STEEELERS Camp Update

Coach Cowher's Camp Update: August 6


Are you happy with the goal-line?



Coach Cowher: It went quicker than I anticipated. But we’ll have a chance to redo this Wednesday night at Latrobe High School. I’m sure they’ll be a little anticipation on the defensive side. It was a good week. That’s the way I look at it. It was a good start and we’re going to come back here tomorrow night and we’ll have a nice long week next week. It will be a very important week.



How come you held Duce [Staley] out for most of practice?



Cowher: Well, he did some things. We’re going to have him get an MRI tomorrow and we’ll go from there and see where he’s at. He still doesn’t feel real comfortable.



Your offense won two days in a row. On one hand it’s good; and on the other it’s not so good.



Cowher: Yeah, I guess so. It’s been very competitive. It’s been good week. We had a chance to cover a lot of situations: goal-line, one-minute. We’ll get a chance to redo some of these next week.



Did Rian Wallace get his bell rung there?



Cowher: Yeah, he got his bell rung in the special-teams period. He got a knee to the helmet. He was okay. When he came back he was a little groggy. I think he knew he was in Latrobe, but that’s about it.



If there’s something with Duce do you want to find it out now?



Cowher: Oh yeah. We’re going to be very proactive. If there’s any problems that we get it taken care of now. We want him ready to go for that first game against Tennessee.



Your thoughts on the back-up running backs?



Cowher: Yeah, I think Verron [Haynes] has been a guy that’s proven that when he has a chance to play, he’s played well. I think Willie Parker is a very exciting prospect with what he brings. You can see the speed that he has. Noah Herron has done a good job with all the additional opportunities that he’s received. It’s going to be great to see these guys in the preseason as well.



Do you have enough room for all these guys?



Cowher: We’ll find out. I don’t think you can ever have enough backs. That’s a nice problem to have right now.



Who won the Walter Rasby and Andre Frazier scuffle?



Cowher: I thought the period was the winner. It was a good competitive period. It was probably a good way to get the juices going a little bit. Neither guy got hurt and it’s a good way to get practice going.



Can you talk about the battle at corner?



Cowher: Yeah, they’ve done a lot of good things. I think Ricardo [Colclough] and Ike [Taylor] are probably a little bit ahead of Bryant [McFadden] right now because they’ve been in the system for a while. You know, with our offense you get a lot of different shifts and motions but I like what Bryant does. He’s got a lot of gifted athletic ability and he’s an aggressive kid. I like we’re all those guys are right now. Again, it will be a good chance to see these guys in the preseason. We play some pretty quality teams.
















Coach Cowher's Camp Update: August 5



It looked like the offense won the first team one-minute drill there.


Cowher: Yes it did. It was a third-down and one scramble throw. It was a good. I wish I had seen a few more plays just to execute the no-huddle element of it. It was a good competitive practice. Really, I thought, probably our best practice of the week on both sides of the ball. We got a lot of things accomplished in different situations. And it’s good to have the officials here. They’ve been interacting with our players really well.


Will [Tommy] Maddox run the second-team offense next time?


Cowher: Yeah.


What is the impact of the 11 new rule changes?


Cowher: There aren’t a lot of new rules. There are a lot of little things that are more relative with their applications. The coaches need to be more aware of it than the actual players. The points of emphasis are still going to be there and players’ safety is a big part of it. The illegal contact [show] that it’s a game still catering towards the offense side of the ball and we have to understand that. I think, looking at some of the tapes last night and listening to the officials talking about it, the less changes we have and when the points of emphasis become the same, year in and year out, then you have a chance to have more consistency. And I think that’s all we want.


Joey Porter thinks the NFL wants to have 35-31 games.


Cowher: He’s probably accurate to a degree. But that’s a natural response from a defensive player when you’re talking about defensive players with the illegal contact. That’s understandable but that’s where the game is and we have to abide by the way the games going.


Did you go in the gym because of the threat of rain?


Cowher: Yeah. It kind of slowed down. It was good. We’ve been going at this pretty good so it’s a chance to save their legs a little bit.


James Harrison?


Cowher: We went into the gym to save our legs but James hurt his knee. But I think he’ll be back out later on.


How about Matt Kranchick?


Cowher: Matt’s fine. As far as I know he got through today’s practice fine. Travis Kirschke should be back out [there] Monday. Duce will be practicing tomorrow. Jerome [Bettis] will not. We gave him the day off tomorrow, tomorrow and Sunday and come back next week. He’s been doing great.


