Spirited practice includes 1st skirmish of Steelers camp: Cam Heyward, Alejandro Villanueva

The first practice of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp was Friday, and the first that included pads was Sunday. Wednesday is when the intensity ramped up a notch.

Perhaps it was the off day Tuesday that recharged the competitive juices, maybe it was the 98-degree heat index or now that camp is a week old tempers could flare.

But Wednesday’s session on Chuck Noll Field featured some hard hits in live tackling, and it also included the first camp skirmish. It wasn’t the usual undercard-worthy scuffle that typically features first-year practice-squad types, either.

Two longtime starters needed to be separated: Offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva swung at defensive lineman Cameron Heyward after the latter had lunged toward Villanueva at the conclusion of a rep in an 11-on-11 drill early in practice. Most of their teammates who were on the field joined in the fracas. It didn’t escalate like Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Pirates-Cincinnati Reds brawl did, but it was just one example of some of the physicality on display Wednesday.

You know training camp is getting heated when guys like Villanueva and Heyward are going at it lol. #Steelers

— Blitzburgh (@Steel_Curtain4) July 31, 2019

The crack of shoulder pads and grunts of linemen colliding were louder Wednesday than they had been previously in camp. Some of the harder hits included Tuzar Skipper slamming Ralph Webb into the ground just three snaps after the Heyward-Villanueva brouhaha.

Later on, cornerback Herb Waters delivered a late, out-of-bounds hit on running back Malik Williams.

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