Things are very different in Latrobe.

On the first day of practice in pads with a head coach other than Mike Tomlin in twenty years, the pads weren’t popping like they used to.

“That was the most tame, uneventful first day in pads I’ve seen in all my years at training camp,” running back Jaylen Warren told reporters after practice, via Nathan Schivins of the Latrobe Bulletin.

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Warren, in his fifth Steelers training camp, said that it was “not what we’re used to.”

It’s the latest example of the manner in which new coach Mike McCarthy is balancing player health with preparedness. Eyebrows initially were raised when McCarthy said last week that the Steelers will not tackle to the ground.

The fundamental differences between training-camp intensity will surely be cited as the biggest difference between the two Mikes, in the event a franchise that never had a losing record under Tomlin finds itself under .500 when the dust settles on the 2026 season.