Training Camp – Day 2

Big Ben focuses on football at press conference

Sunday, August 02, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ben Roethlisberger said he’s sorry.

The Steelers’ quarterback opened training camp by apologizing to his teammates at a team meeting Friday night at Saint Vincent College, then took questions from the news media yesterday morning after practice.

He did not answer some of those questions, and, at one point, promised to end the impromptu session when he was asked if he had any message for Steelers fans about his personal life.

It was the first time Roethlisberger had taken any questions publicly since a woman filed a civil lawsuit in Nevada two weeks ago, claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2008 in a hotel room. And Friday was his first chance to talk collectively to his teammates about it.

“You really don’t know all the stories behind it, but he came up and apologized to the team and gave us his side,” said receiver Hines Ward, a team captain with Roethlisberger on offense last season.

“He’s our teammate, he’s like a brother to us, so we’re always going to show him support and be there for him. When we’re on the field, we don’t worry about that. Our thing is to try to get better, try to go out and see if we can make another run this year.”

Why the apology?

“Just for the potential distractions,” said tackle Max Starks. “It was an apology for us because, when you come to training camp, your main focus is football and to have something like this on top of that, that’s what he was apologizing for.

“It was big of Ben to take a proactive approach. Being a leader on this team, just taking a forthright approach and not kind of just brushing it off but addressing us as teammates because he knows we’re taking the brunt of it with the questions and everything else. It makes us look up to him a little bit more.”

Nose tackle Casey Hampton did not think Roethlisberger needed to apologize.

“I don think he had to say nothing because everybody knows what it is,” Hampton said. “That’s crazy, man. He didn’t have to say that to me. I know how the world is, I know how females are. … In today’s society, man, if anybody says something, you’re guilty until proven innocent anyway, you know what I mean?

“He handled it good, but it’s BS, everybody knows that.”

Roethlisberger would not say publicly if he thought the lawsuit would be a distraction or not to him or his teammates. But, in general, he said he treats potential distractions thusly: “Do the best you can, smile and go.”

Asked about the support from his teammates, he said, “It’s good because they have my back and I have theirs.”

The two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback said he reported to training camp in as good a shape as he has been in the past and nothing this summer detracted from that.

“I’m in good shape, yeah, I feel like I’m right there. Yeah, my golf game’s well, too. … Golf got in the way a lot, but I found a way to get it done.”

Roethlisberger said that while it’s difficult to repeat as Super Bowl champions, he believes he and many of his teammates learned a lesson from the last time they tried, in 2006. That was the summer of Roethlisberger’s motorcycle accident that preceded an appendectomy, which kept him out of the season opener. He also sustained a concussion during the season as the Steelers lost six of their first eight games and finished 8-8 and out of playoff contention.

“You know what? You have a bull’s-eye on your chest, everyone’s gunning for you,” Roethlisberger said of the Super Bowl champs. “We learned that after the last time, that everyone wants to come after you and get you. We can’t take anybody lightly and we know everyone’s coming for us.

“It helps to have been there before because you know what to expect and how to deal with it. I think we have enough veterans on this team that we’ll be able to deal with it.”

No matter how questions were put to him about the civil lawsuit, though, Roethlisberger would not respond.

“Any other football questions?” he said after one. “I can walk away if we want.”

Roethlisberger spent several minutes answering other questions just off the practice field after the first of two practices yesterday that opened training camp in Latrobe. Both ESPN and the NFL television networks had crews among the gaggle of media.

“From his motorcycle incident to all types of stuff, whatever he has on his mind he blocks it out,” Ward said, “and, when he gets on the field, it’s all about football.

“I don’t foresee anything being a distraction. He’s going to come out and work his tail off to lead this team and try get back to where we want to go.”

Steelers Notebook: NT Hampton defends his preseason training

Sunday, August 02, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An ample Casey Hampton, who has been known to push the scale in the mid-300s at times, pointed to his stomach after lunch yesterday and smiled broadly.

“I got abs now,” the Steelers’ big nose tackle said.

Hampton practiced yesterday with his teammates, something he did not do for the first two weeks of training camp last year. Last summer, he opened camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, put there by coach Mike Tomlin after he failed the run test on the first day.

Friday, Hampton passed that same run test, even though he said he is in the same kind of shape as he was at the start of camp last year. Why did he pass a test he did not one year ago?

