The Steelers were back to work today after having yesterday off. The weather was cool, which probably helped keep the fighting drought alive. After today’s practice, one reporter asked Mike Tomlin if he wished it were hotter, to which Tomlin replied, “I do, but I don’t have control over that, so I’m not losing a whole lot of sleep.” The reporter went on to ask if there was anything he could do to compensate for that, proving that sometimes reporters ask some really dumb questions.
Tight End Rob Blanchflower was sidelined with what Coach Tomlin labelled as a high ankle sprain. According to Tomlin, he’ll be out for at least a week. While the severity of his sprain isn’t public knowledge, I’ve never heard of someone returning to activity in anywhere near that short of an amount of time.
Ramon Foster was at practice today, the first time since training camp got underway. Coach Tomlin had the following to say about Foster’s return: “Glad to have Ramon back, not only is he a solid player, great person and leader, (he) does a good job within his group and outside his group. You just live day by day, and we’ll surround him with the brotherly love we have for him and move forward.”
Troy Polamalu sat out for the 11 on 11 live drills, but later he had the crowd cheering when he intercepted a pass from Landry Jones. Jones was running with the number 2 team, ahead of Gradkowski, and was doing well at first today according to reporters. The second year quarterback was looking comfortable in the pocket, and was avoiding pressure with a simple sidestep. Things apparently went downhill quickly though, as pocket presence and completions were followed by a sack and an interception.
Safety Jordan Dangerfield has been turning heads with his hitting ferocity. He also drew the ire of Dick LeBeau today after he intercepted the ball during 7 on 7 drills. After the interception, Dangerfield lateraled the ball to Isaiah Green, which had LeBeau yelling about jeopardizing a turnover.
During OL/DL drills, Steve McLendon laid out backup center Cody Wallace with a mean bull rush. During the same drills, Mike Adams got ran over. To the defense of Adams, it was the 6’7, 350 lbs NT Daniel McCullers who got the best of him. At least it wasn’t Shamarko Thomas. McCullers reportedly looked good all around today, and was repeatedly collapsing the pocket or getting pressure.
In the linebacker group, Shazier continued to impress with his speed and awareness. He is going to be a problem for opposing offenses this year, both at the LOS and in coverage. Shazier did have a bad moment today, when RB LeGarrette Blount laid a mean stiff arm on him that put him to the ground. Blount had a nice gain on the play. You might consider it retribution of sorts for backs on backers. Sean Spence’s knee seems to be responding well to full contact practices. So far, so good. Vince Williams is quietly having a good camp. Terence Garvin is getting a lot of buzz. Today he had multiple stops at or just beyond the line of scrimmage. He’s also been “flying around the field” according to some reporters, and laying some heavy hits. ILB has some solid depth this year.
During end of line drills, TE Eric Waters put his blocking ability on display again. Jarvis Jones put on a good show during his sessions against Matt Spaeth, enough so to draw shouts from Tomlin, “I like it 95!” Jarvis Jones, Chris Carter, and Howard Jones all stayed after practice to work on pass rushing technique with Joey Porter.
Here’s Porter working with LB’s during individual drills earlier in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WTJ3Jwhh-c
That’s all for today. The team will hit the practice fields again tomorrow at St. Vincent.