Training camp is winding down and I know the players probably couldn't be happier.
After watching practice after practice for the past two weeks, I know that I'm tired of it all. The players have to really be sick of it.
Mike Tomlin must have sensed that a little and gave them the morning off after having them stretch to make sure nobody had gone over the wall.
I kept a close eye on new punter Mitch Berger today and came away with unimpressed.
Berger is more consistent than Paul Ernster, but doesn't kick the occasional 60-yarder than Ernster does. He also didn't shank anything, which Ernster has done a couple of times as well.
Tomlin took time during his press conference today to rip the media for what he thought was an unfair portrayal of safety Anthony Smith as a thug.
Tomlin said Smith's feelings were hurt by the portrayal.
Talking to Smith later in the day, I didn't get that sense. He just said that he's never robbed anyone and doesn't have a record, so he can't be a thug.
Guess he's got a different idea of what the word means than most people.
Tomlin did say, however, that Thursday's game against Buffalo will be a big one for Smith, who has missed a good amount of time in camp with a hamstring problem.
The team is liking what it has seen from rookie Roy Lewis, and it likes Ryan Mundy's upside.
It's possible Tomlin is looking for a good reason to rid himself of Smith.
5 comments:
Mundy's injury upset me almost as much as Batch's. The fewer safety prospects we have, the smaller our chance of getting rid of Smith and his double-digit YPA.
Craig..yep !!
I don't have a hate for Anthony..I just don't think he can cover. Plain and simple. He's got the speed and physical ability but he does not have the instincts to read a play..almost always a day late and a dollar short.
The hit on HInes was particularily cowardly though..as I understand it the play was over and Hines was already starting to jog back to the huddle on a non-contact drill. I hope that's the last late hit AS makes as a Steeler. He's the kind of guy who costs you games.
Anthony Smith is playing the wrong position, IMO. He is a perfect backup to Troy P, but he is not a FS. He doesn't have the discipline. He is a big hitter and can fly all over the field. He can't be any worse there than Tyrone Carter....
I know this is sports talk and not sociology or linguistics or whatever, but Tomlin, I think, saw "thug" (or as Collier used it, "thuggery") as a word that has come to be racially charged and would not have been applied to a white player. I pretty much agree with him.
I've seen white players called thugs before. Look at Romanowski.
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