“I just felt like doing it,” Hampton said. “I just felt like making it.”

Last year “I just didn’t want to do it, so I didn’t do it.”

Hampton defended his training schedule, even if it does not coincide with the wishes of his coach. He said he does not like to beat himself up in the spring and prefers to ease into camp and get ready for the season gradually.

“I rest in the offseason, man. My thing is, I wait until like three, four weeks before training camp and then I work out. That’s what I’ve always done. I rest my body, get my body half ready and then use training camp to get ready for the season.

“It’s too much, all that banging on your body, especially the position I play. I’m not for the workout in March, April and May hard-hard-hard, for what? It doesn’t make any sense. Coaches say that’s when you win. I don’t feel like you win games then. That’s my opinion.”

The 6-foot-1 Hampton, who is listed on the training-camp roster as weighing 325 pounds, never has been one to be pinned down on how much he weighs.

“It fluctuates,” he said. “Nobody never knows my weight. I can make it look good or make it look bad.”

The Steelers’ run test Friday consisted of a series of 100-yard runs. But Hampton said, in a game, “If I have to run 100 yards, there’s something wrong.”

Hampton, Clark patient

Hampton and safety Ryan Clark, each entering the final year of his contract, reacted in similar manner to Steelers President Art Rooney‘s statement to the Post-Gazette Friday that the team might not be able to sign any more players to contract extensions this year because they have little room left under the salary cap.

“I don’t really worry about that kind of stuff, I just play,” Hampton said. “If they ain’t got none, they ain’t got none, what do you want me to do? I can’t do nothing about it. I got no control of it.

“You never know what’s going to happen, but we’ll see. I’m not worried about it. I want to be here, I’d love to be here, but, if not, it’s a business, and whatever happens is going to happen.”

Said Clark, “There’s nothing I really can have any control over. I’m not used to being taken care of, I’m not used to being the guy they care enough about to get it done, so it’s not painful to me.

“You look at it like, OK, this may be your last year with this team, these guys, so you cherish it and have a good time.”

Stapleton at center

Darnell Stapleton, the starting right guard last season, was at center yesterday for Justin Hartwig, who has a sore toe. Trai Essex ran with the first team at right guard.

Many believe Stapleton, who played center at Rutgers, is more natural for that position, including Hampton, who plays over the center on defense.

“No question,” Hampton said. “I think he can get it done.

Quick hits

Linebacker Lawrence Timmons quit the afternoon practice early because of cramps. … Former Steelers linebacker Earl Holmes is working as a coaching intern with the linebackers and will be joined by former teammate Levon Kirkland today. … Daniel Sepulveda‘s leg looks like it is healthy and more as he boomed punts high and deep. … Despite hamstring injuries, safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Deshea Townsend practiced, and tight end Heath Miller, who had hernia surgery in June, ran some routes in individual drills. … Offensive tackle Jason Capizzi also is working at guard.

Notes from Steelers training camp: Day 2

As told by Steelers Today

2:55 PM practice starts.  Things are slow as the players break up into their respective units and walk through drills.  The offense is on one practice field, and the defense is on another.

-Santonio Holmes‘ arms look noticeably bigger.   He’s been pumping iron.

-Who is the short white guy wearing #19 standing with the wide receivers?  He’s standing next to Mike Wallace who is listed as 6′0″, and Mike is at least 3 inches taller than him.

-#19 is Tyler Grisham, a rookie out of Clemson.  He’s listed as 5′11″, but he can’t be much taller than 5′9″.

-Say what you want about Willie Colon, but his legs are massive.  They’re far bigger than any of the other offensive linemen’s.

3:22 PM A horn blows, the fans cheer, and practice gets started in earnest.

-”Big Snack” is very efficient with his motion.  Translation: he stands around when everyone else is running or stretching.

-Frank “The Tank” Summers isn’t as massive as I expected him to be.  Rashard Mendenhall actually looks more powerful.

-Dennis Dixon throws a beautiful spiral, but he looks a bit frail.  He needs to gain some weight.

-Shaun McDonald, Mewelde Moore, Joe Burnett, and Santonio Holmes take turns fielding kickoffs.  Where is Mike Wallace?

-#18 ( rookie WR Steven Black out of Memphis) looks impressive.  He’s big and has already made a few shoestring catches.

