Pittsburgh’s first week in helmets arrived with Mike McCarthy sounding encouraged. The Steelers have opened their bonus voluntary minicamp this week, and McCarthy said Tuesday that he thinks the team is in a really good spot and has been very pleased with the participation.
That matters because this is the first week players can put on helmets and hit the field, a step up from the early spring work that began May 18 and will run through Organized Team Activities until June 12. McCarthy said he wants every player to leave that stretch knowing what they need schematically, in communication and in the details of each role and responsibility. In his view, the early days have already delivered that kind of buy-in. “We’re off to an excellent start, and I’ve been very impressed and appreciative of the time spent by our players connecting with the new coaching staff,” he said.
The Steelers have that extra minicamp because they have a new head coach, and McCarthy is using the window to install a lot. He said the passing game will be taught in 14 buckets, the run game in seven buckets, and that it should take a good six weeks to teach the concepts this way before the team arrives in Latrobe. He also said the first padded practice is set for August 3, a marker that gives the spring work a clear finish line.
There is also a practical wrinkle in the way the offense is being built. McCarthy said this is the first time he has called plays in the quarterback’s helmet, a small but telling adjustment as the staff works through its new structure. He joked about the language challenge, saying, “I need to work on my punch and bunch enunciation They keep telling me to go ‘dahntahn.’”
The quarterback work has been split between Will Howard and Mason Rudolph, and McCarthy said they have shared every rep over the past two days. “This is very beneficial time for Will (Howard) and Mason (Rudolph) right now,” he said. That matters for Howard in particular, who is in his second NFL spring while Rudolph is in his seventh. McCarthy said Howard has had a really good offseason before the offseason, is in much better shape and has shown movement skills that have impressed him.
The balance of optimism and urgency is the point of this stretch. The Steelers are not chasing wins in June, but they are trying to make sure the roster is ready for the first padded work of August and for the longer ramp that follows. For now, McCarthy sounds like a coach who sees a team taking shape quickly and a quarterback room getting real work at the right time.
More Steelers coverage is available in Steelers News: Omar Khan, Mike McCarthy fire up Pittsburgh for 2026 NFL Draft.