Duce with a knee?


Cowher: Yeah, well I think this time it was. It kind of inflamed up a little bit. We’re going to work on him tomorrow and see how he responds and go from there.


Is that a new routine with Jerome, giving him days off?


Cowher: I’ve tried to do it periodically, yes. I think we’re he is in his career, I just have to be smart about it. He looks like he’s in pretty good shape right now and he’s in pretty good form. And he’s been terrific though training camp so I think he’ll be fine.


Is it important to do the same with Duce as well?


Cowher: Yeah, I’m trying to do that and keep an eye on Verron as well. We’ve got a group of backs that I have to be very careful with.


Was it the best practice of the week?


Cowher: It was crisp, it was competitive. I thought we were able to pick up some things. I thought we executed some things better than we have. I just like the tempo and I really liked the execution on both sides.


Any surprises from the first week?


Cowher: Well, I don’t want to single anybody out. Some of these guys are becoming more comfortable. Some of the linemen are starting to get a good feel for what the offense can do. We’ll had a chance to see a number of receivers. Everyday, maybe some guy kind of steps up. I think by the time we get to Monday night against Philadelphia, I think these guys will start to feel confident in the system. Then we’ll get a chance to actually assess them as players.












Coach Cowher's Camp Update: August 4



Coach Cowher: [We had] two guys not work today. Duce [Staley], he’s not going to work until Saturday. Again, it’s nothing [serious], it’s just precautionary. Travis Kirschke, he has a lower back, that kind of inflamed on him. He may be out for awhile, maybe until next week. Like I said, nothing that I know of, that was major from today.



Is Duce out with inflammation of the knee?



Cowher: Yes.



What did you think of the backs-on-backers this year?



Cowher: It was good. That’s a good drill and it helps us. I think [running backs coach] Dick [Hoak] said last year, that it was the lowest amount of sacks or pressures given up by our backs than in years past. It’s a good competitive drill.



Is Ben a little banged up?



Cowher: I think he got kneed or something. He’s alright.



Why did Ben [Roethlisberger] have his hand wrapped?



Cowher: I don’t ask.



Duce have any treatment? Drainage of the knee?



Cowher: No, he’s fine. He had a little bit drained yesterday. He’s fine, it’s nothing that we haven’t done in the past. Like I’ve said, we’re just kind of monitoring that. He’ll be back out there Saturday.



Isn’t it early for this kind of stuff?



Cowher: Again, it’s precautionary. With him and Jerome [Bettis] and Verron [Haynes], we’re going to try to monitor this through camp.



Your reaction to Chad Johnson’s quotes?



Cowher: I heard about it and read about it. I guess it’s the dog days of Cincinnati, I guess, right now. It’s nice to know we’re in the thoughts of many people’s minds. We’re flattered by that.



How confident are you in [Willie] Parker and Haynes?



Cowher: Well, I feel good. Those guys are both solid players. I think, the most significant year of any player is that second year. Because you get through your rookie year, they’ve never dealt with that long of a season. They went through the draft and the anticipation of that and training camp. I think Willie, like a lot of second-year players, is so much more comfortable now; he knows what to anticipate and what to expect. So I think he’ll be fine. Noah Herron has done some good things since he’s been here. So that’s another guy we’ll get a good chance to look at in the preseason and a lot of Verron. So I feel good about our situation.



Ever give Willie a chance to return some kicks?



Cowher: Well, we’ll see. Maybe we’ll have him back there for kickoffs. But we’ll monitor that.



Are you happy with the first three days?



Cowher: Up to this point, yes.



Anyone with an edge in the battle at corner?



Cowher: I think it’s going to be a very, very healthy competition. I think that these guys are out here getting a good feel of this defense. Bryant [McFadden], certainly doesn’t have the experience that these other guys do. I think we know about Willie [Williams], we know a little bit about Deshea [Townsend]. I think it’s those other two guys, we’ve got to find out a little bit about. We’ll get those guys ready to play and see if somebody can separate himself.



Does it take a few days for guys to get back into the swing of camp, before you start with the Xs and Os?



Cowher: Well, Xs and Os are a part of the game. They have to be able to do that. But the biggest thing, and I told the guys this yesterday with the pads on, is that we’ve all started off a little bit too high. I think that you can still see it, I don’t care how long you’ve been in this league, you get the pads on and start hitting people, you tend to play high. You’ve got to be able to lower the pads, get a little bit lower. Leverage is a big part of this game. That starts to separate some people as well. Some of the young guys start to think about things and start to stand up higher because you’re trying to look and see what the fronts are. So I think that, will hopefully, get a little bit better as they become more comfortable. By the time you get to the game, hopefully they’ll be comfortable enough, and we’ll do things that they’re comfortable with, that they can be out there and we can assess them as players and not just as thinkers.