-Matt Spaeth looks too tall and lanky to ever be an effective blocker.

-Shaun McDonald is playing like he wants to impress the coaches.  He ran all of his routes very fast, and he makes quick, precise cuts.

-Martin Nance has already dropped too many balls, and they’re not even playing against a defense yet.

-#84 (TE Dezmond Sherrod) is slow and plodding when he runs his routes.

-Santonio Holmes’ status is clearly elevated since his Super Bowl MVP.  The crowd erupts each time he catches a ball.

-The Steelers were blessed with great weather for their first day of open practice.

4:03 PM – Another horn sounds and the defense comes over to join the offense.

-Big Ben’s first pass against the defense is a quick slant to Sean McHugh for a completion.

-Willie Parker broke a long run, and the crowd erupted.

-Jeff Reed is practicing kicking to Dan Sepulveda.  Jeff is kicking across the field (53.3 yards) and Sepulveda is catching the ball.  Reed’s kicks are so accurate that Sepulveda never had to move more than 4 steps to catch the ball.

-Andre Frazier intercepts a pass from Roethlisberger.

-Santonio Holmes looked very elusive dodging and weaving after a short pass from Big Ben.

-#85 (rookie TE David Johnson) looks very effective holding his blocks in drills.

4:28 – The crowd erupted when Hines Ward caught a quick slant pass in traffic.

-Mike Wallace made a pretty sliding catch along the sideline on a pass from Charlie Batch.

-Keyaron Fox intercepted a pass and was chased down by Hines Ward.

-Dennis Dixon threaded a pass to Steve Black that went right between two defenders for a completion.

-If this had been full contact, Donovan Woods would have destroyed Ben Roethlisberger as he came in unblocked on a blitz.

4:34 PM – Another horn blew, and the team split up again for drills.

-Jeff Reed is kicking field goals.  Has he missed one yet?

-Jeff Reed hits 3 straight 47 yard field goals and the horn blows again.

4:42 PM – Keenan Lewis breaks up a long pass from Charlie Batch to Mike Wallace.

-Rookie Andrew Schantz gets in a shot on David Johnson that was probably harder than it should have been on the first day of practice.  The team is not doing any hitting or tackling today.

-The crowd erupted when Dennis Dixon completed a 45 yard pass to #19, rookie WR Tyler Grisham.

-On the next play, Dixon connected with Grisham on a diving catch along the sideline.  This kid has good hands.

-Dixon connects with Steve Black along the opposite sideline.

-Dixon hit David Johnson right in the hands over the middle of the field, but Johnson dropped the ball.

-Dennis Dixon hits Tyler Grisham for another diving catch in traffic.  Who is this kid?

-Keenan Lewis intercepted a long pass from Big Ben to Hines Ward.

-Ben overthrows Dallas Baker on a long fade route.

4:56 PM – The #1 offense and #1 defense take the field.

-On the first play, Willie Parker burst through the line and avoided the linebackers on a play that he would have taken all the way for a touchdown in a real game.

-Carey Davis breaks a nice run that would have gained 15 yards.

-Charlie Batch hits Rashard Mendenhall on a short pass behind the line of scrimmage that looks like no gain, but Mendenhall reverses field and picked up 10 yards.

-Ryan Clark intercepts a 20 yard pass from Big Ben that hit Santonio Holmes in the hands and bounced off.

5:07 PM – The final horn blew, and coach Tomlin gathered the team to end practice.

-After huddling together, the team breaks up and practice is over.

-Coach Tomlin leaves the field and runs past fans without signing any autographs.

-Dan Sepulveda is very gracious with fans.  He signs more autographs than any other Steelers player.

-Sepulveda assured me that he is 100% recovered.  When a fans said “We missed you last year”, Supulveda replied “Not as much as I missed the team”.

-Ryan Clark is also very gracious with fans.  Only Sepulveda signs more autographs.

-Ziggy Hood is very good with fans.  He is friendly and humble.  He signs lots of autographs.  Fans are going to like this kid.

About the Author Jim McMillen

The Editor & Chief, the brains so to say, behind Pittsburgh Blitz. Jim is a rabid sports fan who just loves his Stillers, Pens and Buccos. Feel free to contact us at steelerguy26[@]yahoo.com if you have any questions or comments or would like to join our staff and write for Pittsburgh Blitz.

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