Tag Archives: Nick Williams

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Chiefs Reportedly Plan To Sign DE Nick Williams Off Steelers Practice Squad

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The Kansas City Chiefs are planning to sign Steelers practice squad DE Nick Williams according to Steeler Nation’s favorite reporter Ian Rapoport. According to Rapoport, they’ve been coveting him.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/536859400825102336

The Steelers drafted Williams in the 7th round of the 2013 draft. The former Samford defensive lineman missed all of last season with a knee injury. He saw limited playing time during the 2014 preseason, but looked to have made a lot of progress.

If you’re not aware, teams are allowed to sign any player from another team’s practice squad, though that player must be signed to the new team’s 53 man active roster.

The loss of Williams comes right after losing DE Josh Mauro to the Arizona Cardinals. Expect the team to add another defensive lineman in the near future.

 

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[Video] Jason Worilds Took Part In Individual Drills Today

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Steelers outside linebacker Jason Worilds spent nearly all of OTA’s rehabbing his injured leg. Some people speculated it was a hamstring injury, others a calf injury, but whatever it was- it kept him from meaningfully participating in the voluntary practices.

Worilds was in attendance for today’s opening of mini-camp, and was able to participate in individual drills.

https://twitter.com/MarkKaboly_Trib/status/478998563922255872

During the latter part of practice today, Worilds was back to the sideline rehabbing his leg. As a side note, the same was said for DE Nick Williams, who was able to participate in the first part of practice, but adjourned to the sideline to rehab his knee.

The following brief, low budget video taken by Kaboly gives us a glimpse of Joey Porter coaching up Jason Worilds and the linebacker group in individual drills today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aBsCmbztYE

The next video clip is another look at the linebackers running drills. Timmons shows excellent use of his hands as he tears through the bags.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDSUDu_qN8E

Day 2 of mini-camp is tomorrow, and the last day is Thursday. After that, the team will be on break until July 25th when training camp begins.

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Jason Worilds And Will Johnson Absent From OTA’s Today

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Steelers outside linebacker Jason Worilds is absent from OTA practice today. Worilds suffered a left leg injury last week, the details of which are still not known. He was at practice performing rehab activities yesterday, and was said to be moving around without noticeable hinderance. His absence today may very likely just be a precautionary one. They are voluntary afterall.

Troy Polamalu and Jordan Zumwalt are the only others who are absent today.

Edit- Will Johnson is absent as well. He hurt his left ankle yesterday and has it in a boot as a precaution. According to Jim Wexell, Johnson says he expects to return next week.

Nick Williams is still rehabbing his knee (and likely will be for the duration of OTA’s).

Tight end Michael Palmer left practice early due to a lower leg injury that he suffered today.

 

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Archer And Worilds Absent From OTA’s Today, Others Sidelined

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RB/WR Dri Archer and LB Jason Worilds were absent from practice today. Counting Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, and Jordan Zumwalt, that makes five players missing from today’s voluntary practice.

Archer was sent home sick yesterday morning according to Scout reporter Jim Wexell. Hopefully his illness isn’t serious. Tomorrow is the last practice of the week before the team adjourns until next Tuesday.

Jason Worilds reportedly left practice early yesterday with his left thigh wrapped. While the team hasn’t made any official statements about it, Worilds told some reporters it was cramping. Mark Kaboly of the Trib painted a different picture this morning on the radio.

According to Kaboly, Jason Worilds got his foot caught up as he was running in and went down in the heap of players. While Worilds later said it was cramps, Kaboly says it was his hamstring. Hopefully it was the former and not the latter.

DE Nick Williams, OG Nik Embernate, and TE Matt Spaeth did not participate, but were all in attendance rehabilitating today at the South Side. Williams, who is recovering from surgery to repair a knee subluxation, said last month that he was hoping to be able to do some type of work in OTA’s. Embernate is also rehabbing his knee. “Embernasty” tore his ACL and MCL last August. Neither were expected to be full participants at the start of OTAs. The nature of Spaeth’s rehab is unknown at this time.

RB Miquel Maysonet and WR  Jasper Collins were sidelined today according to Wexell. Hopefully just minor issues are keeping them out. Every minute counts when you are a youngster hoping to beat the odds and crack a roster spot, or perhaps even a practice squad spot down the road.

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Phase Two Of Steelers Offseason Program Is Underway

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Phase two of the Steelers off-season workout program has gotten underway this week. There are plenty of familiar faces at the “voluntary” workouts, and a few that aren’t so familiar.

https://twitter.com/PaduaFootball/status/463667222527750144

According to the collective bargaining agreement, phase two of the off-season program may last 3 weeks. The Steelers will carry out the second phase of their workouts until Memorial Day weekend.  The team will hold their rookie orientation next weekend, May 16-18th.

During this phase of the program, all members of the coaching staff are allowed to be on the field with the players. During the first phase, only strength and conditioning coaches were allowed on the field. While no “offense vs defense” type scrimmages or even 1 on 1 drills are allowed, coaches can run positional and individual drills with the players, as well as “perfect play” drills.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said it felt good to get back on the field. “Today we threw, we did some organized stuff where we could actually have coaches on the field,” he told the crew on 97.3 the fan this morning.  “We’re only allowed 45 minutes, but we did do some no huddle plays just to get the verbiage back, and get the new guys learning some stuff. It felt really good to get out there and take some snaps from Pouncey.”

