OTA's start today

[RuthlessBurgher]

Ben: 'You want to win Super Bowls'
Posted 1 hour ago


Teresa Varley
Steelers.com


Ben Roethlisberger hits on 7 topics on Day 1 of OTAs.

7 on 7: Ben talks everything from OTAs starting, to players returning, weight loss and more.


•OTAs get rolling: The Steelers hit the field on Tuesday for the first of 10 OTA sessions, with an incredible turnout of players for the voluntary program.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger liked what he saw on day one, even if it was ‘football in shorts.’

“It’s fun to get on the field with the guys,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s always fun because it’s football.”


•Welcome back: The start of OTAs meant the return of a few familiar faces to the field, including running back Le’Veon Bell.

Bell suffered a season-ending MCL injury last year against the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field on Nov. 1.

“I was excited to have him back out there and excited to get him playing real football,” said Roethlisberger.

•Center of attention: Also back on the field was center Maurkice Pouncey, who missed the entire 2015 season with an ankle injury he suffered in the preseason.

“It’s awesome,” said Roethlisberger of having him back. “If feels good to have him back out there. I am excited he is out there, healthy and our leader.”


•Big Ben: He is still Big Ben, but there is a little less of him this season as Roethlisberger put in a lot of cardio work this offseason to drop some weight.

“It feels good,” said Roethlisberger. “You want to be the best you can be. You want to win Super Bowls. I just felt like it was the right thing at the right time.”


•Reaching for 30: The goal for the Steelers offense last season was to score 30 points a game, and while they came up shy of that with 26.4 points per game in the regular season, the goal is still the same this year.

“Coach (Todd) Haley goes over our goals today as we start this process,” said Roethlisberger. “That was one of our goals, 30 points. We were close last year, but didn’t get there so we didn’t reach our goal.”



•7 to start: It’s referred to by Coach Mike Tomlin as ‘seven shots,’ a drill where the ball is placed at the two-yard line with the offense looking to punch it into the end zone. The offense throws everything at the defense, and the challenge is simple, stop them.

It was commonly run in training camp last year, and during the season, but Tomlin pulled it out to start off OTAs.

“That’s Coach Tomlin’s new thing, that’s seven shots,” said Roethlisberger. “We were a little surprised we were doing it, then we weren’t surprised because that is what he loves. He loves that little period.”



•Time to step up: Roethlisberger knows the offense is going to miss receiver Martavis Bryant, suspended for the entire season, but he also knows that everyone else will pick up their game as a result.

“He is a big weapon for us, one of the best and had the chance to be one of the best in the NFL. It’s unfortunate,” said Roethlisberger. “All of us need to step up. We have had a lot of guys carry a lot on their shoulders. I would like to see some of the young guys take the next step, especially some of the young receiving guys.”

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Ben-You-want-to-win-Super-Bowls/4832e735-462f-40f7-9bbd-1b52ba69690f

[RuthlessBurgher]

3 shed light on OTAs
Posted 6 hours ago


Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

OTAs are beneficial for young players and veterans.

It’s football in shorts. But for Steelers players they will take it as the closest to football they have had since the 2015 season ended.

The team begins their OTAs Tuesday morning with the first of 10 sessions that will take place over three weeks.

And after a long offseason, they are ready to go.

Here are thoughts from three players on what is ahead.

Linebacker Arthur Moats
“Any time we are able to get out there in a football like situation it’s always going to help us out and help us get better. For the new guys it’s a chance for them to get introduced to the playbook. It’s a chance to get out here and show a lot of guys who have already been here what they can do from an athletic standpoint in a football capacity.

“For the older guys, it is just getting that refresher in and getting back out there. We haven’t been on the field in a game like situation, in a practice like situation, since Denver. We are excited about it.”

Linebacker Bud Dupree
“They are going to be so valuable for me to be able to go out there and refresh my memory. I will be able to see how I improved, see how I picked up all the plays, see how my skill set has improved. Everything like that.”

Guard Ramon Foster
“It’s good to see what the young guys are going to be like. It’s good because most of the veterans are going to be back in town. You get that team feel again. That is what this is all about. That is why it’s hard for guys to leave this game. This time of year is fun. It’s the start of everything else to come.”

