Ed Bouchette @EdBouchette ·
Brett Keisel will dress for Steelers tonight
[URL]https://twitter.com/EdBouchette[/URL]
Ed Bouchette @EdBouchette ·
Brett Keisel will dress for Steelers tonight
[URL]https://twitter.com/EdBouchette[/URL]
He's still a beast...
Keisel eager to make big impact for the Steelers
August 23, 2014
Brett Keisel gives a big hug to former Steeler Duce Staley, now a coach with the Eagles, before Thursday night's preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
There is nothing wrong with the Steelers defense that Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton and James Harrison in their prime could not fix.
So how about Brett Keisel?
“It was a bad day,” Keisel said of Thursday night, when the Philadelphia Eagles drilled the Steelers defense. “There is work to be done, and I look forward to helping correct that.”
Keisel, who watched the 31-21 loss Thursday in uniform from the sideline, played a big part in many of the great Steelers defenses that dominated the NFL in the 2000s. The question now becomes how much he can help a younger, transitioning defense that had its wings trimmed by the Eagles.
The Steelers signed him this week to a two-year contract that will pay him $1.5 million this season, which likely will be his final one in the NFL. He hopes to make it a worthwhile one and said he did not return for his 13th NFL season to watch his teammates play. He wants to start, which he has done at right defensive end for the past nine seasons.
“I’m going to try. I want to play my best ball, and, if that’s good enough to be a starter, then that is what I’m going to try to do,” Keisel said. “I’m going to play.
“I really don’t think they brought me back just to teach these guys everything and try to teach them the little things that make you a good defensive lineman. I think they brought me back to help and to help lead, and I look forward to doing that.”
Keisel will turn 36 Sept. 19. There are not many players in the history of the league who saw their 36th birthday while starting at defensive end.
“Yeah, well. I’m 26 at heart,” he said. “I don’t feel old, my body feels good. I feel I have a lot of good football left, and I think they do, too, or this wouldn’t have happened.
“I know the age is always looked at in the NFL, and it’s a big thing, and this team is getting younger — we have a lot of great young prospects. I look forward to getting in there and restoring things. I look forward to helping those men and getting out there and bleeding with those guys.”
They need something after two Eagles quarterbacks, Nick Foles and backup Mark Sanchez, and a slew of running backs picked apart the Steelers first-team defense for three quarters.
Keisel warmed up Thursday night and dressed for the game, but coach Mike Tomlin would not let him play, as much as Keisel wanted to while watching his once-proud defense get torched.
“I’m sure they’re going to ease me into things a little bit. But I wanted to go out there and play. Coach Tomlin told me not to,” Keisel said. “We were warming up, and I said I’m going to sneak in on a few. He told me I better not.
“I really wished I could have helped. I never liked watching.”
How much can he help?
Cam Heyward has taken over his job at right defensive end, but who mans the other end remains a question. Cam Thomas, who signed from San Diego as a free agent, started there in the Chargers 3-4 base defense. The Steelers signed him ideally to be a backup swing man between end and nose tackle. Coincidentally, the Steelers signed Thomas to the exact amount of money for 2014 that lured Keisel back — a $1 million salary with a $500,000 signing bonus.
They would like rookie Stephon Tuitt ultimately to start at defensive end; he now enters at tackle in their first nickel and dime defenses.
If Keisel were to start, Heyward could move to the left side because Keisel has never operated over there on what usually is the strong side. Heyward bumped Ziggy Hood for the starting left-end job halfway through 2013.
“He’s a great team leader,” said Heyward, who will be playing his fourth season with Keisel. “He provides more depth to us. He’s going to give advice to me and all the other guys. It never hurts to have a guy of his stature in the locker room.”
Keisel, though, wants more.
“I feel like I can still play. I haven’t bled with these guys. A lot of them I have — well, some of them I have. But a lot of them I have no idea who they are … I’ll step back and try to get a gauge on some of these guys.
“We have work to do.”
Plenty of room to improve
So, was their performance against Philadelphia an indication of what the Steelers can expect from their defense in 2014?
“It better not be or we have a long season ahead of us,” Heyward said. “There’s a big level of disappointment … handle it or we’re going to be in for a long season.”
The Steelers were gouged up the middle by Eagles running backs and had no answer for their quick-throwing passing attack, while struggling to pressure the quarterbacks.
“If we don’t correct it, guys are going to continue to run the same plays over and over until we get sick of it,” Heyward said.
[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2014/08/23/Keisel-eager-to-make-big-impact/stories/201408230088#ixzz3BFDi8l4G[/URL]
Keisel: 'I would like to get some game snaps'
Teresa Varley
Steelers.com
DE Brett Keisel is hoping to get some quality work in practice this week.
It’s not often that a player is in uniform for a game before taking a single snap in practice that week, but Brett Keisel put on the black and gold against the Eagles on Thursday night not just without taking a snap all week, but since December, when last season ended for the Steelers.
While Keisel didn’t play at all, he did get a unique perspective watching the game at Lincoln Financial Field.
“I wanted to see who was going to say things and who was going to talk and who was going to stand up,” said Keisel. “It was good and I wanted to see what some of the young guys were capable of and how they responded after a drive or anything like that.
“We’ve got work to do; I said that the other night. We have work to do.”
Keisel is first to admit that he personally has work to do as well, having not practiced for over seven months, and is hoping to get back in the swing of things this week as the team prepares for their final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
“I feel like I need to get the pads on and get out there and get going,” said Keisel. “I want to get some practices in me. Just getting out there and playing, the stop and go, the change of direction, stuff like that. There are certain things you can train in, but really until you play the game you’re not going to be in the type of shape that you need to be in to be a good, consistent player. So I have a week or so to get there and I look forward to doing that.
“I would like to get some game snaps and see what happens. Everything is up to Coach (Mike) Tomlin. We’ll see what he wants to do and see how I do in practice this week and go from there.”
What else is up to Tomlin is what Keisel’s role will be. Keisel, like any player, wants to be a starter but first and foremost he wants to help the team win.
“The main thing I wanted to do coming in to this was just help,” said Keisel. “Being someone who has played a lot of football and loves being out there from the very start, yes that is where you want to be. As a competitor, as someone who loves competing with this team, you want to be out there playing and fighting with your guys.”
Keisel, who was an unrestricted free agent after the 2013 season, spent the offseason unsigned. It wasn’t until two days before the Eagles game that a long journey landed Keisel with the Steelers.
“It’s been amazing,” said Keisel. “The team has welcomed me with open arms, the players, the Rooneys, the coaching staff, and front office. We are a big happy family and it really means a lot to me how much everyone has shown they are happy I am back.”
Among those the happiest, though, are probably his wife Sarah and three children. Keisel hopped on a plane last week heading to Arizona, where it looked like he would be signed by the Cardinals and moved right into a starting role. But it just didn’t feel right to him.
“This is the place where I have set roots and want to raise my family,” said Keisel of Pittsburgh. “That feeling I had when I had my bags packed and was saying goodbye to my wife and kids and didn’t know when I would see them again. It just didn’t feel right. I just thank God everything worked out.
“It was very tough. I lost a lot of hair this offseason, not on my beard luckily, but on top. It was just the unknown. You start to figure out what you are going to do with the next phase of your life. The good thing is it forced me to look into that and when that day comes I am going to be better prepared for it because of what I have been through with this.”
[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Keisel-I-would-like-to-get-some-game-snaps/63026c23-51b6-4725-aa3f-71c0db41ea5b[/URL]
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