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Beaver County Times
Cotchery emerging as the new No. 3 receiver
Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2011
By Mike Bires [email="mbires@timesonline.com"]mbires@timesonline.com[/email]
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery catches a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half of Sunday's game.
PITTSBURGH — Time and again this season, Jerricho Cotchery heard Mike Tomlin’s “next man up” sermon. But never did he grow tired of hearing it. He believed that at some point it would be his turn to make a game-shaping play.
So it was Sunday when Cotchery caught his first touchdown pass as a Steeler in the 24-17 win over the Bengals.
“I just want to contribute,” said Cotchery, a 29-year-old wide receiver who spent the first seven years of his pro career with the New York Jets.
“Every guy in this locker room is important. That’s truly how it is. Coach preaches that all the time. I’m sure he preached it long before I got here. When you’re number is called, you’re expected to make a play.”
Cotchery signed with the Steelers on Aug. 14 right after negotiations with Plaxico Burress didn’t come to fruition. Burress became a Jet, and the Steelers signed the veteran route-runner Cotchery.
With Emmanuel Sanders out at the time with a stress fracture in his foot, the Steelers needed another body at wide receiver. They found one in Cotchery, who from 2006-2008, caught 82, 82 and 71 passes, respectively.
However, Cotchery pulled a hamstring in his first preseason game (Aug. 18 vs. the Eagles) and missed the first three games of the regular season. For the next four games, he played primarily on special teams. He finally caught his first pass in the Oct. 30 game against the Patriots when Hines Ward sat out with a sprained ankle and Sanders suffered a knee injury.
A week later against the Ravens, Cotchery got more chances. With Sanders attending his mother’s funeral in Texas out and Ward getting knocked out with concussion-like symptoms after a hit from linebacker Ray Lewis, he caught three passes for 44 yards.
Then against the Bengals, Cotchery scored the Steelers’ first TD on a 16-yard catch in the first quarter. It was his first touchdown since scoring for the Jets in a 24-19 loss to the Steelers last season in the AFC Championship Game.
Cotchery also had a 24-yard TD catch against the Bengals in the second quarter that was called back because of an offensive pass interference penalty on tight end Heath Miller.
“He’s a veteran, a savvy guy,” Tomlin said. “He’s a guy that we’ve been excited about since the day we acquired him. But he had some things (like the hamstring injury) that slowed him down early in the process. But he’s been a consummate professional throughout it all. He’s prepared himself and we’re just starting to see the signs of that preparation.”
“While I was out, I had the support of my teammates,” Cotchery said. “They kept telling me to keep working and to just take care of myself so I could get back out there on the field and help us down the stretch.”
With Sanders out indefinitely, it appears that Cotchery is the Steelers’ No. 3 wideout for the time being. At least he was Sunday. With Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown penciled in as starters, Cotchery saw time as the third receiver. Cotchery’s increased workload meant a decrease in playing time for Hines Ward.
“We’ve got a great set of receivers, and I think we’re going to be pretty dangerous coming off our bye week,” Cotchery said. “Hines will be back to full speed and later on down the road we’ll get Emmanuel back. So I’m really looking forward to that down the homestretch.
“We have a pretty good guy (in Ben Roethlisberger) behind center who can spread he ball around. So we feel good about that.”
[url="http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steelers/cotchery-emerging-as-the-new-no-receiver/article_71ee1bea-e332-516f-bf37-4bd3344d7ed1.html"]http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steel ... d7ed1.html[/url]
Cotchery emerging as the new No. 3 receiver
Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2011
By Mike Bires [email="mbires@timesonline.com"]mbires@timesonline.com[/email]
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery catches a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half of Sunday's game.
PITTSBURGH — Time and again this season, Jerricho Cotchery heard Mike Tomlin’s “next man up” sermon. But never did he grow tired of hearing it. He believed that at some point it would be his turn to make a game-shaping play.
So it was Sunday when Cotchery caught his first touchdown pass as a Steeler in the 24-17 win over the Bengals.
“I just want to contribute,” said Cotchery, a 29-year-old wide receiver who spent the first seven years of his pro career with the New York Jets.
“Every guy in this locker room is important. That’s truly how it is. Coach preaches that all the time. I’m sure he preached it long before I got here. When you’re number is called, you’re expected to make a play.”
Cotchery signed with the Steelers on Aug. 14 right after negotiations with Plaxico Burress didn’t come to fruition. Burress became a Jet, and the Steelers signed the veteran route-runner Cotchery.
With Emmanuel Sanders out at the time with a stress fracture in his foot, the Steelers needed another body at wide receiver. They found one in Cotchery, who from 2006-2008, caught 82, 82 and 71 passes, respectively.
However, Cotchery pulled a hamstring in his first preseason game (Aug. 18 vs. the Eagles) and missed the first three games of the regular season. For the next four games, he played primarily on special teams. He finally caught his first pass in the Oct. 30 game against the Patriots when Hines Ward sat out with a sprained ankle and Sanders suffered a knee injury.
A week later against the Ravens, Cotchery got more chances. With Sanders attending his mother’s funeral in Texas out and Ward getting knocked out with concussion-like symptoms after a hit from linebacker Ray Lewis, he caught three passes for 44 yards.
Then against the Bengals, Cotchery scored the Steelers’ first TD on a 16-yard catch in the first quarter. It was his first touchdown since scoring for the Jets in a 24-19 loss to the Steelers last season in the AFC Championship Game.
Cotchery also had a 24-yard TD catch against the Bengals in the second quarter that was called back because of an offensive pass interference penalty on tight end Heath Miller.
“He’s a veteran, a savvy guy,” Tomlin said. “He’s a guy that we’ve been excited about since the day we acquired him. But he had some things (like the hamstring injury) that slowed him down early in the process. But he’s been a consummate professional throughout it all. He’s prepared himself and we’re just starting to see the signs of that preparation.”
“While I was out, I had the support of my teammates,” Cotchery said. “They kept telling me to keep working and to just take care of myself so I could get back out there on the field and help us down the stretch.”
With Sanders out indefinitely, it appears that Cotchery is the Steelers’ No. 3 wideout for the time being. At least he was Sunday. With Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown penciled in as starters, Cotchery saw time as the third receiver. Cotchery’s increased workload meant a decrease in playing time for Hines Ward.
“We’ve got a great set of receivers, and I think we’re going to be pretty dangerous coming off our bye week,” Cotchery said. “Hines will be back to full speed and later on down the road we’ll get Emmanuel back. So I’m really looking forward to that down the homestretch.
“We have a pretty good guy (in Ben Roethlisberger) behind center who can spread he ball around. So we feel good about that.”
[url="http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steelers/cotchery-emerging-as-the-new-no-receiver/article_71ee1bea-e332-516f-bf37-4bd3344d7ed1.html"]http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steel ... d7ed1.html[/url]
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