The Sports Xchange

LATROBE, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense won’t change from the 3-4 it has run for more than 30 years, but there will be plenty of other differences under new coordinator Keith Butler, and the Steelers have shown them through the first week of training camp.

The Steelers have long run some cover 2, which is what Chuck Noll ran in the 1970s. However, they moved away from it, especially when Troy Polamalu proved more valuable as a strong safety who could make dynamic plays all over the field rather than use him as a deep safety.

Their one drawback was their weak corners, but they moved to strengthen that over the weekend when they acquired veteran cornerback Brandon Boykin from the Philadelphia Eagles for a conditional fifth-round draft pick.

Boykin will get every chance to start with the Steelers, who list William Gay and Cortez Allen as their starting cornerbacks at the moment. One way or another, those should be their top three.

Playing the cover 2 also means the inside linebackers must drop into more coverage in the middle, and the Steelers believe they have two ideal players to do that. Lawrence Timmons, who made the Pro Bowl last season, has been doing it for quite some time at a high level. Ryan Shazier, their first-round draft choice in 2014, has blinding 4.38 speed and can cover all over the field. His play as a rookie was limited because of knee and ankle injuries.

Then there are the defensive linemen. They no longer will be strapped to the two-gap, hold-up-the-block philosophy that permitted the linebackers to make most of the big plays. Butler wants them crashing down and playing a one-gap, which should allow them to get to the quarterback more often than in the past, although Cam Heyward tied for the team lead with 7.5 sacks last season.

They have the kind of athleticism at both ends to make the new philosophy go, with second-year player Stephon Tuitt on the left side, Steve McLendon at nose tackle and athletic Daniel McCullers.

Another piece to the puzzle is Mike Tomlin. The coach is getting his hands dirty helping to coach the secondary, a job he held in Tampa Bay under Tony Dungy.

–Cornerback Brandon Boykin has only one year left on the rookie contract that will pay him $1.5 million. The Steelers do not negotiate contract extensions once the season starts. They will have ample opportunity in camp and in five preseason games to see how Boykin fits and determine whether they want to offer him a new deal or roll the dice and let him go through the season.

–Wide receiver Martavis Bryant had minor surgery to heal an infection on his elbow that has been bothering him for several days. He will not play in the preseason opener vs. the Minnesota Vikings at Canton on Sunday. He will miss 7-10 days.

–All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey passed his physical and was removed from the physically-unable-to-perform list.