Is James Harrison getting any leverage on anybody?



Cowher; James Harrison has leverage on everybody that he goes against. He plays well. He’s built well.



Is he learning more with the blitz pick-up drills?



Cowher: All those guys, they like to get the quarterback who runs that drill. [It’s] an opportunity for them and they’re enticed by that.














Coach Cowher's Camp Update: August 3





How’s Duce doing?


Cowher: Duce is fine, he wanted to practice but we held him out. [He had] a little inflammation on the knee, but he’ll be out here tomorrow.


How about Kendall [Simmons]?


Cowher: Kendall started out okay. But then he didn’t feel right, with his sugars and everything else, with the heat. He’ll be back out tomorrow.


Is [his diabetes] something you have to keep in mind?


Cowher: Yeah, Kendall’s pretty good about that. He’s got a pretty good feel for it. I’m not worried about that at all.


What’s it like having Terry [Bradshaw] on the sidelines? He’s been here before.


Cowher: I’m sure he’s been here for a few years, but that was a few years back. But it’s great having him in town. Terry’s a Steeler and it’s good to see him again.


Did you like the performance in the Oklahoma drills?


Cowher: The tight ends and the outside linebacker [drills] were good. We had some new faces there with Walter Rasby and Heath [Miller] and Marco [Battaglia]. It was very competitive. It got a little heated out there, it was good.


Did Heath hold his own [in the drill]?


Cowher: I thought he did just fine.


Does Troy Polamalu have time to put on the weight he lost in the summer from over-training?


Cowher: Oh yeah, I’m not worried about that. Troy’s a good football player. He knows what he needs to do. So I’m not concerned with that.


How have the crowds been?


Cowher: They’ve been great. It’s good, but it’s been very hot. [It was] a little hotter today than it was yesterday. Certainly, when you come out here in the afternoon it reenergizes us. It’s great to have the people out here. We really appreciate it.


What have you seen so far from Walter Young?


Cowher: Walter’s a big target and can catch the ball. He had an excellent morning and has had an excellent camp to this point. He’s got a lot more opportunities right now, and he’s making the most of it.


So he’s going to add to the wide receiver battle?


Cowher: He’s in the mix, without a doubt.


Did Bradshaw being here add anything today?


Cowher: I didn’t notice until midway through practice that he’s here. It’s good to have him here. He’s a Steeler and it’s great to have him up here in Latrobe. I don’t think he’s been here since he was a player, so it’s good to have him back.








Coach Cowher's Camp Update: August 2

Your reaction to Jerome saying he had as much fun at practice in 10 years?


Cowher: Hopefully, he’ll still have fun by the end of the week. We’ll see. But it was good. It’s a situation that we’ve talked about. We have to be able to compete against each other, push each other and come close to that line but not cross it. There’s a lot of pride on the field and that’s probably the first time that we’ve had the pads on since the New England game. It was a good start.


Did you call any of the guys off?


Cowher: We’ll talk about that a little bit. You don’t want to take any cheap shots and let the runners run. It was a good start.


What did you think of Cedrick Wilson’s catch?


Cowher: Cedrick, this is his first time with our team. I don’t know what the practices are like where he was at but we have some guys that like to talk. Certainly, he wasn’t slighted at all. He did his fair share of talking as well. It’s fine, I think the biggest thing is to stay focused. It’s one thing to compete and talk and all those things, but you still have to be able to focus on the field. It’s a good test for him. Let’s see if the talking continues by the end of the week.


Did you have to remind him to run every play out there at one point?


Cowher: Just after the first one. He was okay after that.


Did you get through injury free?


Cowher: Yeah, I think we had a couple of hamstring tweaks. Lee Mays tweaked him hamstring a little bit. Bryant McFadden tweaked his [hamstring], I’m not sure what the extent of it is going to be, but nothing that serious.


Are you cutting back on two-a-days?


