Anthony McFarland is ready for the fight.
So much so, in fact, that while speaking with the media following Wednesday’s Steelers training camp, the 23-year-old kept his helmet on the entire time.
“I really don’t know what the plan is,” McFarland said of the variety of ways the Steelers and offensive coordinator Matt Canada have used him during the first 14 practices in Latrobe.
“I just come out here, wherever they ask me to line up, and show my versatility, put my head down and work.”
And that’s the mentality McFarland needs to keep. Because he’s having a solid camp.
“I’m trying to work on being an all-purpose back,” he said.
McFarland is part of a backup running back battle — one spurred on by starter Najee Harris, who seemed to put out the call for a reliable backup when players reported to training camp a couple of weeks ago.
"I think it should be a second back,” Harris said at the time.
“It’s definitely motivation for anybody in the room to step up,” McFarland said of Harris’ desire. “It makes you want to compete more, come out here, put your head down and work towards that.
“(Harris) is a leader. He’s a born leader. He was a leader as soon as he stepped in here. He’s a work horse. I respect his game, I respect how he goes about his business. He’s not really like a vocal leader, he’s not a talker. He can show you.”
How and where McFarland fits seems to be up in the air right now.
When he’s on the field, he is frequently flanked out to pass catch, playing a hybrid running back/wide receiver role at times. He’s also often involved in running plays to the outside, and has showcased his top end speed by outracing defenders to the edges. On top of that, he has been utilized in kick return drills, adding a potentially valuable element to his resume.
At the moment, Harris is working his way back, suffering a foot injury last week after being stepped on. Snell, who has been inconsistent during his time in Pittsburgh, limped off the practice fields Wednesday with a heavy wrap on his right knee and did not practice Thursday.
“When somebody’s down, it’s an opportunity for the next man to step up,” said McFarland, who appeared in just two games last season after rushing for 113 yards as a rookie. “I feel like we all are having that mentality. It’s more reps for us, more opportunities to showcase what we can do. So it’s been great.”
Behind McFarland and the other returners are a trio of rookies in Jaylen Warren, Mateo Durant and Master Teague. Durant has missed time recently with a concussion.
“We have a good running back room,” McFarland said. “I love our room. Everyone is great. It keeps you on your toes in that room.
“Everybody has their different skillsets, and everyone is just working… Nobody is selfish, everybody wants to help each other. It’s hard to find a room like that.”
Right now, Warren is the biggest competition to knock McFarland out of a roster spot, and he can see why the rookie is getting buzz.
“How physical he is,” McFarland said. “He runs hard. He’s a good back. He impressed me day one, as soon as he stepped in, I knew he was going to be special.”
Despite having a rookie breathing down his neck, McFarland believes the mood in the running back room is uniquely strong — even if Harris did call out the group, in a sense.
“I could easily mess up and come off the field and nobody in the running back room says nothing to me, or corrects me or checks me,” he said. “There’s none of that. We’re always trying to help out each other, right or wrong.”
McFarland still has something to prove. The knocks on him, in his first two seasons, is that he is less than a capable pass blocker, and struggles to run between the tackles.
So ironing out those deficiencies is a paramount task for him with the season just a month away.
“I’ve been dealing with adversity my whole life,” he said. “I never came into anything. In college, I went through the same thing I’m going through now, with a lot of adversity, injuries.
“It’s just working, putting my head down until my number is called.”