After six days of hitting, it's time to rest

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  • hawaiiansteel
    Legend
    • May 2008
    • 35648

    After six days of hitting, it's time to rest

    by Dale Lolley
    Monday, August 04, 2014

    After six days of hitting, it's time to rest

    Ryan Shazier said his injured right knee is OK. But he was limping around on it pretty noticeably Monday afternoon during practice.

    After six consecutive days of live hitting, this team needs a break.

    Mike Tomlin will begin to scale things back a little now that the first preseason game is now in sight at the end of the week. I don't expect the Steelers to go quite as hard when they return to practice Wednesday after taking Tuesday off.

    @ Ike Taylor kind of questioned Mike Mitchell's hitting ability when I spoke with him today. Not so much questioned it, but said they haven't seen it yet since Mitchell had missed the first week of practices with a groin injury.

    Mitchell was activated off the PUP list Monday and promptly made the first tackle of the live running drill, dropping Le'Veon Bell in his tracks.

    Later, he leaped high above Markus Wheaton at the goal line to knock down a Ben Roethlisberger pass.

    He should be a welcome addition to this defense.

    @ In addition to Shazier, Jarvis Jones (groin), Steve McLendon (illness) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (concussion) sat out with injuries Monday.

    Taylor and Pouncey were given the day off for maintenance.

    It's probably the first time in his career that Taylor has been made to take a maintenance day. He's only ever missed practice when he's been injured.

    @ McLendon being out might be the worst thing that happened to Cam Thomas.

    He's been at the nose with the first team the last three days and rookie Stephon Tuitt has been at defensive end. Tuitt looks right at home there opposite Cam Heyward.

    In fact, you often have to look very closely to figure out which one is which. They are about the same size and body type and Tuitt's No. 91 is awfully similar to Heyward's No. 97.

    They're making very similar style plays, as well. Tuitt drove down the line on one play today and held off a blocker with one hand while tackling a running back with the other.

    @ Give running back Miguel Maysonet the gold star for taking on the big hit of the day, courtesy of Terance Garvin.

    The linebacker came on a blitz up the middle at full speed and Maysonet (5-10, 210), stepped into the void and picked him up in what was a hellacious collision.

    @ With Shazier out, Sean Spence moved in with the first team, while Jones was subbed for by Arthur Moats.

    @ I feel bad for veteran linebacker Lawrence Timmons. He's been tasked in this camp of working against rookie Dri Archer in one-on-one passing drills.

    The speedy Archer has just had his way with Timmons. Today, he caught a ball in the flat, came to a complete stop to freeze Timmons and then burst inside, flying right by him.

    Later in the drill, when they had two backs and two backers, Garvin went outside with Archer, yelling, "I got it, I got it." When Archer caught the ball and stutter stepped, Garvin didn't have it any longer. Archer burst down the sideline by himself, leaving Garvin to grasp at air as he yelled obscenities.

    @ Archer did put the ball on the ground today in a run drill. He went into the hole, turned and ran completely around some linemen and then burst upfield, only to take a big hit that knocked the ball loose.

    I didn't see who hit him thanks to the mass of humanity that was there.

    @ The Steelers finished things off with a two-minute drill. Working with Ben Roethlisberger were Antonio Brown, Heath Miller, Archer, Markus Wheaton and Justin Brown. Will Johnson was also in there early on.

    They went 63 yards in 1:50 to score on a 4-yard TD pass from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown.

    Bruce Gradkowski led the second unit that included Kashif Moore, Lance Moore, David Paulsen, Derek Moye and running back Tauren Poole.

    They reached the 2 after starting at their own 37 with 1:51 on the clock. But Gradkowski's final pass intended for Moye was knocked away.

    [URL]http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/[/URL]
  • Shawn
    Legend
    • Mar 2008
    • 15131

    #2
    Oh man, can't wait to see Archer play.
    Trolls are people too.

    Comment

    • K Train
      Hall of Famer
      • Jan 2014
      • 3685

      #3
      Heyward and Tuitt <3333333

      Ive been asking for this for over a year, was mocking Tuitt to them so early on as a first round pick last year. This duo is going to be tough to deal with. Tuitt as a rookie might be everything they wanted Hood to be at any point.

      Im too excited for them, I cant contain it.

      Perfect example how camp updates stir up all kinds of emotions. I say bah to Bryant being "unstoppable" but Tuitt fighting off blocks and making arm tackles gives me a chub. I never said i was the most consistent person though

      Comment

      • BradshawsHairdresser
        Legend
        • Dec 2008
        • 7056

        #4
        @ Archer did put the ball on the ground today in a run drill. He went into the hole, turned and ran completely around some linemen and then burst upfield, only to take a big hit that knocked the ball loose.
        One of my biggest concerns about Archer, with his small hands. I hope they work him hard on ball security, and I hope he can master it.

        Comment

        • hawaiiansteel
          Legend
          • May 2008
          • 35648

          #5
          Originally posted by BradshawsHairdresser
          One of my biggest concerns about Archer, with his small hands. I hope they work him hard on ball security, and I hope he can master it.
          mine too, especially since Archer struggled with fumbles in college also...

