Troy back on the practice field

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...amalu-returns-to-pittsburgh-steelers-practice

 

I just read about that and it seems he will be ready for week 13... Would be nice to have all of the key players back for that game

 

I hope he knocks Rice out of his cleats.

 

Call me a pessimist, but we haven't seen a healthy Troy in two years now and I don't expect to see one this season. Our pass defense is number one in the NFL without Troy and Will Allen has been playing sound football in both pass coverage and run support. Troy was having issues in pass coverage before he went out with the calf injury. If I thought the old Troy was coming back I would be like a kid at Christmas but I think the hobbled Troy that we've seen the better part of the last couple of years is the only Troy that we'll see this season, sadly. :-(

 

hopefully troy plays the team player and sits if he is off
and he needs to stay back to protect the deep threat or the simple deflected pass for an INT.
save energy and come into it slowly change his game up
no more jumping over the center to tackle the qb
although that was always special to watch
come on troy
know your body know your limits
and show you know the game by changing your game

 

If troy comes back we may win even if Ben dont play....troy can make that big of a difference

 

I agree ,,Troy just can't cover all the field anymore and has been caught out of position on many occasions ..I honestly think he would be a liability at this point..

 

Troy is as much of a liability as Aaron Smith was in the twighlight of his career, which is basically saying that he won't be a liability. Troy, like Aaron, will be playing at a high level until he just can't make it on the field anymore. It's not a coincidence that we average about zero turnovers when Troy is out; he's our only chance of a big play on defense now that Harrison is hobbled.

 

Bigsteelerfaninky, I agree with about 95% of your post but not this one. Troy hs been out to long and our defense is doing fine. I say let him play but don't start him right away. (Nor, do I want to get rid of him).

 

Man, his body should be well rested.

 

I am afraid the ship has sailed, might be able to be in
playing shape if we make the playoffs? To unreliable for me.
I am pretty sure I see a safety in our future draft selections next year.

 

troy used to make a big diff.. i mean the D gave us 6 O points to the ravens last sunday .. without troy.. cant do much better than that unless troy could have gotten a rare INT.. the questions isnt will troy come back the question is how long will troy stay on the field IF he comes back...

HINES

 

this reminds me of the Rod Woodson debate going in to the Superbowl.

 

The problem is that this isn't the 2009 Troy coming back. If it were, I'd say he's absolutely the difference maker that Bigsteelerfaninky says he is. Unfortunately, this is the late season 2012 Troy who has been hobbled by one injury or another for over two years. I don't think he's really been a difference maker in any game since early 2010.

 

make his sorry azz play special teams with harrison and wallace.

 

Play him every other game going forward?

 

I've read this a bunch, from you and some other posters, and I've heard it from a talking head or two. That he's a fun guy to watch and makes exciting plays, but struggles in pass coverage. I'm wondering where you get this, what you have to support it? The 2nd quarter of the Denver game last year? That whole game was an anomoly in my opinion. The one Thomas TD against Denver this year? I really don't get where it comes from. It's like an urban legend that pops up on message boards and from Warren Sapp's mouth: Troy Polamalu can't cover.

Over the course of his career and yes, even last season, here's what I've noticed about his coverage skills (and I am going to skip all the obvious "Troy" stuff we all know about, like what he does to screens, crazy catches, tackling, etc.):

-He rarely allows the deep ball.
-He makes plays on the ball.
-He excels in man coverage against talented TEs and RBs better than most safeties.
-He excels in man coverage in goal line situations (fades and the like).
-His biggest challenge area is man coverage against quick slot receivers (Andrew Hawkins), but I can't offhand think of any other safeties asked to do this regularly, if ever.
-QBs largely avoid him altogether.
-He rarely allows the deep ball.

So for what I called his "challenge area", some people could say he struggles there. Is that fair? I guess, but to me that's like saying Jerry Rice struggled at running back. He's taking on something most guys don't, pretty much out of necessity, and has at least some success. It's not like he's useless, he just isn't the same player he is when he's at safety. He's reduced to average. How many players are still average when they play a completely different position? That should be looked at as another positive in my mind, but instead he gets punished for it. When he's playing safety, his coverage is absolutely excellent, and he's not a liability at all. Of course he allows completions and even touchdown sometimes, but everybody does. You wouldn't call Peyton Manning a liability at quarterback because he threw an interception. Overall Troy is amazing against the pass. I feel like people like to put players in boxes that make sense to them, and "Oh Troy is exciting and a good run defender but is inconsistent against the pass" is a convenient box.

 

Those are all good points and I don't disagree. When I talk about Troy having issues at times in coverage, I'm simply basing it on game observation and not extensive film study. And I think his issues are directly related to his inability to stay healthy. I think a healthy Troy excels in coverage but a hobbled Troy struggles because he still seems to want to take risks but doesn't have the recovery speed because of a (insert injury here i.e. achilles, calf, ankle, hamstring, etc.) injury. This goes all the way back to the Super Bowl against the Packers. Troy struggled in coverage big time but he was hampered by the achille injury. I don't think he's been 100% healthy since then and has seemed to struggle at times in coverage. Again that's just based on watching the games once and not going back and watching again or breaking down film which I don't the time or the inclination to do. I appreciate the fact that you do take the time to do it and your insights are generally pretty informative. My conclusion is unless Troy can come in and play like the old Troy let's leave well enough alone. If he can't make the splash plays we're all accustomed to because he's not completely healthy, we might as well leave Will Allen in there for now.

 

There's no denying his injury history, and you're right, he wasn't the same player at the end of 2010 when he was playing on a bad achilles. Also, I might be wrong, but I think he was playing FS and Clark was playing SS during those playoffs. I'm not sure it was an official switch, but I heard a lot about them switching responsibilities, and Troy played a lot deeper. I'm in agreement we should leave Allen in until Troy is healthy, but I don't think we should say "Troy of old or bust." There's a large gap between Will Allen and Classic Troy. As long as he's healthy, I don't care if Troy is not the same player he used to be. He can go ahead and be a step slower, as long as he's not playing hurt. Like Ike Taylor, he was so fast that had a step to give. He can slow down and still be effective. An injured Troy isn't of much use, but an old, aging Troy will still be a huge boost to our team and I'll ride that train as long as I can. And he ain't that old, he's only 31 or something.

 

does it have to be troy or allen? can't we get some different looks with troy added to do troy stuff knowing we still have things under control deep even if troy is playing? nickle with troy? mix it up. get our best on the field and move them around. they can have freash legs on the field all the time. cortez mixed in. why not think of troy and allen and clark on the field in certain situatons? not just one or the other.

 

excellent idea. I like the thought of having Troy in on obvious passing downs better than having Foote in there. That way he can cover a TE better than Foote and still has the speed to blow up a draw or delay. In certain cirmcumstances I think he would be a better option to blitz than sending a CB as well. It would be a way to keep teams guessing.

 

we may see it thorn. they kept the extra safety this year and they have gone with 3 safeties before. your right though keeping them shuffled keeps them guessing.