The Eagles’ Miles Sanders is steeling himself for the season with training in the Steel City

Miles Sanders discovered at least one subtle benefit from spending part of the offseason in his hometown.

The Eagles running back from Pittsburgh has progressively spent more time on the other side of Pennsylvania each offseason, and the local terrain has proved to be a useful training tool.

“There’s hills everywhere,” Sanders said in a telephone interview with The Inquirer. “I do a lot of hill workouts and sleds. It’s hot out here, too, now. My trainer is a licensed assassin. That’s what I call him.”

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Sanders has split his time this offseason mostly between Pittsburgh and Houston, with his longtime trainer Craig Williams, the “assassin,” traveling with him to each destination. Spending extra time in Pittsburgh was more of a happy accident for Sanders rather than an elaborate plan. The 25-year-old had a string of events in the area, so staying near home made more sense.

Sanders held his inaugural football camp on Sunday at Woodland Hills’ stadium, where he played his high school ball. The one-day camp was free for close to 300 children ages 6 to 13, who went through drills with Sanders directing the action.

Sanders’ football career has been based exclusively in Pennsylvania. A five-star recruit coming out of high school, he went to Penn State before he was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2019 draft. Growing up a Steelers fan, Sanders said running his own camp evoked memories of the Pittsburgh pros he met in a similar environment.

“When I grew up, I would go to camps with Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger,” Sanders said. “... It’s a blessing, just knowing that I was one of these kids when I was little. I legit looked at some of these guys as superstars and superheroes. You just admire everything they do at that age.”

The week before, Sanders took part in another Pittsburgh youth camp called “PGH 2 the Pros” in collaboration with three fellow NFL players from the area: Carolina Panthers safety Kenny Robinson, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, and Washington Commanders linebacker Khaleke Hudson.

“This is definitely the most time I’ve spent in the offseason in Pittsburgh just because of the events,” Sanders said. “I just wanted to stay stable. Instead of flying back and forth and training, I stayed here and trained with my mentor. I was in Houston before OTAs, but I stayed in Pittsburgh after.

“I’m still grinding, too,” Sanders added. “Probably like a week or a couple days before [training camp], I’ll just chill out and relax my body, then it’s go time.”

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The Eagles start training camp on July 26, and Sanders will enter his fourth NFL season as the starting running back in a revamped offense. The front office did plenty of work reworking the defense during the last few months, but arguably the biggest move of the team’s offseason was trading a first-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for A.J. Brown and subsequently signing the star wide receiver to a four-year, $100 million contract extension.

Sanders, who totaled 754 rushing yards on 137 carries in 12 games last season, caught some grief last month for telling CBS Sports the offseason additions have caused the players to feel like they’re “on an all-star team.” For some, the statement was reminiscent of quarterback Vince Young calling the 2011 Eagles a “dream team” just before the team filled with big-name additions went on to go 8-8.

“That was just a kid expression — I’m excited for what we got,” Sanders said. “I didn’t mean to say we’re an all-star team. We’ve got to go into camp and work and put in work every single day to even think we’re an all-star team. It was just a kid statement. I’m just excited, that’s all.”