          Comment

          • K Train
            Hall of Famer
            • Jan 2014
            • 3685

            #6
            13 fumbles in 4 years/47 games isn't too too bad but it's a concern given his size

            Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson were both knocked for having baby hands too fwiw

            Comment

            • hawaiiansteel
              Legend
              • May 2008
              • 35648

              #7
              Originally posted by K Train
              13 fumbles in 4 years/47 games isn't too too bad but it's a concern given his size

              Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson were both knocked for having baby hands too fwiw
              and Charles has fumbled 19 times in his 6 year NFL career...

              Comment

              • K Train
                Hall of Famer
                • Jan 2014
                • 3685

                #8
                And Adrian Peterson has fumbled 27 times but mendenhall only fumbled 13 times in that span. I guess you have to learn how to take the good with the bad

                Comment

                • hawaiiansteel
                  Legend
                  • May 2008
                  • 35648

                  #9
                  Originally posted by K Train
                  And Adrian Peterson has fumbled 27 times but mendenhall only fumbled 13 times in that span. I guess you have to learn how to take the good with the bad
                  true, the # of fumbles also depends on the amount of carries...

                  Comment

                  • K Train
                    Hall of Famer
                    • Jan 2014
                    • 3685

                    #10
                    Reports of Tuitt are similar to JJ Watt as a rookie.

                    Watt had 48 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and a hand full of passes swatted down as a rookie.

                    I was not very high on Watt as a rookie, thought he would be more like Adam Carriker but hes looking more like a future hall of famer. But i do think Tuitt in 2012 was a better player than Watt ever was at wisconsin, even if injury balooned him to 330 last year I think we might have gotten someone special in the second round.

                    Not saying hes going to be a 15-20 sacks a year guy, Wade Phillips defense is designed to get him that and attack from the position but I think he will be special.

                    Comment

                    • RuthlessBurgher
                      Legend
                      • May 2008
                      • 33208

                      #11
                      Originally posted by K Train
                      Heyward and Tuitt <333333
                      Hopefully they become our version of Mohammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson.
                      Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.

                      Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.

                      We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.

                      We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.

                      Comment

                      • K Train
                        Hall of Famer
                        • Jan 2014
                        • 3685

                        #12
                        Originally posted by RuthlessBurgher
                        Hopefully they become our version of Mohammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson.
                        I am absolutely expecting them to. They should rival the Jets and Cardinals for best 34 DE duo in the near future

                        Comment

                        • hawaiiansteel
                          Legend
                          • May 2008
                          • 35648

                          #13
                          Tomlin: 'Our work was not as good today'

                          Teresa Varley
                          Steelers.com

                          It was one of those days when practice was marred by mistakes.LATROBE, Pa. - During the course of training camp days like this are going to happen. They are ones marred by dropped passes, missed opportunities on interceptions, and pre-snap penalties.

                          Wednesday was one of those days for the Steelers. But, if Coach Mike Tomlin has his way, things will be different at Thursday’s practice.

                          “Our work was not as good today as it had been other days, a little sloppy –some pre-snap penalties on defense, some dropped balls on offense,” said Tomlin. “I acknowledge from time to time that you’re going to have those days, but you can’t like it and you can’t stack them one after another. So we’re going to challenge this group to come back out and have a more productive day tomorrow.”

                          Tomlin said he didn’t know what caused the down day, not pointing to the prior day being an off day as a reason. It was just a bad day all around, one that even had veteran Ike Taylor doing pushups after a dropped interception, and Tomlin will see to it that tomorrow will be a better day.

                          “I don’t care about what created it,” said Tomlin. “The issue is for us is to not stack those types of days but to make sure we come out here every day with the mentality that we’re going to thrive and not survive. I think we had too many survivors today, guys looking to get through it, as opposed to improving within.”

                          One of the bright spots during practice was the work Sean Spence did at inside linebacker, working with the first team while Ryan Shazier remains out with what Tomlin has called a “boo-boo.” Spence looked strong and said the first team reps definitely are a boost for him.

                          “It felt good,” said Spence. “There are some things I need to get better on. We are going to evaluate the film and make the corrections.

                          “It feels good for anybody to be out there running with the first team. It definitely boosts the confidence. It felt good working next to Lawrence Timmons. To be out there on the field with him felt really good.”

                          Tomlin said that nose tackle Steve McLendon has missed practice because he has been dealing with a concussion.

                          The Steelers practice on Thursday at 2:55 p.m. at Saint Vincent College. It’s the final practice before the team plays the New York Giants in the preseason opener at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night. The Steelers will return to Saint Vincent College on Monday, Aug. 11 for a 2:55 p.m. practice.

                          [URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Tomlin-Our-work-was-not-as-good-today/d62009bd-af05-4ee7-ba06-b155055908ca[/URL]

                          Comment

                          • RuthlessBurgher
                            Legend
                            • May 2008
                            • 33208

                            #14
                            It was just a bad day all around, one that even had veteran Ike Taylor doing pushups after a dropped interception
                            It sounds as though that she is somehow surprised by this. When have we ever seen Ike Taylor drop an interception?
                            Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.

                            Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.

                            We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.

                            We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.

                            Comment

                            • feltdizz
                              Legend
                              • May 2008
                              • 27532

                              #15
                              Originally posted by RuthlessBurgher
                              It sounds as though that she is somehow surprised by this. When have we ever seen Ike Taylor drop an interception?
                              lol... she must be new to this
                              Steelers 27
                              Rats 16

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