Cowher: Well, we’re doing two-a-day again tomorrow, the first time we’ve done that. I think we only have seven or eight in this camp. But after tomorrow we’ll never go two in a row. Our morning practices are pretty much a lot of work in the red zone and specialized work, more special teams. Again, we’ve had pretty much the same system since I’ve been here, it’s been pretty good. We’re only up here for three and a half weeks, that’s a short period of time. A lot of these guys, when they came in, they came in shape. Now the thing that we have to do is get in quality work when we’re out here. Pushing each other, competing with each other and that’s the purpose every time we come onto the field. We’re not going to leave everything up here in Latrobe, but we’ve got to push them.


Is this the first time you’ve done two-a-days, back-to-back?


Cowher: Yeah. We got into camp late. We’re very late in camp. So we’ll come out here tomorrow with two-a-days and I think we only have five more left after that.











Coach Cowher's Camp Update: August 1



Coach Cowher: Let me just say this about the Hines Ward situation. First of all, Hines Ward; I love him as a player. He’s very respected on this football team. Not just by the players, but by the whole organization. It’s unfortunate that it has come to this. We’re hopeful that he’ll get here sometime in the near future. We are going to move on, with or without him. Hopefully this thing will rectify itself and we’re going to proceed forward with the players that are here. I’m not going to answer questions about it on a day-to-day basis but I wanted to make a statement from the very beginning.


Are you going to fine him?


Cowher: All those things are dealt with on an in-house basis. That will be something that will be

dealt with in-house.


Will this be a long process?


Cowher: I have no way of [knowing]. I’ve been in this business for a long time. It’s unfortunate

that it got to this point but I’m very hopeful that he’ll be joining us and he’ll be prepared for a big

year.


Is the situation tougher because he is highly regarded as a player?


Cowher: All you can do is deal with the circumstances that this football team is dealt. It happens. That’s why you’ve got 53 guys. This is an unfortunate circumstance but we need to be prepared to move on, and we will.


Who will be your starters right now?


Cowher: Cedrick [Wilson] will be a Z and [Antwaan Randle] El with be an X.


Have you had any discussions with Hines recently or do you plan to?


Cowher: I take all phone calls. I have an open door policy and that will not change.


As long as he calls you?


Cowher: There’s been communication, that doesn’t concern me. There’s been communication

with his representatives and with our people. There hasn’t been a lack of communication at all.


Anyone surprise you with their performance in the run test?


Cowher: Considering the heat and the weather, I was very pleased with everybody. We held

some guys out. Charlie [Batch] was held out with his knee. Jeff Hartings, we’ve held out the last

couple of years. And the running backs: given their circumstances, with Jerome [Bettis] and Duce [Staley] and Verron [Haynes], it was a medical decision. But everybody else participated and I thought they did a great job. Just look at the two guys coming back, Casey [Hampton], Kendall Simmons, they were very impressive. This is as light as Casey has been since his rookie year. Kendall Simmons, you saw how he finished that last one. That’s one focused player right now. It’s good to see. Those are two big players that we didn’t have for most of the year last year and their integral parts of our lines on both sides.


Is Willie Williams faster in 1995 or 2005?


Cowher: Well, he’s reached a certain speed and that’s just fast. So he’s fast. He’s fast enough.


Were you having some fun with guys out there?


Cowher: We talked about it last night. We’re starting over and it’s about coming up here and

building that camaraderie and that sense of team. You can’t do it talking in an air conditioned

room. You can’t do it running around in shorts. [On the field] is where the foundation is laid. We’re going to be pushing each other; we’re going to be competing with each other. We’re going to be living with each other for the next three and a half weeks. It’s going to get heated; it’s going to get testy. We want to be able to push each other. That’s the one thing we’ve been able to come out of these camps with. We haven’t scrimmaged people the last few years because I feel like we’ve been very competitive with the offense versus defense. And that can’t change. Now, you’re going to get to that point where you’re going to walk that line because sometimes it can get testy out here. I want it to be that. But they’ve got to leave it on the field and when they come on. We open up against Tennessee and I’ll continue to remind them of that.


How will [Ben] Roethlisberger be affected without his top two receivers?


Cowher: Ben will be fine. I was impressed, he came in a little bit heavy, but he looks faster. He’s worked out this off-season and he was impressive. Ben’s going to go through his progressions and he’s going to throw to whoever is open. I think the bottom line is the comfort level that he has with this offense. A year ago, when he was calling the plays, I don’t even know if he looked up in the huddle. At least [now], when he’s calling the plays he can see who’s in the huddle. He didn’t even know who was in the huddle a year ago because he was reading his wrist band the whole time. I think the comfortable level that he’s at, to me, is the most important thing and I think it’s very evident.