Sad day for Mike Tomlin as minicamp ends, summer break begins for Steelers players

If the worst day of the calendar year for coach Mike Tomlin is when the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ends, next on the list is when minicamp concludes.

That means a six-week lull before Tomlin can resume football activities with his players.

The early months of his offseason are occupied with player and coaching evaluations, scouting trips, draft preparation and free agency. But when offseason workouts conclude with the three-day minicamp, the players scatter and Tomlin begins counting down the days until the Steelers report to Saint Vincent College.

For the record, it’s 41 until the Steelers next take part in a workout.

“Really, I’m sad to see it come to an end,” Tomlin said Thursday at the end of a two-hour workout. “We just can’t get enough of the work like we’ve gotten over the last several weeks here as a collective and learning football, developing skill and techniques relative to our positions.

“It’s been a great couple of weeks. Sad to see it end.”

Tomlin’s message to his players before they exited UPMC Rooney Sports Complex was like what he has relayed to them in the past. It had to do with arriving at Saint Vincent in peak physical condition.

“There are a lot of things outside their control, particularly the younger players,” Tomlin said. “Some have never been to Latrobe, and they don’t understand the challenges that await. They don’t understand what we specifically want them to do.

“What they do understand and have control of is their readiness, their physical condition. We’ve been driving that point home. Hopefully, they take heed of that.”

Of the rookies tasked with preparing for their first training camp experience, none has as much familiarity as second-round cornerback Joey Porter Jr. The son of the former Steelers outside linebacker and assistant coach, Porter Jr. served as a training camp ballboy for several years while growing up.

Porter Jr. continues to live in the North Hills and expects to do his workouts at the team’s practice complex during the six-week layoff.

“This is my home, so I’m not going anywhere,” Porter said. “That’s a good thing. I might take a three- or four-day vacation, and then it’s back to work.”

Porter is one of the few rookies who will push for a starting job in training camp. How quickly he develops as a press corner will determine how often Patrick Peterson moves inside or whether Porter is able to supplant Levi Wallace at the other corner spot.

“I feel like I belong,” Porter said. “The first couple of days, it was kind of rough, not really understanding the defense and not knowing the speed of the NFL. But after that, I got the hang of it, and I feel like I ended on a great note.”

Tight end Darnell Washington, the third-round pick from Georgia, couldn’t put the physicality within his 6-foot-7, 264-pound frame on display in offseason workouts because of NFL rules prohibiting contact. He’s eager to report to training camp, don shoulder pads and show the blocking potential that made him one of the top tight end prospects in the draft.

“The plan is really to get out there and compete, do the best I can and improve on what I learned here,” Washington said.

Washington was raised in Las Vegas, but he also plans to stay in Pittsburgh and work out with some teammates.

“I’ll see if any of the quarterbacks are still in town,” he said. “I’d like to work on my timing, different routes and continue to be in the playbook as much as I can and stay in tip-top shape.”

Given how much attention the rookies paid to conditioning while preparing for the NFL Draft and the ensuing pro days, Tomlin doesn’t expect his younger players to slack off before they report to Saint Vincent on July 26. He doesn’t think they will need the supervision they’ve received over the past month-plus of offseason workouts.

“These guys have been independent workers since the end of their college seasons,” Tomlin said. “They hadn’t been part of a program. They’ve been working out and preparing themselves for this. It’s more of a continuation of what they’ve been doing. I think that is the mindset.”