Steelers football blog

Steelers report to training camp Thursday

The Steelers will report to training camp in Latrobe Thursday, following the approval of a 10-year collective bargaining agreement by the players today.

Their first public practice will be held Friday, and their first practice in pads is scheduled for Sunday.

"There`s definitely a transition that I would say is a little unusual for all of us in terms of re-starting like this but our goal is the same," Steelers president Art Rooney II said today at the team`s practice facility, "to win a championship, and we`re looking forward to getting back to the business of being prepared for the 2011 season."

Preparations started shortly after a joint news conference by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA DeMaurice Smith announcing the end of the four-month-old lockout. (continue)

Saint Vincent College will be ready for Steelers whenever

It's not quite clear exactly when the Steelers will open training camp -- it could be as early as Wednesday -- but whenever they do, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe will be ready for them.

College spokesman Don Orlando said the school has done "some preliminary preparations" for the team's pending arrival, and the site will be all systems go whenever a start date is set.

"We probably would like to have about 48-hours notice, but could do it in a half day if we have to," Orlando said.

He said the final preparations will involve erecting fences and tents, as well as rearranging furniture in the school's residence halls, where the Steelers players will stay.

"We've been ready for weeks," he said.

Orlando said it was impossible to predict the attendance for this year's camp, or how it would be affected by the lockout, but noted that the past few years have seen crowds of around 100,000.

"I have no reason to think it'll be any different this year," he said. (continue)

No slowdown for Steelers O in 2010

Another 4,000-yard passer. At least two 1,000-yard receivers. A 1,500-yard season from running back Rashard Mendenhall.

Those are all realistic goals, Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said Tuesday. That means Arians is wildly optimistic — or that someone forgot to tell him that the Steelers' defense is going to have to carry the offense through at least the first part of the season.

"Put the running game back where it belongs," the Steelers' offensive coordinator said in reference to improving in short-yardage situations, "and I think we're pretty potent offensively."

That could especially be the case after starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returns from a conditional suspension. Roethlisberger, who will miss four to six games, has been sharp during the first week of training camp and impressed the Steelers with his trim physique as much as with his right arm.

"He's in the best shape I've ever seen him," Arians said. "This may be the best I've ever seen him (this early in camp)." (Tribune)

Leftwich goes to camp as the one

Byron Leftwich will be the Steelers' No. 1 quarterback when training camp opens July 30 at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.

Ben Roethlisberger will be suspended for at least the first four games. Coach Mike Tomlin stopped just short of naming Leftwich the starter during a news conference Thursday following the Steelers' final offseason practice, a walkthrough at Heinz Field.

"I'm not going to name a No. 1 — no need to," he said. "But I think how we distributed reps is an indication of our mindset at this juncture."

Leftwich took the majority of first-team reps, followed by Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch. Roethisberger received the first-team reps upon returning to team activities last week. Continue

Steelers need Sweed to improve

Of the many pointers Limas Sweed got from Hines Ward during his rookie season, one should have stood out above the rest.

It came after Sweed made a choppy cut rather than a sharp one in practice, and it happened right near All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu. Ward told Sweed he had tipped off that he was going right instead of left.

Had it had been a game, Ward said, Sweed would have gotten leveled — and possibly left the field in an ambulance. Talk about impressing upon someone the importance of crisp route running. And as Sweed relayed the anecdote, he made it clear that Ward wasn't exaggerating to make a point.

"I wasn't the best route-runner," Sweed conceded of his rookie season, in which he had just six receptions for 64 yards and a memorable drop against the Ravens in the AFC title game. "I wasn't the best coverage-reader. Those are things I have to work on." Continue

Can Harrison improve on last years performance?

A group of NFL referees visited Steelers training camp this past week to address rules changes for the upcoming season.

James Harrison asked the officials about a long-standing rule that has always been open to interpretation. The All-Pro outside linebacker specifically sought clarification on holding — and whether it is, in fact, holding when an offensive lineman effectively clothes-lines Harrison as he is rushing the quarterback.

"The ref told me if he has his arm around me, and my feet are past his feet, then it's a hold," Harrison said. "We'll see if that's called. Sometimes, they call it, sometimes, they don't. They can't catch everything."

Harrison may have made the issue somewhat of a moot point considering that little held him back in 2008. Harrison set the team's single-season sack record on the way to NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors, and his Super Bowl heroics helped the Steelers win a sixth Lombardi Trophy. Continue

Timmons excited to start at ILB

The Steelers are replacing a Foote with a freak.

Lawrence Timmons, the former first-round draft pick, is embracing a new role as a starting inside linebacker for the NFL's top-ranked defense.

Timmons, in his third year, is taking over for departed veteran Larry Foote.

"It's just playing football, that's all," Timmons said after practice this week. "I want to get better and work on all facets of my game and try to learn as much as possible."

The 6-foot-1, 245-pound Timmons played in all 16 games last season, starting two, and he filled the stats sheet.

The former Florida State star was one of only two players — LaMarr Woodley was the other — to record at least one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Continue

Early concerns with Steelers' secondary

Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau won't say so, and cornerback Ike Taylor will not admit it, but it's apparent things are different in the Steelers' secondary during training camp.

More zone defense is being played and the number of big pass plays allowed is higher than you would expect from the Steelers.

Of course, it is only the first week of camp. The Steelers play their first preseason game next week against the Arizona Cardinals at Heinz Field.

Bryant McFadden left as a free agent for Arizona, and veteran Deshea Townsend hasn't practiced much during the first week of training camp. Third-year cornerback William Gay is entering his first season as a fulltime starter, leaving Taylor as the only returning corner with more than a year of starting experience. Continue

Vick rumors at Steelers camp

Two quarterbacks were among the topics that just about every arriving Steeler was asked about Friday at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.

The players strongly, if predictably, backed Ben Roethlisberger, who was recently accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit. Meanwhile, coach Mike Tomlin didn't rule out the Steelers having an interest in Michael Vick, who is a free agent - and is free again after serving a two-year prison sentence on dog-fighting charges.

Rumors swirled about Vick meeting with the Steelers Friday. And they were fueled in part by a caller to a Pittsburgh radio station who claimed to be a cab driver that had driven the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback from the airport to the team's South Side practice facility.

There is no indication that the Steelers met with or worked out Vick yesterday, and Tomlin said, "I'm in Latrobe and everybody else in our organization is." Continue

Tomlin tries not to rush Timmons

here was one drawback to the basic defensive plan the Steelers used in their second preseason game in Toronto, and it wasn't the ease with which the Buffalo Bills went up and down the field. It was that Lawrence Timmons nearly didn't get on the field until the second quarter.

That is not likely to happen when the Steelers play in Minnesota Saturday night, a game in which the starters typically see their most playing time in the preseason and the coaches sometimes trot out an extra wrinkle or two. Continue