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/3-shed-light-on-OTAs/4da9ce3c-79a7-4715-abfe-e910923215e5

[RuthlessBurgher]

By Josh Alper
May 24, 2016, 5:53 PM EDT
Maurkice Pouncey “doing everything” in return from broken leg

Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey missed all of last season after breaking his leg in the preseason and coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this offseason that he wasn’t sure if Pouncey would participate in OTAs as a result.

Pouncey’s rehab appears to have gone well because he took every snap with the first-team offense as the Steelers kicked off the final segment of their offseason work on Tuesday. Pouncey said his leg feels 100 percent healthy and he isn’t planning to hold anything back in practices after his long stay on the shelf.

“I’m 26 years old, man,” Pouncey said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m doing everything. I don’t need time off. I’m [ticked] off I missed a lot. I’m ready to go.”

Pouncey also confirmed that he required multiple surgeries to repair the leg, adding that he’s “happy to be out here now.” Happy will likely be a fitting description of the Steelers’ mindset if Pouncey remains on the field for the entire 2016 season.

[RuthlessBurgher]

3 keys from Haley on OTAs
Posted 1 hour ago


Teresa Varley
Steelers.com


Offensive coordinator Todd Haley gives his take on OTAs.

•OTA install: The Steelers have a total of 10 OTAs and a three day minicamp before they take a little over a month long break until training camp. It’s the perfect opportunity for the coaches to introduce what will come in training camp at Saint Vincent College in July, and give the players time to get comfortable before the pads come in late this summer.



“You want to lay a foundation for what you are going to be doing,” said offensive coordinator Todd Haley. “How we set it up we get to install what we are going to install in training camp. It’s a first dry run through if you will. For us as coaches, it’s a chance to tweak or change things we may want to see that didn’t look the way we wanted them to. A lot of different levels go into it.

“That being said in year five for me it’s a little more advanced than in the beginning when it was truly teaching sessions. We have so many guys that have been around that understand the language, the concepts we are talking about that we are able to fine tune things and really get in depth in coaching the details.”


•What to look for: OTAs will be the perfect opportunity for the coaches to get a feel for how prepared young players are for the NFL. For many young players it’s an eye-opening experience, but can help them get ready to be in training camp condition.

“It’s two things we look for,” said Haley. “Their overall conditioning gets exposed. Even if they are in good shape, it’s really not good shape considering the overall condition the other guys are in. We’ll notice guys that appear to be in better condition than the other young guys. Then it’s the overall understanding from an installation concept. You can tell the guys who get it quicker and have a deeper level of understanding. It’s the guys who are consistent day in and day out and make a play or two.”


•Heeeath: Haley has had a security blanket since becoming the Steelers’ offensive coordinator in tight end Heath Miller, and admits it’s going to be strange in training camp when the familiar face is no longer around.

“I don’t think it will really sink in until we are in pads or getting ready for a game because that’s how great his presence was in the locker room and around the building,” said Haley. “We make little Heath comments when we are out on the field, remembering Heath. Someone will make a ‘Heeeeath’ call when someone catches the ball.”

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/3-keys-from-Haley-on-OTAs/e42440b3-48cb-4daa-90d4-2be07e46f8b7

[RuthlessBurgher]

Labriola on overreacting, the no-respect card
Posted 6 hours ago


Bob Labriola
Steelers.com


OTAs are underway, and the time Bill Cowher used Drew Carey to motivate his team.
Ready or not, here it comes:


* Week 1 of OTAs is in the books. Let the overreactions begin:

* Once upon a time, NFL teams said goodbye to their players at the end of one season – typically before New Year’s Day for those not making the playoffs – and then there was no more contact with those players until the one and only mandatory element of the offseason, which was a single three-day minicamp.

* That was the procedure during Chuck Noll’s time. Once Bill Cowher became the coach in 1992, and then the salary cap era was ushered in for 1993, the NFL offseason began to expand. That expansion now has us in an era when the Combine and the Draft are television events, an era during which what the players are required to do and prohibited from doing both have been collectively bargained.

* OTAs provide a pre-summer fix for the football junkies, but for a team with the stability of the Pittsburgh Steelers – from the front office, to coaching staff, and even to the overall roster makeup – what has happened this week on the grass at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, and then what will happen over the next three weeks whereupon the offseason program will end with a three-day mandatory minicamp, is only a small step in the journey.

* Remember, Troy Polamalu had some of his best seasons after skipping OTAs to train on his own. For the proven players, and these Steelers have a number of those on both sides of the ball, it’s about getting their bodies ready for the rigors of an NFL season.


