Steelers rookie’s frustrations from bad practice sparks massive fight

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the practice field after their successful preseason debut on Thursday against the Green Bay Packers. While Aaron Rodgers didn’t play in that game, it was still a strong showcase for some of the Steelers’ younger players.

Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over to Sunday for rookie safety Robert Spears-Johnson, who was having a tough practice before igniting a big fight.

“Big fight breaks out. Robert Spears-Jennings has had a rough practice. Beat several times in coverage. He takes out his frustration by throwing a shoulder into Max Hurleman on the goal line. Hurleman takes exception and a huge scrum ensues,” reported Mike DeFabo of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.

Brooke Pryor of ESPN also broke down her angle of the incident.

“Fireworks in the final team period of today’s practice. Rookie Robert Spears-Jennings laid a big hit on Max Hurleman. Lance Mason came over to yell at RSJ for the hit, and then everything exploded. Something had been brewing for a couple snaps with Mason McCormick chirping E Rob,” she reported on X.

Jennings was selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of this past NFL Draft after playing college football at Oklahoma. While he might not be expected to play a big role for the team this year, it was still understandably a frustrating day for the rookie after getting beat in coverage on multiple occasions.

This isn’t the first big fight between teammates that has broken out around NFL training camps this summer, as is often the case when players take the field for the first time in several months.

The Steelers will kick off their regular season on September 13 vs the Atlanta Falcons.