Steelers football blog

Steelers OK Polamalu's alternative training plans

Troy Polamalu won't join his Steelers teammates Tuesday when they resume spring practices. He has returned to his distinctive workout routine in California, hoping to eliminate the kind of season that plagued him in 2007. Polamalu will not return until training camp in July, banking on the recuperative powers he believes he can attain through alternative training that disdains most weights. Coach Mike Tomlin's reaction? Go for it. Continue

Steelers, commissioner say the case is closed

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell along with Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and coach Mike Tomlin were in accord yesterday in declaring the end to Spygate. Today, it will be Sen. Arlen Specter's turn to render his own opinion after meeting yesterday with Matt Walsh, the former New England Patriots employee who turned over eight video tapes to the NFL last week. "It's over," Tomlin said. Continue

If healthy, McFarland good for Steelers

I like what Jacksonville did in the NFL Draft. The Jaguars needed a pass rusher to keep pace among AFC playoff teams and drafted not one but two. If I'm offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, I love what the Steelers did in the draft -- selecting a running back, wide receiver and a tackle among the top four picks.

If I'm defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, I hate what the Steelers did in the draft -- no true defensive linemen taken following a season in which his unit registered only four sacks in 100 pass attempts in its three biggest losses (New England and Jacksonville twice). Continue

Steelers counting on young linebackers to blossom

The story of LaMarr Woodley having to scrounge for change the first time he drove from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Pittsburgh is a well-documented -- and funny -- one. A little more than a year later, the Steelers' outside linebacker is reminded of it whenever he stops at the turnpike booth, where he paid a toll with the quarters he eventually found in his vehicle.

"Usually, every time it's the same lady that I didn't have enough change for going through," Woodley said with a laugh. If it seems to Woodley that he can't get away from that toll collector, he hopes opposing quarterbacks come to feel the same way about him. Continue

Mendenhall lucky to escape robbery

Rashard Mendenhall lost more than his wallet and cell phone in a Chicago stickup early Monday morning. He lost his Rose Bowl watch. He was thankful he still had his life after the 2 a.m. robbery at gunpoint by men wearing ski masks.

"It's cool," Mendenhall said in his first public comments since the crime, little more than one day after the Steelers' first-round draft pick ended his first minicamp in Pittsburgh with his new teammates. "It wasn't too bad. I'm safe. I was just hoping he wouldn't pull the trigger. I was just trying to cooperate so he wouldn't." Continue

Patriots' tape of Steelers turned over

Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh sent the NFL eight videotapes that show New England violated league rules by recording opposing coaches' playcalling signals -- including the 2002 AFC Championship Game against the Steelers.

The tapes include signals by coaches of five opponents in six games from 2000-02, but they don't include video from the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl. The NFL said it received a letter from Michael Levy, the lawyer for Walsh, detailing the tapes that were scheduled to arrive today at the league's New York offices. Continue

Rookie injuries common in mini-camp

Rashard Mendenhall left Pittsburgh after the Steelers' mini-camp practices concluded Sunday with a thick playbook and something else he had to lug around: a balky hamstring. Mendenhall, the team's first-round pick in this year's NFL Draft, strained his hamstring last Friday and didn't take part in Saturday's and Sunday's practices.

The running back's injury didn't surprise Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who said it's becoming more common for top draft picks to report to mini-camp in less-than-top playing shape through no fault of their own. Continue

Draft pick a Sweed addition to receivers

X marks the spot for Limas Sweed. In football speak, the X position is the split end and that is where the rookie receiver will line up, behind Santonio Holmes. At least, that's where things started for the Steelers receivers at their weekend minicamp. It all could change between now and the start of the season. Sweed's addition to the roster in the second round of the draft prompted many to take notice of a receiving group that can claim to be a team strength.

The group includes as its starters Hines Ward, who owns almost every team receiving record, and Holmes, who led all NFL receivers in yards per catch (18.1) last season. No. 3 man Nate Washington, who is 6 feet 1, and the 6-4 Sweed can go deep and give quarterback Ben Roethlisberger more options. There is also 6-5 tight end Heath Miller, whose 47 receptions ranked third on the team last season, and his backup, 6-7 Matt Spaeth. Continue

Steelers' Mendenhall robbed at gunpoint

Rashard Mendenhall received a scare early Monday morning when he and a friend were robbed at gunpoint in Chicago, but the Steelers' first-round draft pick wasn't hurt and is doing well, his agent said. "He's glad he wasn't hurt; he's glad his friend wasn't hurt," said Mike McCartney, who represents Mendenhall. "He's fine, really."

According to McCartney, Mendenhall and a friend were robbed around 2 a.m. yesterday as they were walking along Chicago's South Side lakefront. Mendenhall, he added, gave the robbers -- who were wearing ski masks -- his wallet, cell phone and car keys. No shots were fired. Continue

Back surgery rejuvenates Steelers' Marvel Smith

Marvel Smith may have been the happiest Steeler at mini-camp, and not because the practices got him out of lugging home the gifts his wife received Saturday at a baby shower in California. "Just to be back here playing football, I couldn't wait," the Steelers' left tackle and soon-to-be-father said. "Even my wife was talking about how I couldn't wait." It's easy to see why.

Smith is free of the pain that tested his unusually high threshold and prematurely ended his 2007 season. And he talked of the surgery that relieved pressure a loose piece of a disc had put on a nerve in his back almost as if it were a liberating experience. Continue