* What is described as “live contact” in the CBA is prohibited during OTAs, and so the on-field sessions at best serve as a practical teaching tool, which is most valuable to the young/new guys on the roster.

* Even though most of the legitimately important progress that can be made during OTAs has more to do with the mental than the physical, people who are reading this right now want something to get those overreactive juices flowing.

* Since I am always nothing but accommodating, here you go: The Steelers still are opening each session with “7 shots,” that drill where the ball is placed at the 2-yard line and it’s 11-on-11, offense vs. defense. Artie Burns had an interception during Tuesday’s “7 shots.” Also on Tuesday, Ben Roethlisberger dropped a 40-plus yard rainbow perfectly into Markus Wheaton’s hands as the receiver was sprinting down the right sideline being double-covered by a trailing cornerback and a safety coming over from the middle of the field.

* If those kinds of things continue to happen over the next nine months, well, then we can all look back on the first week of OTAs as the harbinger of it all. Or not.

* ESPN’s “30 for 30” series is consistently some of the best of what sports television has to offer, and a recent episode titled “Believeland” chronicles the futility of Cleveland’s professional sports franchises, with the Browns’ 1964 NFL Championship being the city’s most recent.

* As could be expected, the Browns’ near-misses in the 1980s – Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble – are chronicled, as is Art Modell’s battle with the city over financing for a new stadium and then the move to Baltimore for the 1996 season.

* The Browns returned to the NFL for the 1999 season, and the league granted the team’s new ownership’s request to open against the Steelers in Cleveland to make it an extra special occasion. So it was that Steelers at Browns on Sunday night, Sept. 12, 1999, was chosen as the event to christen Cleveland Browns Stadium.

* And Steelers Coach Bill Cowher used one of the oldest motivational tricks in the book to make sure it would become a date that will live forever in Cleveland sports infamy.

* It went something like this: One of the more popular television shows at the time was The Drew Carey Show, and Drew Carey set the sitcom in Cleveland, which also is where he was born. The theme song for the show was “Cleveland Rocks.” Needless to say, Drew Carey was a Cleveland civic treasure of that time.

* The Browns wanted to incorporate Carey and the theme song to his popular hit show into the pregame festivities on Sept. 12, 1999, and to figure out a way to have it coincide with the start of the network’s broadcast of the game required some shuffling. As it ended up, the Browns requested permission from the Steelers to skip the pregame introductions of the visiting team in order to fit in the things they had planned with Drew Carey.

* Cowher, a former Browns assistant coach under Marty Schottenheimer for four seasons, said sure. No problem. Go right ahead with that Drew Carey song and pyrotechnics, and whatever else you want. We understand. It’s a big night for Cleveland.

* Then before the game, Cowher used it during one of his final talks to his players before they took the field against the Browns, and in this particular telling of the events it morphed into a “no respect” slap in the face.

* A Steelers team that would finish that season at 6-10 dominated the game and made what essentially was an expansion team in Browns uniforms look like it didn’t belong in the NFL. Cleveland’s offense managed two first downs and 40 total net yards as the Steelers cruised to a 43-0 victory. Even Mike Tomczak threw two touchdown passes for the Steelers in mop-up duty, for goodness sakes.

* Yep, for Browns fans that night, the Drew Carey pregame turned out to be the only highlight. And an easy way for Cowher to motivate his team for its season opener.

http://www.steelers.com/news/labriola-on/article-1/Labriola-on-overreacting-the-no-respect-card/b2f42313-fb21-4f07-b086-719a24f3ae77

[RuthlessBurgher]

Labriola on Senquez, Bell, Gilbert 'getting it'
Posted 3 hours ago


Bob Labriola
Steelers.com


A soft-tissue injury for Golson, predicting Le'Veon's preseason carries, and Gilbert's maturation.

Ready or not, here it comes:

* Two weeks of OTAs are over, and they can be considered a rousing success so far, if for no other reason than the major health news of the fortnight has been the babies born to Ben and Ashley Roethlisberger, and to Landry and Whitney Jones.


* Well, there also was the MRI that Senquez Golson said he had, but when additional questioning revealed the exam was for what Golson described as a “soft-tissue” injury instead of being on the shoulder he had surgically repaired last August, well, it seemed OK to take a couple of steps away from the panic button.

