Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

[SteelHoss]

NFL from the sidelines
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[url="http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/2010/09/just-something-i-noticed-in-practice.html"]http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com ... ctice.html[/url]

Thursday, September 16, 2010
Just something I noticed in practice this week
Three of the players the coaching staff weren't happy with from an attitude standpoint in training camp - Antonio Brown, Crezdon Butler and Keenan Lewis – are running as scout players at practice this week, ie. dressed in the jersey number of somebody on the opposing team.

The Steelers usually do this with three or four key players on the opposing team each week.

For example, Brown is serving as Tennessee running back Chris Johnson.

It's possible that those three players would have been used in those roles anyway. But it's a good way for the coaching staff to show the young guys that they aren't bigger than the team.

© Arnaz Battle returned to practice Thursday, but pretty much everyone else who missed Wednesday - other than the vet's day off guys - did not.

That's not saying guys won't play - veterans can miss work all week and still suit up.

But it's bad news for Jason Worilds and Emmanuel Sanders, who both missed their second day. Rookies have to practice to be active.


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[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

NFL from the sidelines
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[url="http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/2010/09/just-something-i-noticed-in-practice.html"]http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com ... ctice.html[/url]

Thursday, September 16, 2010
Just something I noticed in practice this week
Three of the players the coaching staff weren't happy with from an attitude standpoint in training camp - Antonio Brown, Crezdon Butler and Keenan Lewis – are running as scout players at practice this week, ie. dressed in the jersey number of somebody on the opposing team.

The Steelers usually do this with three or four key players on the opposing team each week.

For example, Brown is serving as Tennessee running back Chris Johnson.

It's possible that those three players would have been used in those roles anyway. But it's a good way for the coaching staff to show the young guys that they aren't bigger than the team.

© Arnaz Battle returned to practice Thursday, but pretty much everyone else who missed Wednesday - other than the vet's day off guys - did not.

That's not saying guys won't play - veterans can miss work all week and still suit up.

But it's bad news for Jason Worilds and Emmanuel Sanders, who both missed their second day. Rookies have to practice to be active.


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I feel sorry for these sports columnists. They obviously are under enormous deadline pressures to write and submit ANYTHING, whether it is actually a story or not.

Rookies acting as scout players ... call the ACLU - "cruel and unusual"!!

[phillyesq]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

Some further explanation in the comments.

In response to a question about the attitude issues:

Dale Lolley said...

Not as much with Butler as the other two, but I know they didn't like his play in the last preseason game when he thought he broke up a pass and started waving his hands, only to have the receiver turn and keep running down the field.
5:52 PM

Re: Keenan Lewis, and whether the displeasure was with camp or the Denver preseason game:

Dale Lolley said...

I consider the entire preseason training camp, so there's the hair splitting.

The coaches were happy with Worilds. But, like I said, he won't dress without practicing, so it looks like it will be Gibson's turn this week.
2:13 AM

Butler and Brown playing on the scout team doesn't really surprise me at all. Brown seems to be the quickest and most elusive player on the roster. If Logan was here, I'd wager that he'd be playing Johnson in practice.

Lewis on the scout team seems a bit more surprising, and it seems like it might be a wakeup call. Many of us thought he had a shot at unseating McFadden and starting opposite Ike. Rather than capitalize on that opportunity, he really put himself in the doghouse.

I hope Lewis responds like Mendy responded to his benching last year.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

With Sanders and Worilds still injured, that likely means that Gibson and Brown will get helmets in Tennessee. I was really surprised to see both Lewis and Butler inactive last week. Although Madison played better at corner this preseason than at any other point in his Steeler career, it scared me to go into a game with only Madison as our 4th CB being Ike, BMac, and Gay. With BMac being nicked up a bit too, maybe that means Lewis will dress this week as well.

[1st and Goal--]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

phillyesq said "Brown seems to be the quickest and most elusive player on the roster."

It is not that common to see feature articles in all the major area papers talking about the Scout Team. But, that was the case this week. When I saw that Brown was doing the role of Johnson I figured that was the ultimate compliment.

Scout Team? Exactly what is this? How does it work? Why would it not be a good idea to have upcoming players practicing against the #1's. If that is how it works. Maybe someone could shed some light on this process.

[feltdizz]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

I definitely think Butler was put on punishment for the showboating when the play was still going on. He looked like a fool.

I usually see it once or twice a game too.... is celebrating really so important you have to do it before the whistle?

[1st and Goal--]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

Well, here it is, Friday evening, I suppose the Steelers have concluded their preparation for Sundays game. Ordinarily I would consider a thread like this a distraction, and not really pay any attention to it. But, WTHeck, like I said all the preparation is in nothing for us fans to really do but wait for the game. So, in the meanwhile, why not discuss the premise of this thread which somehow seemed to relate the "Doghouse" with the Scout Team.

Now there could be a "Doghouse" but I just don't see the connection to the Scout Team. OK. I must admit, I have only a vague idea what this team is. Common sense says they play the role of the weeks opponent. So, how many players are on this team. 11 or more, I don't know. Are these players all in the "Doghouse". I really doubt this.

In the case of Brown. It was suspected he was not active because of the incident involving the execessive celebration and taunting of teammates after he returned a punt or KO[I forget] 70yards. Not really, Tomlin had already stated a day earlier plans to use Sanders [by no means a slouch at KO returns] and the experienced ARE on the punts. As it turned out the kicking game was a non-factor in the ATL game. Sanders returned the opening KO to the 26 yard line[net 23 yds] and the other two were deep in the EZ. ARE cleanly handled 4 punts. 2 Fair Catches and the other 2 almost no chance of a return.[No fumbles, no mistakes--we won the game]

Incidentally, I could not help but notice while I was looking this up on the NFL.com stats that Steppin Steffin only averaged 22.7 on 3 KO returns, and averaged 1.5 on several PR's. Sanders actually outdid Logan on the KO returns with his 23 yd avg. But the point is the kicking game was a non-factor in the game and perhaps the coaches expected this. More likely this is why Brown was Not Active.

Butler: Do you really believe that his thinking he batted the pass down was cause to ship him to Siberia. I doubt it. He probably learned a lesson there and it shouldn't happen again.

K. Lewis: I don't know about this one. No doubt he was frustrated and upset about his play in Denver. But, he came back and played well against Carolina. Maybe all these younger players learned a lot from this pre-season.

Anyway, looking at the injury reports Brown, Lewis and maybe even Butler could play Sunday. Good! They could make a positive contribution to the Steelers effort.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Lolley: Rookies In The Doghouse???

I think Atlanta punter Michael Koenan had a lot to do with our decision to sit Brown. He is known for his excellent hang time, so Tomlin was satisfied with using a surehanded vet for punt returns like El, over a rookie who may be looking to make a name for himself by trying to return a punt that he should have fair caught.