Aug 5, 2013 5 min read

LATROBE – After a week of practices here at St. Vincent College in which the Steelers had live-tackling drills in at least two sessions per day, head coach Mike Tomlin scaled things back a little Monday.

With the nicks and bruises starting to pile up after a week of hitting and the team’s first preseason game coming up Saturday at Heinz Field against the New York Giants, Tomlin had seen enough of Steelers tackling Steelers.

Monday, they spent their afternoon practice session in shorts instead of full pads.

Tomlin didn’t promise that the team wouldn’t be in full pads with live tackling when they return to practice Wednesday after taking today off.

“Really, (we) were trying to maximize the off day that we have,” said Tomlin.

Under Tomlin, by the time the Steelers reach the end of their first week of training camp practice, they finish the week off Saturday with a typically spirited goal-line drill in which the offense tries to score from short yardage against the defense.

As one of the few opportunities for live hitting, the players look forward to the chance to simulate real football.

But with Tomlin having two full sessions of offense vs. defense with live hitting in practice throughout this training camp, Saturday’s goal line drill was more subdued than usual – at least in part because of the number of players who missed it because of minor bumps and bruises acquired throughout the week’s physical practices.

“We are young in a lot of areas, particularly on the lines,” said Tomlin of his reasoning for so much live play in practice. “We have young, talented defensive lineman and young, talented offensive lineman. The only way to improve is to play football.”

At this point, nobody is complaining, particularly with the offensive line working on a new outside zone blocking scheme.

“It’s good. We need it,” said Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, who is up to 300 pounds after playing at 285 since his rookie season. “Especially after 8-8, we need it.

“When you don’t have pads on, you can’t really beat up the other guys. But when you have pads on, you can see the fits. You can get the blocking scheme down.”

There is an added benefit as well. The offense and defense can both see exactly what the result of a play is. In most practices, a runner is considered down when touched by a defender, who pulls up at the last second.

Not so in this camp.

“It’s a chance to actually get to finish and see if the backs are getting yards,” said offensive tackle Mike Adams.

There is, however, a price to be paid.

Though the Steelers have been fortunate thus far with any season-ending injuries – only rookie guard Nik Embernate has been seriously hurt, suffering a knee injury in one-on-one drills – other teams have not been as fortunate, despite not having camps as physical as Pittsburgh’s.

In Baltimore, tight end Dennis Pitta was lost to a season-ending hip injury, while across the state, Philadelphia wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is out for the year after suffering a torn ACL. Over the weekend, Green Bay lost left tackle Bryan Baluga for the season with an ACL tear.

“Yeah, you pay attention to that stuff,” said Steelers linebacker Larry Foote. “This is a fraternity. You never want to see guys from any team getting hurt in training camp. At the same time, it’s part of the game.”

Though they have still avoided a major injury, the minor nicks and bruises add up. Nine players who had been practicing missed Saturday’s practice and goal-line session with minor injuries. Another large group sat out Sunday.

Included were nose tackle Steve McLendon, outside linebackers Jason Worilds and Jarvis Jones running running back Le’Veon Bell.

McLendon, who missed practice again Monday, is being counted on to replace Casey Hampton at nose tackle. Worilds and Jones, the team’s top draft pick, are expected to help replicate the production of James Harrison. Bell, a second-round pick, is battling for the starting running back position.

“I was able to watch the other backs and learn little things,” said Bell. “I could watch their runs and figure what I would have done in the same situation.”

And the Steelers are hopeful that will increase the learning curve for a number of younger players.

“It’s kind of brought everybody up to another level,” said second-year tight end David Paulson. “It makes it a tougher practice, but it gives everybody a lot more work, so it’s good.”

Odds and end zones

The Steelers activated second-year nose tackle Alameda Ta’amu from the PUP list Monday. Ta’amu had been sidelined since the start of camp with a hamstring injury. … Safety Troy Polamalu was given a second veteran’s day off Monday and was joined by veteran wide receiver Plaxico Burress. …Linebacker Lawrence Timmons remains out of camp while dealing with the death of his grandmother. … Cornerback Curtis Brown suffered an ankle injury while trying to return to practice Monday and left the field on a cart. … The Steelers will return to practice at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The session is open to the public.