit the internet:

LT: Dan Moore Jr.
LG: Isaac Seumalo
C: Nate Herbig
RG: James Daniels
RT: Broderick Jones

You can probably imagine the reaction from the fans:

“Where are the rookies?!”

“Why is Broderick Jones at RT? He should be LT!”

There wasn’t as much discussion when Jones was bumped to LT and Troy Fautanu move to RT, but this is just another illustration of how we are so starved for football news of any kind we are ready to jump to some crazy conclusions after one non-padded practice.

Dave Schofield put it best on the Steelers Preview Thursday night when he talked about how every practice provides data for us, the fans, to compute what might be happening within the team and the depth chart. However, you have to compile a lot of data before you can perform any equation. In other words, you can’t solve a mathematical equation with only the variable ‘x’, which is exactly what many are trying to do after practice Thursday.

What’s the elixir for this condition? Let things play out, and watch as the coaching staff and team start to iron out the kinks and figure out what they do, and don’t, have on their 2024 roster.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they continue throughout training camp at Saint Vincent College.