The Steelers had their 16th training camp practice Monday afternoon. For the second consecutive day, starting safeties Mike Mitchell and Shamarko Thomas took part in the workout.
That doesn’t sound like much, but with both players battling nagging injuries in the first three weeks of camp it was an important milestone for defensive coordinator Keith Butler as he tries to improve a unit that ranked near the bottom of the league in pass coverage in 2014.
Butler has to feel a bit like a mechanic this summer. He has had more moving parts than a car engine in his secondary.
In addition to the injuries that kept Mitchell and Thomas in and out of practice for three weeks, the Steelers traded for cornerback Brandon Boykin seven days into camp because second-round draft choice Senquez Golson has been shelved with a shoulder injury. The Steelers were hoping Golson would challenge for playing time.
Butler and defensive backfield coach Carnell Lake are sorting out their nickel personnel, but this week is especially important for the safeties, Butler said.
“It’s easy to draw it up on the board and stuff like that. We have to get out there when things are happening fast. They need that experience,” he said. “This is Mike’s second year in the system. The first year you’re kind of looking around and trying to figure out what’s going on. This year he should grow in that aspect, in what we’re doing and what offenses are trying to do to us. We need for them to be out there on the field and practicing and getting the experience with the guys who are out there so they get a feel for each other.”
Mitchell played in all 16 games last season but dealt with injuries to both groins that hindered his play. The injuries first surfaced in training camp last year, and he had surgery in the offseason to correct the problem. This summer he has been dealing with a hamstring injury.
Butler isn’t alone in his desire to see his starters develop experience in practice. Count head coach Mike Tomlin among those who have the same wish over the final three weeks of camp.
“It’s pretty big,” Tomlin said. “That’s why we come to camp, to develop cohesion and understanding.”
Even though Mitchell and Thomas have been teammates for more than a year they haven’t spent a lot of time playing together, in games or in practice.
Thomas has dealt with his fair share of injuries as well. He has had ankle and hamstring injuries his first two seasons, and he had a shoulder injury that has bothered him in training camp.
Thomas, when healthy, has been a reserve the past two seasons. He played a total of only two snaps in 2014. Now he’s being asked to take over for longtime starter Troy Polamalu.
“Being out there in real game action is different,” Thomas said. “We communicate on the field all day [in practice] as it’s moving slow. In the game, when the bullets are moving fast, we have to see where we’re at. I think this week will be a great experience.”
Thomas’ inexperience showed late in the second quarter of the 23-21 loss Friday night to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The coaching staff asked Thomas to disguise a coverage, but he was late getting to his area of responsibility. The result was a 31-yard touchdown with 1:19 to go before halftime.
“It was a good experience for Shamarko,” Butler said. “That was what we call quarter, quarter, half coverage, but it was the same principle for him as cover-2. Sometimes young guys get caught up doing this. We asked him to disguise. The thing we can’t do is disguise at the expense of the coverage. That gets them in bad positions sometimes. That was a good learning lesson for him and all of us in the secondary. We can all learn from that.”
Thomas is not alone in having to learn the concept of cover-2 on the fly. Butler and Lake introduced it in the classroom in the spring, but they are practicing and playing it in workouts and games for the first time this summer after years of playing man-to-man under former coordinator Dick Lebeau.
They are hoping to work the kinks out over the final preseason games.
“We’re getting used to playing cover-2,” Thomas said. “We’re playing it a lot now. We definitely have to adjust. We’re getting into the role of playing it. It’s not so much mental as it is technique. You have to learn it, see your keys and read things the right way.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfititpaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: August 18, 2015, 4:00 a.m.