* Golson is a guy who is a big part of what the Steelers hope to accomplish in 2016, which can be viewed as unsettling since he has yet to play even one snap of professional tackle football. But it’s still true. Golson’s injury is what sent the Steelers on that shopping trip last August when they came away with Brandon Boykin in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick, and the team is counting on Golson to develop quickly into a ball-hawking slot cornerback for a pass defense looking to make a big jump from being No. 30 in the NFL in 2015.

* Soft-tissue injuries are the kinds of strains and sprains that often occur when players aren’t quite as highly-conditioned as their job description requires. Nobody on a football team runs more than the receivers and the defensive backs who cover them, and Golson is back at it after a year of inactivity resulting from his time on injured reserve rehabilitating his surgically repaired shoulder.

* Getting back into competitive running can end up being something of a shock to the body, with muscles suddenly being asked to do things they haven’t in a long time. The most important thing for Golson would be to use the time between now and the opening of training camp on July 28 to get his body ready for the amount of competitive running that will be required on the fields at Saint Vincent College.


* Recently, Ben Roethlisberger said during a media session that he’s going to be looking for the wide receivers to “really take the next step, especially the young receiving guys.” Falling into that category would be pretty much everybody on the depth chart there except Antonio Brown and Darrius Heyward-Bey, but I’m guessing the guys Roethlisberger had atop his list of “young receiving guys” are Markus Wheaton and Sammie Coates.

* For Wheaton and Coates, the process of stepping up would begin with making the routine plays all the time. What does that mean? Well, Antonio Brown makes the routine plays all the time.

* That means not dropping the ball, or not securing the catch and having it stripped out by a defensive back, or not running the right route, or not running the route deep enough to be beyond the first-down marker. Wheaton and Coates, and anyone else who has designs on being a wide receiver on the Steelers 53-man roster in 2016, should be most concerned with making the ordinary plays an extraordinary percentage of the time. It has to start there.

* The Steelers haven’t drafted a quarterback since they used their second pick of the fourth round in 2013 on Landry Jones. Before that, it was Ben Roethlisberger in the first round in 2004. That’s two quarterbacks picked in the past 13 drafts. By contrast, when the New York Jets selected Christian Hackenberg in the second round of the 2016 draft, he became the ninth quarterback the team has picked in the last 11 years.

* Remember some years ago when the Minnesota Vikings sat RB Adrian Peterson through the entire preseason? In both the 2012 and the 2013 preseasons, Peterson didn’t get a single carry until the regular season openers. In 2012, he finished with 2,097 yards rushing, and in 2013, he finished with 1,266.

* Keep that in mind this summer when you’re not seeing a lot of Le’Veon Bell during the preseason.

* So often in professional football, there is lamenting over the talented athletes who never blossom as players because “they didn’t get it.” Those four words – they didn’t get it – have come to serve as a code to describe guys who never figured out what was required to become successful professionals. They never figured out what was necessary in terms of conditioning, in terms of the proper diet to complement conditioning, in terms of what’s required to take care of your body in order to be able to play a full 16-game regular season, in terms of figuring out that the work day isn’t necessarily over just because the horn blew to signal the end of that day’s practice.

* Marcus Gilbert is an example of someone who “got it.” Drafted in the second round in 2011 from Florida, there were some concerns early about whether Gilbert was ever going to get it. During his rookie training camp, he missed a lot of practice with what would be considered minor injuries, and there didn’t seem to be a real sense of urgency on his part to get himself back onto the field.

* Through his first couple of seasons, there were some doubts about Gilbert, doubts about whether he would be someone who realized his potential, or whether he would end up joining the list of players who “didn’t get it.”

* What specifically turned things around for Gilbert isn’t as important as that things got turned around for Gilbert because he turned them around. All of the little things he wasn’t doing, or he wasn’t doing enough of, or he wasn’t doing with the necessary intensity, gradually became strengths. Or at least ceased to be weaknesses.

* What that means for today is that Marcus Gilbert is a quality starting NFL tackle as he heads towards his sixth professional season. He is a significant piece of an offensive line that has gone from a liability to a team strength as he has matured as a player and a professional.

* During the run-up to the 2011 draft, the Steelers sought Maurkice Pouncey’s opinion on Gilbert, who was Pouncey’s teammate at the University of Florida. Pouncey vouched for Gilbert, and the Steelers ended up using a second-round pick on him.

