Steelers Will Have Weekly Captains Under Mike McCarthy

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an offseason of change with a new coaching staff, and at least one philosophical shift will carry into the regular season. Instead of having season-long captains as they have in the past, Mike McCarthy said in his press conference on Monday that the Steelers will name captains each week. 'We'll do the weekly captain format. So without getting ahead of myself here, when we get to that point in that week, I'll get that information to you,' McCarthy said via the team's YouTube channel . Having weekly captains is a change for the Steelers, but McCarthy has done it before during his head coaching tenure. Different players will have the chance to lead the team, and it could be a nice reward for a player who has performed well in practice and shown leadership abilities to be named a captain. Last year, the Steelers' captains were Aaron Rodgers, Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt and Miles Killebrew. After Killebrew suffered a season-ending injury, Payton Wilson took over as the special teams captain. It wouldn't be surprising to see Rodgers, Heyward and Watt as weekly captains multiple times this year. Rodgers is QB1 and has plenty of respect in the locker room, while Heyward is the longest-tenured Steeler and spent 11 consecutive years as a defensive captain before this year. Watt is also a multi-time captain, as last year was the fifth season he was given the honor. There might be some new faces week to week this year, but that trio is one that very well could be out for the coin toss together multiple times again. Killebrew signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason. It's unknown exactly when McCarthy will announce the weekly captains, but it will likely be after the team goes through its week of practice. It'll be interesting to see how much carryover there ends up being from week to week and what new faces could emerge as captains throughout the season. Weekly captains are one of many changes that McCarthy has made since taking over as Steelers head coach. Other changes included earlier training camp practices, as well as changing the day he addresses the media – coming on Mondays instead of Tuesdays, as it was under Tomlin.