At the end of this week, we’ll be through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason program and into the long wait for training camp. But in the grand scheme of things, we’re just at the beginning of the Mike McCarthy era in Pittsburgh.

One storyline from the early parts of his time with the Steelers is the intense practices he’s running. Multiple beat writers and players have taken notice, and the response has been positive. But former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger does have one question.

“The new coaching staff has these guys like, they’re moving and grooving and running, there’s no slowing down, there’s no sitting down. From what I’ve heard, it’s kind of eye-opening; it’s a change. And change isn’t always bad, by any means,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his Footbahlin podcast. “From what I’m hearing on this staff, it’s like go, go, go, okay, what’s gonna happen on the backend of this? Are guys gonna be worn out by the time week whatever comes, because they’re going so much in camp? So, it will be interesting to see. But obviously, McCarthy’s not a newbie… He knows what he’s doing.”

As an established coach, McCarthy doesn’t have to do as much to win over a locker room. There were a couple of players supportive from the jump at his introductory press conference. Obviously, no player would speak ill of their new head coach, but the reception from the players has been very positive regarding Mike McCarthy.

That’s extending into the practice changes as well. T.J. Watt noted last week that there weren’t any benches at practice, simultaneously making a remark that “change is good”.

For what it’s worth, Roethlisberger isn’t the only one to voice a small worry about players getting tired as the year goes on. Speaking about the intense practices, Mark Kaboly remarked in late May that “you can’t really do that throughout the whole season”. It will be interesting to see if McCarthy’s practices have a similar intensity during training camp in Latrobe.

While McCarthy’s teams haven’t always been successful in the postseason, he doesn’t have a long history of fading down the stretch. And as Roethlisberger mentions, he’s got plenty of experience managing rosters late in the regular season. He may simply want to set the tone early as he introduces a new culture into the building.

Roethlisberger has remained supportive of Mike McCarthy since the hiring was announced. But he does note one issue that could arise if McCarthy’s intense practices become the norm.