The Pittsburgh Steelers will welcome the Buffalo Bills to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for a joint practice on August 15, the NFL announced on Monday.
The Steelers training camp schedule had not previously listed that date. The joint practice will not be open to the public. It will be held just two days before the Steelers play the Bills on August 17 at Acrisure Stadium for their second preseason game.
Pittsburgh had not held a joint practice at its training camp since 2018, when the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh held a series of practices together. Buffalo and Pittsburgh organized a joint practice together in 2014. In the past, head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan appeared open to joint practice possibilities.
“There’s no real specific reason,” Khan said last August. “We’ve done it recently with the Bills and Lions; I think maybe five or seven years ago, we did it. But for us it’s just kind of worked out coming to camp and we have a pretty good camp.”
Around the league, joint practices can become hostile to the point where they are called off early, and each team splits up for their practice. However, the Steelers are giving it a chance for the first time in six years.
This is another change the Steelers are making to the training camp schedule. In years past, most practices took place at 1:55 p.m., but this year, they are scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. Tomlin explained the rationale for that change.
“Our day was pressed on the other side of practice, and I just want to give them an opportunity to do a better job of accommodating the fans while taking care of their bodies,” Tomlin said. “A lot of times they’re working to rehydrate, but dinner was running up on them, and so they didn’t have the appetite to eat. And so, we just feel like with the early practice schedule, it just creates an opportunity for better wellness and keeping guys upright and rolling.”
The Steelers will report for training camp on July 24, and their first practice will take place on July 25.