Coach Tomlin told reporters yesterday that Sean Spence had a clean bill of health, and Nick Williams had positive reviews in his rehabilitation, but couldn’t comment on their progress until they “hit the grass”. They are hitting the grass now. Granted, they won’t be participating in contact with pads for several weeks, but the coaching staff will be able to begin the process of evaluating their recoveries this week.

 

Steelers Training Camp 8/12 Injury Report

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Today’s injury report is a mixed bag. Starting with the good news, Terry Hawthorne dressed and participated in practice today. Hawthorne, the team’s 5th round pick, missed OTA’s and all of camp so far due to knee surgery. Nick Williams returned to practice, and Le’Veon Bell was also back today as expected.

Justin Cheadle (OL) was injured during practice. He was said to have suffered what looked like a right knee injury, and reportedly appeared to be in a lot of pain. He was carted away after trainers attended to him on the field.

Steve McLendon was given the day off for personal reasons according to Coach Tomlin. It was rumored to have been to be with his wife who was in labor.

Plaxico Burress had surgery today. It is his 36 birthday. Tomlin did not have a timetable for Burress’s or Spaeth’s recovery.

Steelers Training Camp Injury Report 8/5

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The team got some players back today, the most notable being Alameda Ta’amu, who was activated from the PUP list. Also returning to full participation today were Matt Spaeth, Nick Williams, Larry Foote, and Le’Veon Bell.

The following players did not practice today: Troy Polamalu, Larod Stephens-Howling, Plaxico Burress, Ross Ventrone, Terry Hawthorne, Jarvis Jones, DeMarcus Van Dyke, Cortez Allen, Steve McLendon, and Lawrence Timmons.

There was one new injury today during practice. Curtis Brown suffered an “ankle injury of some description” according to Coach Tomlin. Reports from practice were that he hurt his ankle while breaking up a pass during a two-minute drill. He was carted off the field and later seen using crutches.

Today, the team practiced in shorts, and tomorrow is a day off. Mike Tomlin said that he expects the number of men returning to participate in practice will increase on Wednesday.

From Camp Cupcake To Camp Crack Down

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No one can forget the infamous “Camp Cupcake”. The playful nickname given to the training camp of 2009 by a national sports columnist who stopped in to camp for a few hours one day. The name stuck, because well…who doesn’t like cupcakes? This article isn’t about that training camp though, it’s about this one, and you can rest assured that the camp of 2013 won’t be garnering any such nicknames. This year Coach Tomlin is setting a tone. A tone that implies, “The battle for the AFC North starts in July!”.

Wednesday’s practice featured a live, full contact 11 on 11 drill. “That’s the first time we ever did that.”, said Larry Foote when asked about it after practice. The drill featured several run plays, some of which showed off Le’Veon Bell’s talents. On one play, Bell took a handoff to the left, but cut back to the right and turned it into a 30 yard gain. At the end of the play, Bell bulled over Curtis Brown according to Mark Kaboly.

On top of adding contact into practice, Tomlin is reportedly no longer allowing players to take golf carts to and from the locker rooms- another sign of a change in atmosphere this year. Coach Tomlin is also making changes in an effort to prevent injury. This year, he’s mandating that offensive linemen wear knee braces throughout camp. Speaking of linemen, I continue to hear that Mike Adams is doing well. Jim Wexell reports that he drove Woodley to the ground twice on Monday, and pancaked Ziggy Hood during Wednesday’s practice.

During team drills, Ben was said to be ‘real crisp’, connecting on several of his passes. Gradkowski made a nice connection to Plaxico Burress on a 55 yard TD pass. Shamarko Thomas bit hard on a play action fake, which contributed to the success of the play.

On Steelers live, Bob Labriola was singing the praises of OLB Alan Baxter, the rookie from Northern Ill. Baxter has been making an impression the past few days, and if he continues to do so (and shows prowess during special teams play), he could very well be in surprise contention for a roster spot. Definitely someone to keep an eye on.

https://twitter.com/MikeTanier/status/362682289852911616

Coach Butler had the following to say about him on Tuesday:

“Alan’s a smart kid, and he’s been working hard. He obviously has some things to learn, but he’s made a few plays so far.”

On the injury front, DE Nick Williams sat out the end of practice with an unspecified knee injury. DeMarcus Van Dyke, Cortez Allen, and Terry Hawthorne did not participate.

Steelers Training Camp Injury Report- 7/31

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Coach Tomlin addressed the media after practice today and had one new injury to report. Rookie DE Nick Williams couldn’t finish practice due to a knee injury of “some description”. DeMarcus Van Dyke’s hamstring injury was said to be “a significant one”, and Tomlin said he may be out for a while. This does not bode well for Van Dyke, who was on the bubble for a roster spot. The others previously injured were “status quo”, according to Coach Tomlin, and Cortez Allen is considered day to day. There were no updates given for the players on the PUP list.