* Today, based on Gilbert’s 2015 season in which he allowed only two sacks in 18 games while shutting out pass rushers the caliber of Kansas City’s Justin Houston, Cincinnati’s Carlos Dunlap, and Oakland’s Khalil Mack in successive weeks, it’s safe to say Maurkice Pouncey was right.

http://www.steelers.com/news/labriola-on/article-1/Labriola-on-Senquez-Bell-Gilbert-getting-it/480ba969-e221-4bbd-a208-3db77936c982

[Captain Lemming]

“You want to lay a foundation for what you are going to be doing,” said offensive coordinator Todd Haley. “How we set it up we get to install what we are going to install in training camp. It’s a first dry run through if you will. For us as coaches, it’s a chance to tweak or change things we may want to see that didn’t look the way we wanted them to. A lot of different levels go into it.

Haley's sounding a little Tomlinesque there.....if you will. :)

[Captain Lemming]

* Marcus Gilbert is an example of someone who “got it.” Drafted in the second round in 2011 from Florida, there were some concerns early about whether Gilbert was ever going to get it. During his rookie training camp, he missed a lot of practice with what would be considered minor injuries, and there didn’t seem to be a real sense of urgency on his part to get himself back onto the field.

* Through his first couple of seasons, there were some doubts about Gilbert, doubts about whether he would be someone who realized his potential, or whether he would end up joining the list of players who “didn’t get it.”

* What specifically turned things around for Gilbert isn’t as important as that things got turned around for Gilbert because he turned them around. All of the little things he wasn’t doing, or he wasn’t doing enough of, or he wasn’t doing with the necessary intensity, gradually became strengths. Or at least ceased to be weaknesses.

* What that means for today is that Marcus Gilbert is a quality starting NFL tackle as he heads towards his sixth professional season. He is a significant piece of an offensive line that has gone from a liability to a team strength as he has matured as a player and a professional.

* During the run-up to the 2011 draft, the Steelers sought Maurkice Pouncey’s opinion on Gilbert, who was Pouncey’s teammate at the University of Florida. Pouncey vouched for Gilbert, and the Steelers ended up using a second-round pick on him.

* Today, based on Gilbert’s 2015 season in which he allowed only two sacks in 18 games while shutting out pass rushers the caliber of Kansas City’s Justin Houston, Cincinnati’s Carlos Dunlap, and Oakland’s Khalil Mack in successive weeks, it’s safe to say Maurkice Pouncey was right.

I don't think I can recall more people in this forum being as wrong about a player we chose to extend as was the case with Gilbert.
I think even the very few who liked the signing, mostly felt we had no better option but are still surprised at how good he has been.

The Pouncey recommendation is funny. Pouncey is a good supportive friend, I would be shocked if the didn't endorse Gilbert. Dude supported Hernandez even after the Pats had turned on him. Dude is loyal that's for sure. Frankly I don't know if I would take any players endorsement of a former college teammate very seriously. Seeing how Gilbert turned out though I'm glad we did listen in this case.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

I don't think I can recall more people in this forum being as wrong about a player we chose to extend as was the case with Gilbert.
I think even the very few who liked the signing, mostly felt we had no better option but are still surprised at how good he has been.

The Pouncey recommendation is funny. Pouncey is a good supportive friend, I would be shocked if the didn't endorse Gilbert. Dude supported Hernandez even after the Pats had turned on him. Dude is loyal that's for sure. Frankly I don't know if I would take any players endorsement of a former college teammate very seriously. Seeing how Gilbert turned out though I'm glad we did listen in this case.

Good thing Pouncey was right with his Gilbert recommendation...he sure whiffed with the one he gave for Chris Rainey.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Steelers churn the bottom of the roster, swap out two rookies
Posted by Darin Gantt on June 7, 2016, 10:53 AM EDT


Sometimes a 90-man roster just doesn’t give you enough of a chance to look at all the players you’d like to look at.

So the Steelers churned the bottom of theirs, swapping out a pair of rookies prior to today’s OTAs.

The team announced they had signed undrafted rookie tight end Paul Lang and linebacker Kevin Anderson. To make room for them on the roster, they released rookie linebacker Tyriq McCord and tight end Jay Rome.

Many times when such transactions come this time of year, there’s an injury/availability issue, which would have kept the former players off the field.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/06/07/steelers-churn-the-bottom-of-the-roster-swap-out-two-rookies/