Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan speak at a press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex before the NFL Draft on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Pittsburgh, PA. (Taylor Ollason / Pittsburgh Steelers)
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy raved about the Steelers’ players buying in so far to the offseason program. The Steelers kicked off a voluntary bonus three-day minicamp session on Monday.
All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt and defensive back Jalen Ramsey are two of the veterans who have been in attendance for the bonus minicamp.
“Buy-in is excellent. It’s just like anything: three things happen. You have to make changes — things you’ll adjust, and things you emphasize. There’s a lot of positives to emphasize and build off. There are things you adjust — but I think the buy-in has been excellent,” McCarthy said at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Tuesday.
McCarthy also gave credit to his coaching staff for doubling help with the draft process and practices.
He said the goal is by June 12 to have details down on players’ roles and that they’re “off to an excellent start.”
“I think we’re in a really good spot. I’m very pleased with participation. It’s a player-first teaching environment. We’ve been able to push a high volume of information to our players. The players have been outstanding. By June 12, our goal is to make sure everyone of our players has what they need schematically, the communication, the details of their roles and responsibilities are, and I think we’re off to a good start. I’ve been very impressed and appreciative of the time spent by our players.”
McCarthy emphasized that the bonus minicamp is an opportunity to get classroom work done on the field.
“We’re creating a teaching environment for us to communicate the common language. Everybody looks at things differently and emphasizes them a different way. But everyone still has the same fundamentals. The team doesn’t come together during training camp. That’s just the reality,” McCarthy said. “Right now, it’s a lot of listening and a lot of learning … when you have the opportunity to install a system, I’ve always thought you teach everything conceptually. When you do that, it allows you to teach things in buckets. For example, the passing game will be taught in 14 buckets. The run game, in seven buckets. This helps with a big picture focus … it’s a great exercise for our players to learn our foundation.”
McCarthy said the Steelers will “squeeze in a trip to Kennywood” in the middle of the team’s installation periods between OTAs/minicamp.
McCarthy also gave a glimpse into the training camp schedule, revealing that the Steelers’ first padded practice will be on Aug. 3.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
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