Jim Schwartz Running a Different Kind of Camp

By now, many of you have read and heard about the start to training camp. As Tom Kowalski reported , it was a rough day for Damir Boldin, Ephraim Salaam and Sammie Lee Hill who all failed a mandatory conditioning test, but then subsequently passed it later.

However, reported today by Nicholas Cotsonika over at the Free Press, Larry Foote believes this football camp is tougher than camps over in Pittsburgh.

First off, lets get a few things straight. The Steelers practice smart, not necessarily hard. Most importantly, they don't do a lot of early two-a-days, trying to ease their players into camp and building up to the season. Secondly, hard camps do not equal great teams. Marinelli had a tough camp too.

However, what we can take out of this first snapshot of a Schwartz-run camp is this: Players, both rookies and veterans are fighting for spots and being held accountable in a variety of ways:

• Daily QB battles between Culpepper and Stafford for both bragging rights AND earning more practice snaps.
• Dylan Gandy getting snaps at first team center.
• Ramzee Robinson running as nickle back.

Foote says the opening of camp has never been this physical for the Steelers, even under Cowher. Time will tell if the physicality increases from here, and if the Lions can stay healthy. 

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